I visited Waterstones in High Street Kensington this evening as Mary Finnigan, author of Psychedelic Surburbia, was talking about her times sharing a house with David Bowie in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, during the summer of 1969.
This era included the beginning of the Beckenham Arts Lab and the Free Festival in Croydon Rec on 16 August. Joining Mary, was Keith Christmas – one of the artists who performed at the Festival – and pianist and author Clifford Slapper. A small but appreciative and knowledgeable audience were present, who quizzed the trio on their experiences hoping to garner some fresh insight into the life and work of Bowie. It was a pleasure to meet Wendy Faulkner and John O’Sullivan who are stalwarts of the campaign to preserve the Croydon Rec Bandstand, one of the very few remaining sites of Bowie’s time in the area.
