London: 5th February 2006

My starting point is Crystal Palace in South London, where The Secret Method lived, recorded and occasionally performed. It is now 9.30pm as I write this entry from the comfort of my hotel room in Upper Norwood, having enjoyed a busy and eventful start to my voyage.

Having spent a little of the afternoon sightseeing and familiarizing myself with the area, I began my retread of the band's last steps in earnest today. The first port of call upon my arrival in London was the former offices of the Golden Hoof record label. I met with my tour-guide for the day, Bob Longfellow, an ex-employee of Golden Hoof and a valued contributor to this web site. He showed me the building, which sits just off busy Oxford Street, and is now home to a web-design company. Sadly, there was very little to see, so we found a café where I could further quiz Bob on his recollections.

It was at the beginning of January 1996 that the band arrived at the offices and proposed their trip to Black River House. Nick Young had recently returned from a holiday in Ireland and Bob seems fairly convinced that Nick had hatched the plan alone over Christmas, and that the other members had been willing to go along with it.

By 1996, the funds of cash and goodwill for the band had all but expired after a series of poor recordings and gigs, so much so that the label could offer little financial help for the scheme. Bob Longfellow stepped forward to secure some recording equipment and, crucially, the loan of his own VW Camper van for the trip. “I must have been mad” He jokes now, and goes on to admit that he was far from willing at first, but gave in to what he calls “Being hounded for about two days solid. I just gave up in the end and let them take it.”

The band, with Bob’s help, organized themselves quickly and were ready to leave London by the 11th January when Bob dropped off the Camper Van at the band’s shared address in Crystal Palace. They were apparently in good spirits, though Bob suggests that Nick Young was approaching the venture a little more gravely than the others, perhaps being more keenly aware that this was a ‘last chance’ scenario.

Bob eventually recovered his van two months later from Black River House, finding it to be almost written off from engine damage. After the police had given a cursory examination of the van, he quickly sold it on “for good riddance”. Today, he still cannot be certain who was responsible for the damage, nor does he seem keen to dwell on it.

The rest of today was filled with being shown around the area by Bob, mostly via the Soho pubs where the band and label did much of their talking. “They never missed a chance to drink on my expense account” Bob jokes. I parted with Bob this evening, wondering still about the damage he described to his van’s engine, and of course, why even this was never a feature of the original police report.

For the most part, today has been a day for quiet reflection. In all honesty I find I am quite fatigued from the journey to London and I am anxious to get some rest before the 'expedition', as it were, begins for real. Tomorrow I shall spend my second and final day in London when I shall attempt to uncover any traces of the band's presence in the area before their ill fated crossing of the Irish Sea.

With Very Best Wishes,