Camden Passage – a filming location for The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp (1954)

Re-watching this delightful film recently on Talking Pictures, I was convinced that I recognised the location of the shop where she pawns her harp as being in Camden Passage, Islington.

Yep... here are a few snaps I took of how that junction looks these days:

The corner shop has gone, I know not why, perhaps someone can explain that.

I find it interesting that the pawn shop in the movie, selling all sorts of old bits of jewellery, miscellaneous tat and musical instruments, has been replaced with a flat covered area for stallholders on which to sell trinkets, bric-a-brac and rugs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9am-6pm. 

This section, plus a few outlets at the northern end of Camden Passage and the small shops and tables around Pierrepont Arcade are all that's left of Islington's once bustling antiques market that used to cover this narrow street and spread into adjacent buildings. 

I recall in the 1990s that Camden Passage was thronged with shoppers making their way past laden tables and into covered arcades on either side. It was marvellous.

An early pic of Camden Passage taken from outside the location of the pawnbroker's shop, looking southwards, can be found just inside the gates along Pierrepont Arcade. My pic here from July 2018 shows Frank, one of the traders there, standing in front of the image. I stopped to chat to him back in July 2018 when I was keen to see how the store holders were managing after the awful flood caused by a burst water main the previous year when many business were forced to close due to the damage.

The flood appeared to affect the Pierrepoint Arcade traders the hardest being as these little streets are geographically lower than Upper Street where the water flowed from. Businesses struggled to continue trading, with many losing unreplacable stock. It was so sad. 

But these little backstreets have bounced back although, these days, apart from the arcade and The Camden Head pub, complete with its gin palace interior, there's little to remind us of a bygone past – it's all lattes, brioche burgers, expensive pastries, and matcha this and that, appealing to a new generation of punters who, apparently never cook anything...! 

Back to the movie – it's delightful – if you like A Matter of Life and Death (or Heaven Can Wait) or The Bishop's Wife – this one's for you. Enjoy!