Caryn and her daughter at Kensal Rise's favourite Diner
If you don’t know who fashion guru and TV personality Caryn Franklin is, you clearly lived on a desert island in the 80s. And you wore an old sack. Presenter of telly classic, The Clothes Show, she’s now behind style advice service How to Look Good. Most importantly she’s a local – and a very loyal one too…
What do you love about this neighbourhood?
Nice mix of arty and family vibe.
Favourite haunts in Kensal Rise?
Lali, Supra, Smiths, The Island, the Lexi Cinema.
Where do you shop for clothes or gifts?
Smiths at Eulabee on College Road is first port of call as there is always something there for girls, women and boys. They are working on finding a few more things for men – but let’s be honest, they are hard to shop for anyway. Give me a scented candle, a novelty tin or a cushion cover and I’m well pleased.
Any super-stylish locals you admire for their sartorial prowess?
I see an elderly Caribbean man down Wrottesley Road from time to time and he is rocking a mix of elegant and sartorial senior citizen one day and skirt and interesting headwear the next. He is my kind of sextagenarian.
Abel & Cole box
Fantasy dinner party with local ingredients?
I’d go to the fab fishmongers on Walm Lane, Willesden Fisheries – I love roast snapper with homemade salsa. I would also get the wheat-free pasta and other treats from Revital also in Willesden. We get a brown box of organic veg from Abel & Cole which I love to cook with. But I would top it up with stuff from L’Angolo’s – he always has just-ripe avocados and brilliant cheeses as well as ice-cream made by a local business called Disotto’s.
Delicious Disotto ice-cream from L'Angolo
Perfect weekend in your locale?
I’m fan of Kensal Rise library in Bathurst Gardens so I’d start with an extended trip there to read The Guardian on a Saturday and to choose a DVD to rent. Then a saunter in Smiths to look at their sample rail – I’ve found Sportmax, McQueen and Ossie Clark before now – followed by a hot choc in Gracelands or The Island and a little shopping in Angolo’s Deli. Finally, a trip to the Lexi Cinema where if you book early you can have the box for the same price as the stalls. Get a glass of wine from the bar and sit and sup to heart’s content… then a stroll home.
Any juicy local gossip?
There is a middle-aged man who thinks it’s hilarious to empty the kitchen compost into the green bin first thing in the morning before anyone else is on the street and he does it in tiny briefs and nothing else at about 6am. I’ve tried to encourage my husband to put on a robe but he is one of life’s risk takers.
V&A's pretty gardening tools (the range is also available from Rise gift shop, Kilburn Lane)
Any pet peeves?
Yes – and let me say it loud: STOP CONCRETING OVER YOUR FRONT GARDENS AND GET OUT THERE AND PLANT SOMETHING NICE TO ENCOURAGE WILDLIFE AND TACKLE FLOODING. I have had a rant about this one before, so I will try not to go on about it. But a nice bit of privet, or even something more artistic if you have a yearning for roses and clematis would camouflage bins and make walking down the street a joy.
If you were MP what would you change?
Oh dear I’m going to have to go on about it some more, but I’ll make it short… I’d outlaw concreting over any garden area front or back I’d and make grants available to get what paving is out there removed. I’d create schemes for those who want to learn how to garden and fund basic courses for them. I’d provide allowances for cheap hardy
plants and supply a list of enthusiastic gardeners to plant and maintain the shrubs and trees. Basically I’d cover the whole town in green and there would be a love of nature and appreciation of the power it has to sustain us all. I don’t think this would have been an election winner but sometimes it’s the small details that lead to bigger things.
Any local charities you support and why?
I’m a co-founder of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and co-founder of All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. Neither are local but since both are to do with women, their health and self esteem, I feel women and girls in Kensal Green will benefit just the same.
And finally…
Plant roses! Park Life loves Hampstead Garden Centre: www.adrianhall.co.uk/hampstead-garden-centre
What are your three top tips to someone who’s just moved here?
1. Rip up your concrete front garden and plant roses.
2. Hang out in said front garden, tending to your wonderful blooms and say hello to everyone who walks past your house.
3. Get chatting with them and make friends.
Thanks for chatting to us, Caryn!
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What a funny lady Caryn is. I’m so with her about the paved-over gardens!
Caryn has done a wonderful job highlighting all the good things in the neighbourhood. It is a vibrant and warm community peppered with really nice shops and nice green spaces. I totally agree with Caryn’s pet hate of paved over front gardens and wish more people would follow her advice and greeted each other as we meander about.
Oh, I have come across the eccentric and ever so fashionable sextagenarian but unfortunately, have still to catch a glimpse of the middle-aged man in tiny briefs…but then again 6am is early…can he shift is normal routine by a couple of hours ;>)