Comments on: Dog Days At Club Row

By: Scott McCarthy (formerly Lesley Dawkins)

Scott McCarthy (formerly Lesley Dawkins) — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 20:39:56 +0000

I went to Club Row Animal Market pretty much every Sunday in the 1970’s. We lived in one of the new council flats and there were rules about having pets. Most people ignored the rules, but my mother wouldn’t allow me anything more exciting than a budgie and a gold fish, so Club Row was a totally fascinating place to spend my Sunday mornings. They sold all sorts – day old chicks for 1 penny … racing pigeons, chipmunks, tropical birds, dogs, cats, and all types of reptiles …

At school, we were studying A Kestrel for a Knave. I was desperate to own a hawk, like Billy in the book. Our budgie – called Toby – didn’t really cut the mustard. So I headed for Club Row one Sunday with the idea to buy a hawk. I would worry about how to get it past my parents later. They didn’t have any hawks, so i settled for a racing pigeon. Took it home in a cardboard box, and hid it in my bedroom cupboard. when I came home from school Monday evening, my mother demanded to know why I had a bird in my toy cupboard. I can’t remember the excuse I gave, but anyway she told me the poor thing was desperate for a drink and she had released it to go live with all the other wild pigeons in Bethnal Green.

I remember there were always a group of protesters with placards, chanting and shouting out to customers and stall holders. I thought they were spoil sports, and should mind their own business. But as an adult now, who cares a great deal about the welfare of animals, I can see that something needed to be done about Club Row.

By: Hetty Startup

Hetty Startup — Sun, 20 May 2018 22:28:27 +0000

being a very ardent Puffin Books fan I remember meeting Kaye Webb as a kid….to learn here that she was with Ronald Searle makes so much sense in terms of the art work in Puffin books. I think I met her at a wonderful children’s bookshop on Kensington Church St.

By: Di Corry

Di Corry — Sun, 20 May 2018 08:32:12 +0000

Gentle Author, you and Kaye have taken me back down the vista of years.
As a small child I was taken to Club Row and nearby streets most Sunday mornings by my dad.
The sights, sounds and smells of those streets have been reawakened for me and Ronald Searle’s drawings are so evocative of those colourful traders and hawkers.
My uncle had a ‘wireless’ stall in the market and I can still remember the joy I felt when my dad bought me my very first small, white radio there. Happy days and happy times.

By: Paul Loften

Paul Loften — Sun, 20 May 2018 00:27:29 +0000

Many a Sunday my dad would take my sister and I to Club Row . I recall once we came back home with a black and white puppy which we loved dearly. Unfortunately the poor thing became ill very quickly after it was brought home. It disapeared and my father hid the fact that it had died from us. It often happened as the animals were kept in such poor conditions out in the wet and cold . Although it was a good thing the market was shut down I do remember a tinge of sadness at not beeing able to lean over the stalls with the puppies and kittens and stroke them on a Sunday morning