Not the former England footballer but the former department store next to Finchley Road tube. John Barnes was a rambling, old fashioned store with a wonderful food hall in the basement. It was the hub of the Viennese Jewish community who’d fled the Nazis and settled around West Hampstead and Swiss Cottage. As a child, I was fascinated by these gentle, cultured but often sorrowful people. Some lived in the elegant 1930s apartment block above the store which, as you approached on the top of the No.13 bus, looked just like an ocean liner. Jewish musicians would then clamber on with their cellos and trombones to go and play at Wigmore Hall and it all seemed terribly exotic. The ground floor of John Barnes is now a Waitrose and those old residents have died off. But still, whenever I go there, this tune will start playing in my head.
I’ve always loved John Barnes.

- "Paul? Hello...4th Jun 2014
- I'm going to ...3rd Jun 2014
- First take a ...2nd Jun 2014
- The return of...1st Jun 2014
- Venison, hot ...31st May 2014
- Out with the ...30th May 2014
- Family outing...29th May 2014
- My daughter i...28th May 2014
- On a rainy Ba...26th May 2014
- Pat Kelly sou...25th May 2014
- We know we sh...24th May 2014
- UKIP seem to ...23rd May 2014
- I didn't want...22nd May 2014
- A record you'...21st May 2014
- The three liv...20th May 2014 prev next