Mind the London Gap

A strange gap in the dates leads me to wonder what happened between dad's flight from Bangladesh in Apr 1963 to his Minisitry of Labour Voucher's date of entry to the UK in November 1963. Would he have had a stop-over in Karachi? I don't think so as the outbound ticket lists multiple changes for the same date.

So, what happened for seven months?

Aside from this anomaly, I have found his residential address up to May 1964 based on his NHS Medical Card which was 24 Offord Road, London, N1, not very far from Camden and Kentish Towns and is 2 minutes walk from Caledonian Road Station (British Rail overground). The next question has to be, why there? What secret lair of our mythical meanderers existed here? Was there a job here? A lodging, paid for by an employer? Who else lived here? Questions, questions. His GP was a Dr K. Bhattarcharya, who is more than likely a late Bhattacharya by now.

Below, is the Google Map with satellite image overlayed of Offord Road as it is now.
From what I can tell, there were terraces with gardens - relatively long - probably about 60 feet. The street outside the terraced houses looks narrow - and is likely quite overcrowded with cars but would have been fairly empty in 1964.

What I like about this image is that from a bird's eye view it is the same as it was 46 years ago, nothing much has changed except maybe the trees will be taller and some of the roofs will have been retiles, reimagined or houses slightly renovated and extended but generally, the spirit of Offord Road is the same. Isn't it?


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