Tolmers Square, an enclave of Victorian houses behind Euston Station, became home to a group of young, politically organised squatters in the 1970s. Patrick Allen was one of them:
I was interested in [squatting], partly because I thought it was politically interesting, and partly because I needed to save money…for my law studies.
The real-estate drama unfolding there became a rallying cry for squatters keen to transform ideology into practical action:
…A property developer called Joe Levy…was acquiring properties slowly…as tenants left they were boarded up…then his workmen would come in and smash them up a bit to make them less likely [to] be squatted.
Rather than being deterred, the squatters saw the empty space as an opportunity:
We [repaired] the guttering, we had to mend some broken windows, we got the electricity connected – that was easy, in those days the electricity board was very happy to connect anybody who wanted to pay.
A long campaign of resistance and community-building followed. In 1975 Camden Council bought the square, and in 1979 the squatters were evicted. The new development, including social housing, a small office block, and a community pub, was completed in 1982.
We were able to take control of our environment and create a living space that worked for us… that’s how it should be. People should have some control over their lives and how their communities work.