Neighbours, friends and drinking buddies
Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 9:24 As you are probably aware, this blog is full of tenuous connections and name-dropping.
In that spirit, have I ever mentioned that I once lived in the same street as Terry Jones, the former Python who died on Tuesday?
Camberwell Grove in south east London was also, for a while, home to Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller.
I had no idea at the time because I never saw any of them in the five years I lived there.
Another former resident of Camberwell Grove is Joe Jackson.
Joe, I only discovered last year, lived there in the early Eighties, a few years before me.
We did meet, eventually, but that was through Forest two decades later.
On the subject of Terry Jones and Monty Python, I was never a big fan of the TV series but I did love Life of Brian which I first saw at the Capitol Theatre, Aberdeen, in 1979.
Opened in 1933, the Capitol was one of those enormous, old-fashioned cinemas that had a huge screen and seated 2,100 people. (No multiplexes in those days.)
If I remember correctly, the theatre was sold out for Life of Brian so there was a cracking atmosphere.
Compare that to the handful of people who watched 1917 at the IMAX in Watford on Sunday and there’s no contest.
The Capitol was also a concert venue. Be Bop Deluxe, the first band I saw play live (in 1977), were so loud I had a ringing noise in my ears for 48 hours.
Today all that remains of the theatre is the 1930s facade. The auditorium has been demolished and replaced with a modern 14-storey office block.
Returning to Terry Jones, Michael Palin has paid a touching tribute to his friend and former colleague.
How many of us have friends who would inspire that type of heartfelt reaction when they die?
An important factor, I think, is that they were not just friends and colleagues who shared an incredible adventure together, they enjoyed a pint and were drinking buddies.
I haven’t had a regular drinking buddy since my twenties. Life intervened and we went our separate ways, although we are still in contact (just) through Facebook.
It’s not the same, though, is it?
Reader Comments (4)
Nice post Simon, Friends matter, not just while you're alive.
Lovely post. Losing friends and family is a fact of life as we get older but it doesn't make it any easier to accept.
Simon, Friends always matter. Especially when they are a pleasant memory.
Sadly, the smoking ban now prevents many friends from sharing meaningful times together.
The memory of old friends sharing a pint, a glass of whisky, and a smoke is a blessing. Hopefully one day we can add new memories of the same.
I was a student at the Maudsley in the late 70S My memory is that JJ was a regular in the Grove Tavern when Is She Really Going Out With Him was charting. You couldn’t miss him he was over 6 ft tall. Happy memories.