This week 30 years ago: Islington mayor’s home-made burglar alarm success and Holloway Odeon is saved
History: 30 years ago September 1, 1988. Picture: Islington Gazette - Credit: Archant
A home-made “burglar alarm” installed by the then mayor of Islington Candy Atherton had immediate results.
Within an hour of setting it up at her house, a crook was caught out by the alarm – and taken away by police.
Candy, 32, said: “I felt very strongly that one should be able to sleep safely at night.
“I’m not going to say I was brave – all I had to do was phone 999.”
Freelance journalist Candy, who had at that point been an Islington councillor for two years, decided to act after a series of break-ins in the area of Mackenzie Road, Holloway, in which she lived.
• A cinema was saved – by film fans flocking through its doors.
A boom in business earned a reprieve for the Holloway Odeon which was threatened with demolition or conversation into a bingo hall.
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On the eve of the Odeon’s 50th birthday, bosses announced a massive investment to ensure the cinema had a future stretching into the 21st century. Now there are plans to redevelop it again.
