Beer with a good head – The Hemingford Arms' tribute to popular regular Don Bodie ‘who was never too busy to offer help’
Published: 1 October, 2010
by PETER GRUNER
A WELL-KNOWN figure in Barnsbury has been immortalised in a bronze sculpture which has gone up at his favourite pub, The Hemingford Arms.
Don Bodie, 65, a poet and conservationist who restored old buildings, died last year of a brain tumour at Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead.
A friend, amateur sculptor Alison Glaister, produced the head originally in clay but pub regulars and staff raised £900 to have it cast in bronze. The sculpture was presented to the pub in Hemingford Road last week. The wooden stand for the head was made by Don’s friend Pete Marriott.
Alison said: “It was our tribute to a really nice man who was never too busy to offer advice or help, particularly with a building or conservation problem.”
Mr Bodie’s widow Annie is delighted with the sculpture. Her husband was a member of conservation group Islington Society and part of the campaign to save the once-threatened West Library in Barnsbury. “He was a well-known local bloke and everyone still misses him,” she said.
Mr Bodie’s son Daniel unveiled the head. Daniel made a 950-mile sponsored cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats in May and has raised more than £3,000 for the hospice. He said: “My dad was cared for at the hospice last year and he and the whole family were looked after and supported through the last stages of his illness.
“The care was fantastic and I am still hoping to raise as much as I can, to show our gratitude and to ensure the hospice can continue to do its good work so others may benefit the way we did.”