In the summer of 1975 I realised that my time would shortly be up at 119 Drummond Street and I would have to find another home. London Transport gave us early warning that they wanted possession to demolish the property.

For my second squat I chose the first floor flat at 11 Tolmers Square. This consisted of two interconnecting rooms with a pair of French windows facing South. It had been empty for some years and the French windows needed repair and new glass.

The great advantage was easy access – I could enter the flat from the balcony of 12 Tolmers Square which was occupied by other squatting friends.  

In fact there was about to be a big change over at 12 Tolmers Square. Nick and Caroline were going off travelling, Barry and Atalia were moving to 6 Tolmers Square and Sacha, Cora and Jamie were moving in from 117 Drummond Street as their house was about to be demolished too.

My plan was to share cooking and meals with Sacha, Doug, Jamie, Cora and Pedro in number 12 as well as cook some meals in number 11 with my own kitchen so having the best of both worlds – communal living and private space, peace and quiet. The flat had a panoramic view over the square so you could see the comings and goings of everyone and the balcony was big enough to sit out on and eat with a small table and chairs. I began work on the flat and decided to do a thorough job.

Replacing the broken glass in the French windows to make them weatherproof and secure was the first job. Then I stripped off layers of wall paper, lined the walls and painted them.

I turned the back room into a kitchen and dressing room with a shower. There was a 1950s New World gas cooker which was in the flat when I arrived so I got that connected.

I installed a kitchen sink with worktop. The shower was a big project in itself. I put in a shower tray in the back corner. Kay Weller, the mother of my friend Chris Weller, worked for a tiling company and she generously gave me some grey mosaic tiles which lined two sides of the shower cubicle. You can see the tiles in this picture. For hot water I adapted a Sadia 2-gallon water heater, installed it above head level and plumbed it into a mixer with cold water. This worked extremely well but you had to plan ahead. The heater provided 2 gallons of piping hot water about one hour after switching on. Mixed with cold water this provided a shower for about three minutes only. So you had to be ready with the shampoo – wash and rinse the hair first then two minutes left for soaping and rinsing the rest. It worked! And this was luxury compared to 119 Drummond Street where we had had no bathroom at all.

I moved in during the summer of 1975 and had a telephone installed. This was essential as I was part of an overnight rota giving telephone legal advice for people held at police stations for Release, the legal charity and advice centre.

There were actually two tenants still living in 11 Tolmers Square – Joan on the 2nd floor and Mrs Gillick on the ground floor. The other rooms were all empty. Mrs Gillick had recently moved to a new flat nearby in Robert Street and only visited her room during the day.

I met Mrs Gillick and her son who came upstairs to see what was going on. I explained that I was a trainee solicitor, intended to be there for a few years and was making a nice job of renovations. I said it would be great if I could use the front door and proposed that I change the front door lock then give everyone a new key. They agreed so I no longer had to access the flat only by the balcony.

Later I was invited down for tea in Mrs Gillick’s front room where she was entertaining with her friend Ted who was working as a messenger delivering letters and papers in the City.

Joan on the floor above me was a delightful Irish woman and we soon became friends. Often as I was working in the flat putting up wall paper, filling, sanding and painting there was a soft knock on the door to the landing. When I opened it, there would be Joan holding a tray with a three course meal for me, all beautifully arranged on a lace mat.

I completed the work after a few weeks and enjoyed living at number 11 in some comfort for the next 4 years, only leaving in January 1979.

Number 12 next door was the social centre where all our big meals and parties took place with regular sing songs round the piano.

Read more about the author Patrick Allen