Kinks 'shrine' set to be dumped

01 March 2007

THE Clissold Arms: has become a ""shrine"" for Kinks fans

THE pub that hosted the first performance by Ray and Dave Davies - founders of legendary rock band The Kinks - could be stripped of its shrine to the band.

The new tenants of the Clissold Arms, in Fortis Green, Muswell Hill want to turn it into a fashionable gastropub when it re-opens in the summer.

n RAY DAVIES, leader of the legendary Muswell Hill band, The Kinks.

And the tenants aim to distance themselves from the pub's rock 'n' roll history - perhaps even auctioning off the "museum" of Kinks memorabilia that has been displayed there for years.

The collection - including vinyl record and photographs donated by fans - is unlikely to fit the image they plan to cultivate for the pub.

The news has shocked and saddened Kinks fans across the world, some of whom make annual pilgrimages to the drinking hole.

Last year the Clissold Arms was named one of Britain's historic Pubs In Time, and even features in the lyrics of The Kinks' song Fortis Green.

The Davies brothers were raised in Muswell Hill, close to them pub. Ray Davies now lives in Highgate.

Kai Armann, co-editor of Norwegian fan website WhyKinks, who travels to the pub every year, said: "We don't understand why it is impossible to make good food in the current surroundings.

"We are shocked. This can't be true. Somebody has to stop them!"

Bill Orton, secretary of The Official Kinks Fan Club, said: "There will be a tinge of sadness to lose that link, and obviously there will be some interest in getting the memorabilia.

"Over the years the Davies brothers have still held family parties and birthday parties there, and they both think fondly of that place from their youth. The fact is that it is The Clissold Arms, and people will still go in and soak up the vibe."

The collection, worth around £1,000, includes a signed copy of Long Tall Sally, The Kinks' debut single, various Kinks records and sleeves, record company and press photos of the band, and a brass plaque etched with the words: "Site of 1957 performing debut of Ray and Dave Davies, founding members of The Kinks."

New licensee Caroline Jones, who outlined plans for "a quality, food-led establishment" to Haringey councillors at a licensing sub-committee meeting, said: "We haven't made a decision yet, to be perfectly honest. We have inherited it. It [the new pub] will be quite different, and it won't be the kind of place you would expect to see it. If it [getting rid of the memorabilia] is the case then an auction is the kind of thing we would do."

John Cryne, chairman of CAMRA's North London branch, which supported the Pubs In Time scheme, said: "To scatter it in the eBay environment and sell it around the world would be a bit sad."

Ray Davies, who visited the pub during his birthday in 2005, is in the United States and was unavailable for comment.