The Burning Up Times - Strangled.co.uk

Burning Up Times Issue 3
The Old Knoll, Eliot Hill, Blackheath, SE13
The Old Knoll dates from 1798 and was dissected
into two in 1903. Inside, the lobby is
palatial: fl oor-tiled in mosaics and bordered by
great stone columns encapsulating Georgian
charm. Trevor Rogers’ eerie red and green hue
shot for Rattus is a fuzzy memory. The present
incumbent scribbles a note: it’s the number of
the previous owner, antiques dealer Warner Dailey,
who was here in 1977. As I leave, I call – but
he’s about to go out. All the same, he agrees to
meet me at his home providing I can get there
in thirty minutes. A South Circular gumball rally
leaves me with a minute to spare.
“I registered The Old Knoll with a fi lm location
agent in 1975 when I moved in. The Stranglers’
session was a stills session – the booking would
have been between £200 and £500 – I can’t
recall precisely how much now. But it was a
morning shoot.”
At the forefront of Warner’s recall, more famous
house guests take centre spot: Mona Lisa,
starring Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine; Bad
Timing with Harvey Keitel and Julian Temple’s
famous Sex Pistols’ fi lm, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll
Swindle.
“We had problems with that one. They nearly
set fi re to the house when they lit the chimney
for one scene. But with The Stranglers, well, they
were unknown at that point, weren’t they? So I’m
afraid, it all passed me by. But after the album
came out, I took more of an interest when my
nephews and nieces, and their friends, found
out about it. The props in the shot were all mine.
They’ve all been sold over the years: the Grandfather
clock, which was my grandfather’s originally;
the little girl mannequin and the spears
too. The fox heads went to a Stranglers fan who
came down from the Wirral, some years back.”
Details are hazy, but Warner is sure The
Stranglers had a good session:
“They must have, because they returned to
do the Midnight Summer Dream video in 1986.”
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