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Andy Gardener |
Look who’s raving on about history!
Former Monster Raving Loony party candidate to chair history society
A FORMER Parliamentary candidate for the Official Monster Raving Loony party has taken the top position with one of Islington’s most august and distinguished organisations.
Andy Gardener, 37, from Canonbury – who stood for the party in Islington South and Finsbury in 2005, scoring 189 votes – has become the new chairman of the Islington Archaeological and History Society.
During his stint as a Raving Loony candidate, Andy included pledges such as “fast pavement lanes for pedestrians who know where they are going”, a 99p coin to save on change, and an invitation to countries in the Euro to join the pound.
He assumes chairmanship of the 200-strong society – which has been going for almost 40 years – from the late and much-missed actor/ historian Peter Powell, from Canonbury, who died in March this year aged 73.
Like Peter, Andy is a keen local historian with an interest in George Orwell, and will be arranging literary walks in the borough involving local historical characters.
He is also hoping to arrange a political walk around parts of the
borough associated with famous people, including Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and Liberal Joseph Chamberlain, who both lived in Highbury, and London mayor Boris Johnson, who lives close to Holloway Road.
An administrator for University College London, Andy lives on the Marquis estate. For the past five years he has been secretary of Islington Archaeological and History Society. “History is my passion and I’m very worried about losing it to the developers,” he said. “Many important sites in the borough are always under great threat and we must keep an eye on them.
“We must look at all the planning applications. We have already lost a major battle to save City Road basin and canal at the Angel, where there are plans for unsightly tower blocks. ”
He is looking forward to running Orwell walks but he is aware that Peter Powell will be a difficult act to follow.
He added: “I was understudy on a number of Peter’s walks so I know the drill.”
The Orwell Walk takes place from Highbury and Islington station (the old station) across to Highbury Fields – where the novelist swam with his adopted son Richard – down to Canonbury Square where he lived.
Andy says he often has to defend Orwell’s reputation against claims that he wasn’t a true socialist.
“His two greatest books, Animal Farm and 1984, dealt with totalitarianism but the writer never abandoned socialism.,” he said. “He was always a democratic socialist to the end.” Initially, Andy will be organising walks by private arrangement through the society’s website at www.iahs.org.uk |
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