Leroy

Leroy Audio 2023 Dalston 

“Gillett Square in Dalston is an urban folklore in Caribbean history. If my mum was ever looking for me, she would come to the square.”

“I first came here in the 1970’s when we all used to go to a local club called Cubies, off Dalston Lane and in the day we would go to Johnsons Cafe on Sandringham Road. We would come to Gillett Square and sit on the gravestones as it was a graveyard back then. It was a Caribbean around here from day one.”

“Mrs Johnsons cafe was the first black owned cafe, so it built up a reputation and everyone piled in. It was a place that if you had no money and no place to go you would be okay there….if you know what I mean.”

“The police from Stoke Newington Station were brutal back then and there were three officers Golder, Thane and Hunter and they used to wait for us, grab us and take us around a corner, take our weed and money, give us a slap and tell us to f*** off. They would put drugs in are pockets and arrest us so they could kick us in a cell all night.”

“Even the buses would not stop around here because we were labelled as trouble. We were stigmatised and had it tough back then. There were parties every weekend here, then run by a sound system called ‘Chicken and Thunderstorm’ and a guy called ‘Count Shelly’ who was the resident sound system in the Four Aces. Newton Dunbar’s Club was legendary and everyone who knew Dalston, knew The Four Aces….”