Alison Pugh: Amidst Amy Winehouse mourners

opinion

By Alison Pugh

Published: 10:49AM Thursday July 28, 2011 Source: ONE News

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Breakfast reporter Alison Pugh is in London, where she got caught up in the grief of Amy Winehouse fans.

You can spot Amy Winehouse's followers a mile away. They wear torn black leggings, layer upon layer of mesh and tartan, lashings of jet-black liquid eyeliner, and sport hair colours that are a far cry from any natural shade.

They stand together in small clusters outside Winehouse's three-storey flat in the eclectic-cool North London suburb of Camden.

Camden is an area renowned for its alternative music, fashion and culture - where tattoo parlours and edgy pubs are as commonplace as ATMs. So much so that, after the northern line train charges on from the Camden Town tube stop, the patronage suddenly looks rather dull.

Today, hundreds stand quietly outside the brick home where on Saturday, Amy Winehouse was found dead. News of her death has clogged the British tabloids for days, overtaking both the Norway massacre and the never-ending downward spiral of The News of the World.

The crowd outside her home is made up of a pilgrimage of die-hard fans who hold flowers and hold back tears; television crews and photographers mesmerised by any movement at the flat's main gate; and the mainstream public who have come to see first-hand the mounting tributes that are piling up around the leafy Camden Square.

Her death has taken a toll on the neighbourhood.

I spoke briefly to the owner of a Lebanese restaurant located just one block from her house. Behind the counter was a mural made of paparazzi clippings of Winehouse exiting his shop.

"This is Amy leaving. She came here to eat nearly every day. This last time she left she told me she had no money and couldn't pay me for her dinner. I said, 'Amy , that's OK'."

His last transaction with Winehouse will now never be completed.

Street signs around the area have also been commandeered by her fans. Many have scrawled "AMY, RIP" on the plastic, with an arrow directing people to her memorial.

Her legacy is obvious to anyone who visits.

The crowds at Camden Square have grown to a point that security staff have been employed to guard her property around the clock. London 's weather is balmy, but the mood in Camden in sombre.

Amy Winehouse was the celebrity here who made it cool to be uncool.

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