A Street in North London

An extremely well known adventurer wrote a book which felt like a novel but contained strong inferences that it was based on real events. The tale was the account of an innocent body being drawn into a corrupt and violent world. In the early stages of the story a house on a certain street in North London is mentioned; in the novel it is a squat of ill-repute which later becomes derelict and boarded up. Passers-by would hardly give the place a second glance and would probably have no inkling of its role in nefarious dealings.

Literature is full of books which give the impression that they are thinly veiled accounts of real events so I took myself off for a stroll down this North London street to see if I can find this deserted building and sure enough I find it exactly where the book said it would be. Not only that it was just as described; a large building which in its day was a splendid town house but had degenerated into a multi-occupied squat, the fate of many fine Victorian villas during the period in question and its notoriety had led to its current state. Another reason for being surprised to find it as described was that it hadn’t been snapped up by a developer and turned into expensive apartments.

If this was the building as described then there was a good chance that there was some substance to the rest of the story. And did I follow this up? If anybody asks I reply that I was far too busy with more important things but in my heart I knew that finding a building was one thing but looking into the more unsavoury aspects of the story might have brought me to the attention of some seriously unpleasant people.