Gerald Durrell and me: a tenuous link
I’ve just read a review of a new book, The Durrells of Corfu by Michael Haag. The reviewer (Lewis Jones) writes about the various places the Durrell family lived before moving to Corfu and hit me with this:
in 1930 … the family moved to a basement flat in the Queen’s Hotel, Upper Norwood…In Larry’s novel The Black Book … the Queen’s Hotel is cunningly disguised as the Regina Hotel, a ‘tomb of masonry’, ‘crowded with ghosts’, and inhabited by prostitutes, perverts and degenerates.
Well! For a brief time in my teens, The Queen’s was my local. It was conveniently situated on the way home from church or youth club (not as proper as it sounds, heh) and was a regular hangout for a gang of us. It was built in 1854 for tourists wanting to visit the relocated Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill. A few years ago, I found that it had become a hostel for asylum seekers, criticized for overcrowding and general poor conditions. Full circle? It was perfectly respectable when we went there, with never a hint of ghosts or degeneracy. A Google search suggests that it’s now gone up in the world and lost its apostrophe.
The book sounds fascinating, so much so that I’ve pre-ordered it.
in 1930 … the family moved to a basement flat in the Queen’s Hotel, Upper Norwood…In Larry’s novel The Black Book … the Queen’s Hotel is cunningly disguised as the Regina Hotel, a ‘tomb of masonry’, ‘crowded with ghosts’, and inhabited by prostitutes, perverts and degenerates.
Well! For a brief time in my teens, The Queen’s was my local. It was conveniently situated on the way home from church or youth club (not as proper as it sounds, heh) and was a regular hangout for a gang of us. It was built in 1854 for tourists wanting to visit the relocated Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill. A few years ago, I found that it had become a hostel for asylum seekers, criticized for overcrowding and general poor conditions. Full circle? It was perfectly respectable when we went there, with never a hint of ghosts or degeneracy. A Google search suggests that it’s now gone up in the world and lost its apostrophe.
The book sounds fascinating, so much so that I’ve pre-ordered it.
(Anonymous)
gone up in the world
wee sister
Re: gone up in the world
There's a lot more interesting information available from The Norwood Society.
The book apparently reveals much that Gerald Durrell ignored in his lovely book. You have been warned.
I still miss Dulwich. My brother and I went back to see the house a few years ago. So many happy times there!
(Anonymous)
Do you watch the television series?
gwendraith x
There's no tube at Crystal Palace, BTW. You have to take the train or a bus.
The series The Durrells do you mean? Grrr. I watched the first series and I expect I'll watch the next but I didn't enjoy the first one much because it's nothing like the book. I much prefer the 1987 series, My Family and other Animals, with Brian Blessed as Spiro.
(Anonymous)
I remember the 1987 series now that you mention it. I do enjoy the new series, I don't mind that it differs to the book, I find it entertaining anyway.
Why can't they spread these things out?