Blackstock Road special

I’ve been making a concerted effort to get to know north London better, and visiting Finsbury Park regularly has been a big part of that. I mainly go there to relax at the weekend, which is when I like to wander around the city.

I enjoy spending time in Finsbury Park because it contains loads of the types of business that some people say London doesn’t sustain anymore. It’s also near other neighbourhoods that interest me for the same reason, like Tottenham, Harringay and Stoke Newington.

Since 2024, places like Cafe Salaam, The Park Tavern and New Beacon Books have brought me here most. There are also many other N4 businesses that I plan to cover, from its butchers and bakers to the many dress shops and fashion boutiques on the remarkable Fonthill Road.

While Finsbury Park has things in common with its neighbouring areas, it actually reminds me more of Brixton, Whitechapel and Shepherds Bush, which I see as focal points of inner south, east and west London respectively. Like these places, Finsbury Park is in the middle of its part of London and has a major Underground connection, so it concentrates the energy of the areas that surround it.

I’m obsessed with this part of the city and I intend to keep visiting it for years. This newsletter celebrates three businesses that I now know well, all of which are on Blackstock Road.

Fish & Cook is a 136-year-old shop that sells things like art supplies, bingo scoring cards, display books, envelopes, learner plates, fuse beads, “no smoking” signs, rubber bands and vintage A–Z maps. I first learned of it last year, then I heard that it was going to close.

In October, I asked the man behind the counter about the history of the business. He showed me a photo of it from the early 1900s, before telling me that his father took it over nearly 50 years ago.

I’ve seen people buy notepads and get printing done here; I’ve bought an A–Z guide and a zippable, reinforced mesh plastic folder myself. Fish & Cook made me realise that I only went to chain stationery shops as a child, and that there weren’t any independent ones where I grew up. It made me realise that I rarely buy stationery now, other than the odd biro.

I try to be less romantic about traditional and heritage business closures these days. Writing about them, and speaking to their owners, has taught me that death and retirement usually coincide with their closure.

Things like new technology, rising costs and rent hikes certainly play into this, and can force proprietors of otherwise viable businesses to retire earlier than they might have otherwise, without a successor. My main worry is what replaces a stationer like this when it passes on, and what that means for this city’s overall supply of specialist shops if new ones like it aren’t opening up.

When I went to Fish & Cook last week, I asked the guy behind the counter if it was closing. He said yes, so I asked if he was retiring. “Sort of,” he said. “With everything going online it’s not worth it for me.”

As of this week, Fish & Cook is still open, and I’d highly recommend that you buy something there. Other independent stationers that I’m aware of in London include Dalston Stationers on Kingsland High Street, Morgan’s Stationery on Kentish Town Road and Newmans Stationery on Bethnal Green Road.

3 Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, London N4 2JF