Dylan sings to the Singers Club on the 2nd floor of the Pindar of Wakefield tavern on 328 Gray's Inn Road, King's Cross, London, Sunday, Dec. 23, 1962.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

Photos of the event, by Brian Shuel, show Dylan singing in front of a small half-stage with people sitting literally all around him, above, below, and to the sides.

We wanted to figure out where this odd room was located and find the exact spot Dylan was standing.

The Pindar of Wakefield tavern is now call the Water Rats tavern, named after the social club that owns the building - The Grand Order of Water Rats - a charitable organization made up of people who are or were in the entertainment business.

There is a pub on the ground floor, with a room behind it, a former old-time British music hall, where music acts play, that holds 200 people. In fact, both the Pogues and Oasis debuted there.

In looking at photos of this ground floor music hall we could find no windows in the room.

But we had run across several photos taken at the Singers Club on the same night that Dylan sang, and they showed that there were three large windows in the room. That suggested to us that the Singers Club didn't meet on the ground floor, but rather they sang in a room upstairs in the four-story building.

Digging deeper into Google Images and YouTube, we looked for photos and videos of the Water Rats organization - and soon found several photos that showed the small stage we had seen in the Dylan photos. The stage was along the wall of a handsome memorabilia-filled Victorian-style meeting room on the second floor of the tavern.

(A note on terminology: In this entry when I refer to the 2nd floor, I am referring to what Americans call the floor above the ground floor. In England the floor above the ground floor is called the 1st floor.)

So we asked our British Popspot's associate, Johnny Fewings, who has assisted in several PopSpots, to take photos of the room so we could superimpose the Dylan photographs on them. The Water Rats were gracious in allowing Johnny to photograph the room and the results are below.

The small stage with the small steps fit perfectly behind the 1962 photos of Dylan.

(For this PopSpots my thanks go to: Johnny Fewings for your photos; and Marie Fotini for your added research; and Ian Woodward, longtime Dylan historian, for your help with the dates of the events.)

This (below) is a contemporary photo of the room Dylan was singing in. It's on the second floor of the Water Rats tavern, and it is currently used as the meeting room of a benevolent organization called The Water Rats.

In Dylan's time, it was a room rented out occasionally from the tavern to different groups. For about a year in 1962 the room was rented out on Saturday and Sunday nights by the SIngers Club, a well known folk music club at the center of the British Folk Revival of the later fifties and early sixties.

At the time the club was being run by Ewan MacColl and his partner/later wife the American folksinger, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger's sister. MacColl's well-known songs included "Dirty Old Town" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." He also popularized the version of "Scarborough Fair" later made famous by Simon and Garfunkel.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Here's the PopSpot of the Dylan photo, superimposing Dylan's photo over the exact place he was standing.

You can click on this photo to enlarge it, as you can on almost all of the photos on this webpage.

You will notice that in Dylan's time, there was no railing around the small stage to his left. Also, there was a platform behind Dylan to the right where two people could sit on chairs.

(photo by Johnny Fewingsl)

Dylan reportedly sang "Masters of War" and "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" that night.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

A vertical version of the last shot.

Here's a PopSpot of that shot. (click to ENLARGE)

Here's a shot of the room from further back. (click to ENLARGE)

And here's that same shot with Dylan in it. (click to ENLARGE)

The room looks like it could hold around 150 people.

The man at far right, center frame, is Ewan MacColl, co-head of the club. At the lower left, Natasha Morgan is sitting next to Anthea Joseph. The man directly above Dylan is A.L. "Bert" Lloyd. All were well-known British folksingers.

Dylan is said to be using a guitar belonging to Barry Beattie of the SIngers Club.

We will show photos of more performers from that evening below. There are two more of Dylan. Here's the first.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

And here's the last shot of Dylan that we could find from that night. All were taken by Brian Shuel.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

The Pindar of Wakefield tavern is now called the Water Rats tavern after the name of the nonprofit organization that bought the building, The Grand Order of the Water Rats, a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organization populated by entertainers that originated way back in 1889.

Their Facebook page indicates its members include: "Film Stars to Pop Stars to Sporting Heroes; Circus Acts to Clowns; Comics to Dramatic Actors; Musicians to Television Presenters; Radio Stars to Royalty."

The ground floor features a pub and in the back, a small concert hall. There are three floors of rooms upstairs. The Water Rats organization has a event room on the second floor. That's where the Dylan picture was taken.

The club on the ground floor is also of note for being where the Pogues premiered in 1982 and Oasis played their first London gig in 1994.

In 1992 the "Splash Club" took over the ground floor live venue.

The premises were originally built in 1517 by George Green, one-time Pindar of Wakefield. A "pindar" in England, is a person who rounds up stray animals.

The original building was destroyed in a thunderstorm in 1793. The present building, built in 1878, was supposedly once patronized by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who may even have boarded upstairs.

Here's a wide shot of the room Dylan played in taken from the small stage.

It was seeing these three windows in a photo taken the same night as Dylan's performance that led us to figure that Dylan had performed on the second floor (aka the "first" floor in England) and not the ground floor, which has no windows except at the front of the bar area and maybe some into the back alley.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Here's how the building looks today. The location is 328 Gray's Inn Road, King's Cross, London.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Another shot from straight on.

From above. From this angle you can see how there were no windows on the sides of the ground floor music club, thus Dylan had to be playing upstairs.

Here's what the Pindar of Wakefield looked like in 1972. (from Shutterstock)

The original pub from 1854.

This blue plaque, now lost, used to be on the outside of the building signifying Dylan's visit.

This is a picture of the small concert hall on the ground floor in back of the barroom area.

The Pogues played their first gig here on October 4, 1982. Oasis played their first headline gig here on January 27, 1994. Other artists who have played here include: Beck, Moby, Weezer, Teenage Fanclub, Aimee Mann, David Gray, Ben Folds Five, and the Decemberists.

Below this are some pictures of other folk singers from the SIngers Club who sang on the same night that Dylan sang. Dylan was at the club as a guest - possibly of Martin Carthy, a British folksinger, who he had befriended, or Anthea Joseph, who ran the Troubadour Club (and is mentioned as being in one of the photos above).

(Note: Several books say that Dylan had been club-hopping with Martin Carthy during the week and Carty has said that Dylan played several songs while they were at the King & Queen pub the night before. However the SIngers Club was a more formal event with many of the most famous British folksingers in attendance, and that is why I believe it is usually credited as Dylan's first U.K. performance. The Troubadour Club also claims that Dylan played his first song in the U.K. there while out with Martin Carthy. Dylan supposedly arrived in London before December 15th, so he had plenty of time to play in various pubs. I will let other Dylan historians decide the question.)

This is a picture of Louis Killen (left) and Bob Davenport (right) performing at the SIngers Club Christmas party. They are standing in the same place Dylan did.

Here is folksinger Anne Briggs.

The following photos are of other folksingers who sang in the second floor of the Pindar of Wakefield, mostly photographed by Brian Shuel.

I don't think these photos were taken at the same night as Dylan's photos, but they show some different features of the room.

Here are Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. MacColl often performed with his hand near his ear. Margaret "Peggy" Seeger was the sister of Pete Seeger. Peggy Seeger lived in Britain for over 60 years and was married to MacColl until his death in 1989.

The Haverin, a Jewish folk group. (Getty)

(Photo by Brian Shuel)

The McPeake Family from Belfast at the SIngers Club - Kathleen, James, Francis 1 and Francis 2 closest to the camera.

(Photo by Brian Shuel)

This is Enoch Kent singing. Note the curtains covering the three windows in the back. This was what led us to believe that Dylan sang on the second floor.

(Photo by Brian Shuel)

This is the room on the second floor of the building where the organization called The Water Rats holds their meetings.

You can see a small stage in the background with steps leading up to it. Dylan likely sang on the first step which extends out from the bottom (which you can't see in this photo). The stage is in the background in the Brian Shuel photos.

While researching pictures and videos of the Water Rats, we ran across this picture of a party from a Water Rats Facebook post.

This told us that this was the same room Dylan had sung in, because the small stage matched the stage behind Dylan in the photos from December 1962, though in Dylan's time there was no railing around the stage. (click TO ENLARGE)

Another picture of a party at the Grand Order of Water Rats. From a Facebook post. This shows the other side of the room. (click TO ENLARGE)

Dylan was photographed right behind where these men are standing, in front of the stairs.

Another shot of the stage that was behind Dylan.

A shot showing the end of the stage and one of the entrance doors.

A good view of the stairs.

A panorama of the room made from a video panorama of the room online. We wanted to figure what the entire room looked like before we went up to photograph it. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

Insignia of the GOWR (Grand Order of the Water Rats) on the entrance door to the clubroom. (From a YouTube video)

The organization changes with the times, from music hall to television to rock and roll.

Rock musician Rick Wakeman from the band Yes was a member of the Water Rats.

Nicko McBrain, drummer from Iron Maiden, was also a Water Rat.

Dylan flew to London in mid-December 1962 (a few days before Monday the 10th when he had a meeting) to take part in a tv show Madhouse of Castle Street. It was his first visit to England and he stayed about a month, with a side trip to Rome in the middle (from January 5th to 10th). He supposedly left London for the USA on January 16th.

While in London he visited several of the best know folk clubs and played with various English folk singers. From these British folksingers like Martin Carthy and Nigel Denver he learned the melodies to many traditional English ballads like "Scarborough Fair" and "The Patriot Game" that he would later use in his own compositions of "Girl of the North Country" and "With God on Our Side" respectively.

The three main clubs he played at were:

1) The Pindar of Wakefield (now the Water Rats theater at 328 Gray's Inn Road, King's Cross, London) (at an event of the Singers Club)
2) The King & Queen (1 Foley Square, Fitzrovia, London)
3) The Troubadour (265-267 Old Brompton Road, Earl's Court, London)

Here are some pictures of Dylan playing at the King & Queen, most likely on Friday, December 31st 1962.

The 2nd floor of the King and Queen pub in London.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

Dylan on the 2nd floor of the King & Queen pub in London.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

Dylan on the 2nd floor of the King & Queen pub in London.

(photo by Brian Shuel)

Part of the bar area room on the 2nd floor of the King & Queen pub in London.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Dylan on the 2nd floor of the King and Queen pub in London.

Dylan on the 2nd floor of the King and Queen pub in London.

This (below) is a photo of the exterior of the King & Queen Pub in Fitzrovia, London. It's located at 1 Foley Street at Cleveland Street.

From Whatpub.com:

"This imposing Grade II-listed red brick Edwardian Gothic building was first licensed in 1767.

From the late 1840s it was used as a meeting place by the Washington Brigade of the Chartists.

The spacious ground floor bar doubles as a portrait gallery of British royalty, playing cards and sports teams (especially rugby), whilst the function room upstairs houses an impressive collection of brewery-themed mirrors and hosts the regular folk club events."

A closer view of the entrance.

Three other views of the second floor Function Room - View #1.

Three other views of the Function Room - View #2.

Three other view of the Function Room - View #3.

Here's a view from the other direction.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Dylan had visited the club together with British folksinger Martin Carthy who also sang that night and is pictured below.

The man who photographed them, Brian Shuel, was interviewed about the photos by Ian Woodward, a Dylan historian who created the newsletter The Wicked Messenger and who writes occasionally for The Bridge and Isis magazines.

Shuel remembered taking the King & Queen shots of Dylan before taking those at the Pindar of Wakefield. And since the T4 folk club that Martin Carthy belonged to met on Fridays at the King & Queen, he believes that those photos were taken on Friday Dec. 21st., two days before the photos taken at the Pindar on the 23rd.

But, as mentioned earlier, Dylan had been in London since before December 15th, and during those ten-plus days he was roaming various clubs about at all hours with friends, so he might have played "first" at any of as many as over 20 clubs and pubs that he could have visited. These were just the ones at which he was first photographed.

(photo probably by Brian Shuel)

Here's how that looks superimposed into a Popspot.

On his trip to London, Dylan would also frequent a long established club called The Troubadour, which like the other clubs above claims that Dylan played here first, a subject still up to debate.

For the Dylan fan, there's a "Dylan Room" on the premises complete with a Dylan-in-London history on the wall and Dylan Memorabilia. Worth a visit.

From the Troubadour Website.: "Here he would meet fellow folk legend, Martin Carthy who taught him the traditional English ballad, "Scarborough Fair" - Dylan would later go on to write his own song "Girl from the North Country" inspired by the English balladeer's rendition of the folk classic." . . . The photo comes from Dylan's second trip to the club a few weeks later on January 14, 1963. His American friends Eric Von Schmidt, Richard Fariña, and Ethan Signer, a member of the Charles River Boys, were in town to record an album that Dylan would also play on as Blind Boy Grunt. . . . The album was entitled "Dick Fariña and Eric Von Schmidt (Folklore, 1963) ." . . . After the recording the group celebrated with a "crate of beer," then jammed at the Troubadour singing "Cocaine," some Eric and Richard songs, and then Dylan performed solo on "Don't Think Twice" and "Blowin' in the Wind," . . . In the pictures they are from left to right Ethan Signer (hat), Martin Carthy, Richard Fariña, Bob Dylan, and Rick Von Schmidt.

(photo by Alison Chapman McLean)

This the the spot in the basement of the Troubadour Club that Dylan and his friends played.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Here's the Popspot of Dylan at the Troubadour, 1962.

(photos by Alison Chapman McLean (front) and Johnny Fewings (back)

The Troubadour in 1958.

The Troubadour in 2024.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

A plaque at the Troubadour.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

The entrance to the Dylan Room at the Troubadour.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

The wall of history in the Dylan Room.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

Dylan memorabilia in the Troubadour's Dylan Room.

(photo by Johnny Fewings)

A map of where the three Clubs are in London

(photo by Johnny Fewings)