In 1974, John Graham Mellor, later known as Joe Strummer of The Clash, moved into a squat in Maida Vale. Fifty years later, a local council commemorated his legacy with a stone in Maida Hill Market. Initially challenging to find, it reflects the transformations in the area, where affordable housing has since been replaced. Despite extensive searches and using digital resources to locate the stone, its discreet placement makes it hard to notice, sparking a conversation about how legacies are memorialized.
The local council, having changed its mind about rent-dodging musicians, has now decided to honour the singer with a legacy stone in the nearby market.
At the time, John Mellor was the lead singer of the 101ers, named after their squat at 101 Walterton Road - but he's vastly better known as Joe Strummer of The Clash.
Finding a Facebook photo of the unveiling, with bits of the street in the background, I worked out where the photographer was likely to have been standing.
It's obvious once spotted, but goodness me, it's hard to see otherwise, and you'd never spot it from a distance.
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