Solid Gold Steve's Cosmic Journey...

"I promised Steevi TooREX I would put this little story together of our recent trek round London with Paul & Lynn"

Solid Gold Steve XX

Sunday 26th Oct we joined our good friends Paul & Lynn from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts for a nostalgic journey round London to various Bolan locations. We started our journey at The Tree to pay our respects and reflect on Marc's life, to thank him for the joy his music has brought to all our lives and to contemplate what might have been. For anyone who doesn't know, there is now a visitors book at The Tree for people to write down their thoughts which we think is a really nice idea.

After an emotional 20 minutes or so we made our move in search of the next location which was Marc's last home at 142 Upper Richmond Road. We all just sat there in quiet contemplation imagining that Marc was still inside and what life was like behind those walls. It feels so unreal to sit outside what was the home of your idol, a man who had such an impact on your life, a man you admire for his talent, his looks and his individuality.

Next on the agenda was the home of Marc's Mum and Dad at 9 Inglis House, Whitnell Way, Putney which holds very fond memories for Steve for the following reason. Steve was here for Marc's last London gig at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park and met up with a couple of fans who knew where Marc's parents lived. They all decided it would be cool to go there and on arriving at the flat they had the cheek to knock at the door. It was an unforgettable moment when Marc's Mum opened the door and greeted them warmly but the biggest surprise was seeing Rolan crawling to the door on all fours. Marc's Dad picked him up and explained they were looking after Rolan while the sound check took place, they were such lovely people, they gave a good 10 minutes of their time and this memory has stayed with Steve always.

Another trip on the tube took us to 57 Blenheim Crescent in Ladbroke Grove which was the coldwater attic flat that became Marc and June’s first home.

We then made our way to Marc's childhood home at 25 Stoke Newington Common in Hackney which holds a plaque stating MARK FELD LIVED HERE 1947-1962.

The next famous address we visited was 108 Lexham Gardens, a ground floor flat once occupied by the great Tony Visconti. Shortly after he moved to this address he began making demos at the flat of Marc and Steve Took. They would sit cross-legged in his living room while Tony recorded them live with a stereo microphone into a stereo machine. As we stood outside reflecting on what once went on behind this door our attention was drawn to the large sash windows and the net curtains that were hanging there. We could not believe what we saw, these net curtains were covered in White Swans!!  (look at the images and you'll see one has been hi-lited )At first we thought it was probably because the current occupier was aware of the famous person who once lived here and it's famous visitors but this was not the case. All of a sudden the window went up and a very friendly lady popped her head out who was understandably curious as to why we were so interested in her property. We explained but she had never heard of Tony Visconti, Marc Bolan or T.Rex and bought the net curtains just because she liked them so it's purely coincidental, just one of those spooky things that you just can't helping thinking has another meaning.

The last stop on our journey before making our way back to Manchester was Marc's final resting place at Golders Green Crematorium which is another place to sit down and reflect for a another few minutes on Marc's short but memorable life.

Marc would be really amazed to see the dedication of his fans, after all we are only four out of many other fans who have no doubt made this memorable journey....

 

 E-Mail Steve Roberts here!

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