Eight places to visit

All in one handy list, here’s a list of places which Goon fans can visit and remember their heroes.

The Grafton Arms
2 Strutton Ground, Victoria, London SW1P 2HP
In many ways, this is the place where it all began. Nowadays, it’s one of the Greene King chain of pubs, but in the late 1940s it’s proprietor was Jimmy Grafton, wartime army major and some time comedy scriptwriter and producer. It was here that Bentine, Secombe, Milligan and Sellers became a team. Spike lived and helped in the pub for a time, while Grafton provided mentorship and became known as KOGVOS (King of Goons, Voice of Sanity).
The pub is decorated with Goon related cartoons, photos and murals to celebrate its place in history, while the GSPS’s own plate is attached to the outer wall, declaring this the place where Goonery exploded.

The Spike Milligan Statue
Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley, London N3 3QE
Not just a life-size statue of Spike by John Somerville, it’s also a life-sized statue of an ornate park bench where you can sit and have a conversation with the man himself. Spike was an active member of the local community and the statue was erected by the Finchley Society in his memory in 2014.

127 Holden Road, Finchley, London N12 7DB
Also erected by the Finchley Society, a blue plaque on the gable end of a house in Brook Meadow denotes that, between 1955 and 1974, Spike Milligan lived in the house that once stood there.

9 Orme Court, Bayswater, London W2 4RL
The ‘Comedy Heritage’ blue plaque here says Spike lived there. This though was also the building which housed Associated London Scripts, where he wrote with Eric Sykes (who also gets a plaque), and provided a venue for many other writers. Norma Farnes became Spike’s manager while there, and it’s where Beryl Vertue started her career as a secretary too.

Spike Milligan’s Grave
St. Thomas Parish Church, Monks’ Walk, Winchelsea, TN36 4AB, East Sussex
Famously, Spike wanted the words “I told you I was ill” inscribed on his gravestone. Ultimately, the words were added, but in Irish Gaelic. Some say that searching the graveyard for the correct stone is an adventure. Others tell of a well trodden line through the grass which leads straight to it.

The Camden Theatre, 1a Camden High Street, London, NW1 7RE
This was the studio where the Goon Show was recorded in the 1950s. Nowadays, the building’s occupied by a music venue called KOKO. Its history is recalled by a blue plaque which reads “The Last Goon Show of All starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan & Harry Secombe was recorded by the BBC in this Theatre on 30th April 1972”. Comedy fans might appreciate that the Mornington Crescent tube station is just around the corner.

St Thomas Parish Church, Lewis St, Swansea SA1 8BP
Not to be confused with the Winchelsea St Thomas, this church proudly displays a blue plaque telling of Sir Harry Secombe CBE, Goon, comedian and singer, having served as a boy chorister there.

10 Muswell Hill Rd, London N6 5UG
Another blue plaque, this one was the first to be erected by the Dead Comics Society. It reads “Peter Sellers, 1925 – 1980, Goon and comic actor, lived here, 1936 – 1940.”