god save the queen news.fitzrovia.org.uk fitzrovianews...ken shuttleworth \s architectecture firm...
TRANSCRIPT
£8.5m flats sold
GIGSest. 1964
The home of traditional Fish & Chips Fully licensed Greek restaurant
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news.fitzrovia.org.uk
Issue 125 Summer 2012
FitzroviaNewsFitzrovia News is produced by residents and volunteers and distributed free to all businesses and residential addresses in Fitzrovia
God Save the Queen
Westminster Council should have pressed for more affordable homes on site
News in briefThere will be a DiamondJubilee Festival in CharlottePlace from 12pm on Tuesday 5June.
It is 35 years since the SexPistols played in the 100 Club,Oxford Street, and releasedGod Save the Queen. Theirmanager Malcolm McLarenhad lived in Scala Street.
The man charged with abomb hoax which led to thewhole of Tottenham CourtRoad being evacuated onFriday 27 April was a candi-date for the far-right BritishNational Party at the 2010general election for a seat inStevenage, Hertfordshire.
A 20 miles-per-hour speedlimit and cycling contra-flowsare in effect in the Camdenpart of Fitzrovia’s streets westof Tottenham Court Road afterthe works to remove trafficlights at two junctions andbuild raised road tables.
There is a planning appli-cation to convert the publictoilet outside 24 to 25 FoleyStreet to a coffee shop.
We were sorry to see thepopular and long-runningphotographic shop Kingsley’son Tottenham Court Roadclose a year ago. Now some ofthe staff have resurfaced in anew shop called Calumet inDrummond Street, near toEuston Station. NeilFairweather told us he is verykeen to see old Kingsley cus-tomers. You can contact himon 0207 387 3354.
A planning application islikely to be submitted toWestminster Council at theend of the year for the rede-velopment of the Royal Maildelivery depot in RathbonePlace. Ken Shuttleworth’sarchitectecture firm Make whoare based in Whitfield Streethave been asked to draw up
Continues on page 4 ...
While tenants in Fitzrovia arestruggling to pay their rent inthe face of rising property valuesand housing benefit caps, luxuryapartments are being sold asinvestments abroad for millions.
Property developerExemplar, which this yearreceived planning permission tobuild on the site of the formerMiddlesex Hospital, is sellingapartments off-plan for between£605,000 and £8.5 million to buy-ers in Hong Kong andSingapore.
UK buyers are currentlybeing offered 2 and 3 bedroomapartments for between£1,720,000 and £3,850,000 andcar parking spaces for an extra£75,000 each at the developmentwhich is being heavily marketedas Fitzroy Place. These will bethe highest price per square footever achieved for property inFitzrovia and nothing has beenbuilt yet.
Permission was given for thedevelopment on Mortimer Streetin February after Westminster’splanning committee agreed to a
contribution of affordable hous-ing provision amounting to 17.4percent of the total residentialfloorspace on-site, plus £5.94mtowards the City Council’saffordable housing fund.
However, planning policynormally requires that 25 per-cent of the apartments should beaffordable housing, but a largercontribution of affordable hous-ing was rejected by Exemplarwho argued that it was notviable to provide any more.Westminster’s planning commit-tee agreed.
Westminster Council arenow being criticised for lettingthe developers get away with solittle affordable housing whenthe private apartments are beingsold for such huge sums ofmoney. The Charlotte StreetAssociation and FitzroviaNeighbourhood Associationwho argued for more affordablehousing on the development sitesay that Westminster Councilhas allowed Exemplar and theconsortium to, in effect, takemoney that should have gonetowards Westminster’s housingneeds.
Westminster Council shouldhave demanded the full 25 per-cent quota of affordable housingon the site.
City of Westminster has ahuge housing problem and thenew leader of the councilPhillippa Roe has said that thosewho are unable to afford the ris-ing rents in the City shouldmove out of the borough. “Evenif people do have to move, theydon’t have to move very far –Camden, Brent, Southwark,Lambeth are on our doorstepand there are properties in those
FLAMING TUBAS! A busker fires up the crowds at Whitfield Gardens.
areas beneath the cap,” she toldthe Guardian in March shortlyafter being elected leader.
But property prices in neigh-bouring Camden are nearly ashigh as Westminster and manyresidents who rent are facing theprospect of having to leave thearea.
In an interview with Fitzrovia
News she said she wantedWestminster to be “a placewhere people aspire to visit,work and live.”
The rising cost of living inFitzrovia p5; interview withWestminster leader PhilippaRoe p8; Fitzrovia woman driv-en out by rent hike p9
By News Reporters
2 Letters and comment Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Issue 125 Summer 2012Published 29 May 2012
Fitzrovia News is producedquarterly by the FitzroviaCommunity NewspaperGroup, and published by theFitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation fitzrovia.org.uk(registered charity no. 1111649)39 Tottenham Street, London, W1T 4RXISSN: 0967-1404
Editorial TeamMike Pentelow: editor and features editorLinus Rees: assistant editorPete Whyatt: news and production editorFiona Green: arts and listings editorBrian Jarman: writer and sub-editorBarb Jacobson: associate editorJennifer Kavanagh: associate editorJess Owensassociate editor
Contributors:John AlfordGeorge BinningSue BlundellLaura BroderickIan CameronRev Alan CarrLeslie CarlyleStephen CarterBarbara CorrClifford HarperClive JenningsChristina LathamEugene McConvilleGuy O’ConnellJulie ParkerSunita SoliarPat TullochChris TylerKipper Williams
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The Georgian Group’s elegant eighteenth-century headquarters overlooking Fitzroy Square providea unique location for all types of private and corporate events in theheart of central London.
We cordially invite local businesses and individuals to visitour building and get a taste of theauthentic Georgian experience…
For booking enquiries, availability and rates please contact:Rob Kouyoumdjian on 020 7529 8921 or [email protected]
Your LettersSend your letters to Fitzrovia News, 39 Tottenham Street,London W1T 4RX, or email [email protected]
Following my letter published inFitzrovia News 124 about thearticle “Fighting Franco'sFascists” in the previous issue Ithought readers would be inter-ested in the enclosed picture (seeright).
It is of a shrine, ‘To the HolyHeart of Jesus’ which was con-structed in 1940 in the Casa deCampo, (literally the House inthe Country) which is Madrid’smajor park and easily reachablefrom the city centre, as a monu-ment to the Spanish Civil War.Originally built to celebrate thelives of Franco’s soldiers, it nowcommemorates all dead, includ-ing the International Brigade.
It is interesting to note that itis maintained by children andgrandchildren of the fallen fromboth sides and provides a quietoasis in the park and is done onan entirely voluntary basis – no
Shrine to theSpanish dead ofboth sides
As the new associate rector of StGiles-in-the-Fields parish (whichincludes Fitzrovia), I am familiarwith the area from my teenageyears when the West End waswhere we all went to have anight out if we could afford it, orsomewhere to wander around ifwe couldn’t.
We mostly went to the pic-tures and sat quietly in the cor-ner of pubs pretending to be 18.The theatre was far too posh forlads from Brixton and Stockwell,and the clubs too seedy andscary. We went ‘up town’ for funand pleasure and to misbehaveslightly for a while, away fromour parents’ gaze or the con-straints of the neighbourhood. Itwas always a creative and risquéplace, and the haunt of charac-ters who lived on the margins ofconvention. That’s why we andothers were drawn here fromtime to time and loved its ener-gy and buzz.
In the interval between leav-ing and returning, the wholeworld seems to have arrived. Ican’t imagine there can be amore cosmopolitan city any-where right now, and a gooddeal of this is concentrated oneither side of the north-southdivide of Oxford Street and theeast-west divide of TottenhamCourt Road.
What remains is its reputa-tion as a palace of fun. On mostnights and especially at theweekend I still see hoards of vis-itors arriving with the sole aimof having a good time, see a
show, drink more than is goodfor them and generally let theirhair down. I’ve usually left bythe time things get into fullswing, though those residentsamong you must feel the fullbrunt of this wave of humanity.But I can see the after-effectswhen I turn up early on aSunday morning and its notalways pretty – there’s the litterof course, scattered across theside streets and St Giles church-yard (mostly empty vodka bot-tles), and then there’s the human‘litter’ slumped against a wall orstaggering home. I only hopethe night before was worth themorning after.
Working here in ministry fulltime is different to visiting occa-sionally for fun and I see theWest End with fresh eyes now.For the first time I realise thatthe fun that people crave andcome for is enjoyed on the backof a great deal of sheer hardwork from those who run thetheatres, restaurants and clubs.
I’ve met Tom, for example,who has an all-night shift in aChinese Restaurant and is farmore tolerant of the drunk,xenophobic guests than I couldever be. I take my hat off tothose of you work here, often forlong hours, who cook and servefood, who clean up after people,who sweep the streets and pickup the drunks, and dream upnew and exciting ways forspending an evening. The WestEnd has always drawn a crowdand always will. But I knownow that one person’s fun isanother person’s labour, that funis a very serious business.
Rev Alan Carr, AssociateRector, St Giles-in-the-Fields.
Fun is a veryserious businessfor some
official help is received, apartfrom the occasional transport ofmaterials from the local parksauthority. It was built on the sitewhere it was believed that dur-ing the battle for Madrid anapparition of Christ appearedand provoked a lull in what wasa bloody and savage battle.During this period, the opportu-nity was used to recover thedead and injured on both sides.
John Alford, Fitzroy Square.
Firstly, your latest FitzroviaNews (No 124) should have hadten pages about Thomas Spenceand poets hounded daily by thefuzz, and maybe just half a pageabout — I think his name was —Dickens.
Secondly, when humanoidsdrop bits of hamburgers orcrisps or some such, do weheadline them as “Human Ratswithout wings”? How comeFitzrovia News editors headlinepigeons as rats with wings just
Don’t abuse the pigeons
Concern forPolish menI am concerned about the manyhomeless men who gather roundthe Church of St CharlesBorromeo, in Ogle Street. Agroup of sometimes as many as30 men gather outside thechurch at about 8.30am, and allthrough the day and into theevening, they stand on the pave-ments nearby.
These, almost exclusivelyPolish men, also gather on thecorner of Foley and CandoverStreets as well as on the cornerof Cleveland and NewCavendish Streets. This has beengoing on for quite a few yearsnow and the situation shows nosign of improving or there beingany sign of improvement in themen’s personal lives.
What is the Church offeringthese (Catholic) men, and, fur-thermore, what is the PolishEmbassy, around the corner inNew Cavendish Street, doing forthem?Name and address supplied.
for being survivors?Disappointing.
By all means publish variouspoints of view, but don’t assumean overtly abusive mode.
Like the rest of us, pigeonsare survivors... so too are ratsand the very tiny pitch blackcreatures scurrying between thelines at Oxford Circus under-ground station.
Ian Cameron, London SW4.
News 3Fitzrovia News, Summer 2012
Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired?
Do you have a long-term health condition?
Are you a carer?
Would you like a healthier, less
stressful life?
Courses take place over six weeks with one half day or evening session each week.
The programme includes:
• healthy lifestyle advice including diet and exercise
• managing pain, fatigue and stress;and relaxation techniques
• better communication with family, friends and health professionals
Meet other people in a friendly environment
Learn new skills to have a healthier life
Share your experiences and ideas
Courses are free and run in local, accessible venues
The Expert Patient Service is open to people who:
• live in Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea or Westminster (or are registered with a GP in the area)
• have a long-term health condition (eg. heart disease, diabetes, depression, asthma, cancer, or any other condition)
The Service is also open to carers living in the area.
might be for you!
Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association
39 Tottenham Street, W1T 4RX
Tel: 020 7580 4576
Contact: Barbara Jacobson
E-mail: [email protected]
Expert Patient ServiceThe
Fitzrovia Community Centre official openingThe Fitzrovia CommunityCentre which opened this springwill be officially opened by thenew leader of Camden CouncilSarah Hayward on Thursday 28June 2012.
11:00am to 5:00pm there willbe a series of events open toeveryone as part of the openingcelebrations.
There will be taster sessions:Epoch Fitness with Pilates, over50s exercise class, Ashtanga andHatha yoga by Zoe James, WestEnd Children’s Centre play andstay sessions for carers and tod-dlers and computer training ses-sions (covering web design,excel, word, and powerpoint).
11:00am – 3:00pmInformation and advice stallsplanning, housing and educa-tion environment, health, com-munity safety and advocacyservices. Arts and crafts stall andbric -a -brac for sale,
11:00 am – 3:00pm vintagepop-up cafe teas, sandwichesand cake will be available
12:00pm – 3:00pm A series of20 minute talks (safety in thehome for the elderly, personalfinance and dealing with debts,services for the homebound,civic society, volunteering).
1:00pm – 3:00pm ChildrenEntertainment Fire engine, face-painting and Fitzroy Squarestreet entertainers will be mak-ing an appearance including
flautist Sara Minelli.3:00pm Tree planting
Ceremony in the presence of theLord Mayor of WestminsterCouncillor Angela Harvey at thejunction of Berners Street andMortimer Street
4:00pm Official opening ofthe centre by Cllr SarahHayward, Leader of CamdenCouncil , with refreshmentsuntil 5:00pm.
7.30pm Opera in FitzroySquare.
During June the centre willbe a London Festival ofPhotography venue hosting twofree exhibitions. Inside Out:London Festival of PhotographyPrize exhibition; and BehindClosed Doors. Opening timesare Mon, Wed, Thurs: 10am-7pm, Tue and Fri: 10am-6pm.See lfph.org for more.
All events are subject to con-firmation. Further information:telephone 020 7580 8680, or visitFitzrovia Community Centre,John Astor House, Foley Street,London W1W 6DN fitzroviacommunitycentre.org
• Fitzrovia has an active com-munity sector. Here’s a summa-ry of what various groups do.
The Charlotte StreetAssociation was formed in 1970and deals with the area betweenGower Street in the east andWells Street and Cleveland
There are very few empty shopunits in Fitzrovia but there havebeen a number of closures andmany new openings.
Closed: 31 Rathbone Place,Pierre Loti; 53 Goodge Street,Vida e Caffe; 39 Goodge Street,Game Focus; 31 Whitfield Street,Pun Kum (Thai); 48 MargaretStreet, Esthetique; Market PlaceCafe; 91 Great Portland StreetVelorution.
Opening or opened: 28Rathbone Place, Aperture (vin-tage cameras and tearoom);Charlotte Place, In Parma(café/restaurant); 32 Store Street,Store Street Gallery (ArtGallery); 42 Store Street,Orchidya (flowers); 51 GoodgeStreet, Bombay Palace Express(Indian wraps takeaway); 48Goodge Street, Neony (jew-ellery); 37 Tottenham CourtRoad, You me sushi; 29 HansonStreet, Fitzrovia Kitchen; 105New Cavendish Street,Abokado (salads wraps); 50Great Portland Street, MrCraftsmans Workshops (Keycutting shoe repairs); 20 GreatPortland Street, Benjys (sand-wich bar); 68 Cleveland Street,Babylon Tower (Lebanese grill);80 Cleveland Street, Syriana(restaurant); 100 ClevelandStreet, Oriental Dragon (restau-rant); 60 Great Titchfield Street,Sweetspot (crepes); 174Tottenham Court Road,Mortimer Belle (gourmet puband hotel).
Trading places
Street in the west. They com-ment on planning and licensingapplications and campaign formore affordable housing, openspace and environmental con-cerns; and initiated the FitzroviaArea Action Plan being devel-oped with Camden Council.
The FitzroviaNeighbourhood Association(registered charity) was formedin 1975 when they opened aNeighbourhood Centre onTottenham Street. They publishFitzrovia News, run a housingand welfare drop-in advice serv-ice, community developmentprojects in support of older peo-ple and the Bangladeshi commu-nity; and comment on planningand licensing applicationsthroughout Fitzrovia fromGower Street in the east to GreatPortland Street in the west.
The Fitzroy SquareNeighbourhood Association(formerly the Fitzrovia ResidentsAssociation) has residents andlocal businesses as membersfrom an area bounded by EustonRoad, Tottenham Court Road,Maple Street and ClevelandStreet. As well as protecting resi-dential amenity in the FitzroySquare conservation area theywant to encourage and supportneighbourhood shops particular-ly in Cleveland Street andWarren Street where these areunder threat from developers
looking for conversion to resi-dential, restaurant or office.They also organise the FitzroySquare Opera.
All Souls Clubhouse onCleveland Street is a Christiancommunity centre and providesa number of services. It has beenopen since the 1950s. As part ofthe mission of the AnglicanChurch in the parish of AllSouls, they seek to remain faith-ful to their evangelical heritagewithin the context of theAnglican Communion.
The Friends of Open SpacesFitzrovia meet regularly to dis-cuss the improvement and main-tenance of Crabtree Fields,Whitfield Gardens and TheWarren playground.
The Fitzrovia Trust (regis-tered charity) was established in1985 and acquires vacant andrun-down properties. They owna number of shops and socialhomes in Warren Street, andrefurbished the FitzroviaCommunity Nursery and play-ground in Whitfield Street.
Fitzrovia Youth in Action(registered charity) provideyouth sevices in Camden AndWestminster.
The Howard House andCleveland Street (north)Neighbourhood Watch is notonly interested in crime preven-tion but comments on planningand licensing in Fitzrovia.
4 News and Features Fitzrovia News, Summer 2012
plans for a mixed-use schemeon the one-hectare site. Theland was bought by GreatPortland Estates who agreed adeal with Royal Mail.
Work has now begun onthe demolition of MacDonaldBuchanan House in OgleStreet. A new block of 21affordable homes will bebuilt.
There is increasing concernfor the well-being of rough-sleepers in Fitzrovia particu-larly the large number of east-ern Europeans (see letters p2).
“Central and easternEuropeans, make up a dis-tressingly large proportion ofLondon’s destitute roughsleepers. Usually unable toclaim benefits, they are unableto book into hostels and bedand breakfast hotels thatrequire a housing benefitclaim to be made to cover therent,” says Jeremy Swain ofThames Reach.
Readers can report theirconcerns about rough-sleepersin Camden to StreetSafe on020 7833 7970; and inWestminster to TheConnection at St Martin’s on020 7766 5544.
Rough sleepers from cen-tral and eastern Europe arestill able to access some servic-es including the No SecondNight Out (NSNO) in King’sCross on 0870 383 3333nosecondnightout.org.uk
Some people were taken inby our April fool joke in thelast issue about Fitzrovia Newsbeing sold to a group calledFitzrovia Pandemonium topromote corporate interests.
News in brief continued fromfront page
Karen is cycling London at night Demonstrationand counterdemonstration inBedford Square
By SUE BLUNDELL
Two years ago I saw a womanpraying in Bedford Square andassumed she’d had a religiousvision. It was only when I metsomeone working for the BritishPregnancy Advisory Service thatI realised what was going on.Nearly every day people withclasped hands were stationingthemselves outside a clinic inthe Square visited by youngwomen who were seeking abor-tions.
Last February the BedfordSquare prayer vigil grew in sizeowing to the efforts of theAmerican-inspired organisation40 Days for Life. Whenever Ipassed I noticed that the majori-ty of people attending weremen. But from late February toearly April lively counterdemonstrations were mountedon successive Sundays by theBloomsbury Pro-ChoiceAlliance, and these in the mainwere supported by women.
Kerry Johnson, co-ordinatorof the Alliance, told me that shewas appalled not so much by
Free summer lunchtime streetentertainment starts in FitzroySquare on May 31, and contin-ues on various Thursdays untilSeptember.
The idea was born whenclassical singer Tamara Steinneeded somewhere for afundraising performance in aidof African charity Sentebale. TheFitzrovia Residents' Associationkindly agreed to let the sopranouse the garden in September2011 to fulfil her challenge 'per-forming a solo-mini-opera in apublic space'. Tamara wasapproached to come back in2012 and maybe ask one or twoof her friends as well. She didand managed to put together aneclectic programme of whatinternational talent London hasto offer.
They include: Paul Taylor, aunique globe trotting poet and ahighly skilled trombone player,on May 31; Abigail Collins, wellknown on the London cabaretcircuit as one of the most athleticand funny hula hoop artists, onJune 14; the prize-winningItalian flautist Sara Minelli, onJune 28; the hilarious femaleBarber Shop combo, The KitchenQuartet, will introduce a few ofcheeky and pensive songs fromtheir new CD on July 19; sopra-no Tamara Stein will bring herstaged interpretation ofSchuman's Frauenliebe und
The London Festival ofArchitecture in Fitzrovia
Karen Honeysett who works atAll Souls Clubhouse is takingpart in a 100k night-time cycleride around London. TheNightrider will take placeovernight on 9 and 10 Junewhere 3,000 fundraisers will becycling in aid of 250 differentcharitable causes.
Karen, 32, is fundraising forClubcare a project run by theClubhouse, a christian commu-nity centre and church inFitzrovia.
“ClubCare exists to providesupport to older people in ourcommunity when they need it,”
explains Karen. “We also lovejust to pop in and see people fora chat over a cup of tea!”
Karen is an experiencedcyclist but this is the first timeshe has attempted an event likethis. “I completed the London toBrighton ride several years ago,but have never cycled that far atnight. I use a Boris Bike aroundFitzrovia every day, but this is alittle bit more of a challenge,”says Karen.
If you want to make a dona-tion contact Clubcare on 0207255 9756.
Auxiliary Bishop Hopes fromWestminster Cathedral visitedthe vigil, hundreds of pro-Choice activists flooded theSquare, and on that occasion atleast there was no shred ofdoubt about which side was inthe majority.
If you’re in the Square thiscoming September, watch outfor more possible 40 Days vigils.The Alliance will be there aswell if and when the prayingresumes.
Meanwhile it seems that adifferent organisation is target-ting the Marie Stopes clinic onWhitfield Street, using the sametactics - positioning themselvesoutside the front door withprayer books and leaflets. Ifyou're passing, perhaps youcould let them know your viewson their action.
the Pro-Lifers’ views as by theirtactics – targeting vulnerableyoung people at a time whenthey were most in need of com-passion and understanding. Theresponse from Dr. Joseph Nunanfrom 40 Days for Life was that‘Abortion is never in a woman’sbest interests.’ But he was reluc-tant to be drawn on the questionof whether abortion should berecriminalised in Britain, prefer-ring instead to focus on ‘chang-ing hearts and minds’. The peo-ple on the Pro-Choice side wereall too aware of the horrors thata return to back-street abortionsmight produce, and the pres-sures that could easily drivesome women to resort to them.
I don’t want to play any kindof numbers game with thesedemonstrations. But on theevening of March 30, when
Karen is all geared up for her night ride
‘The Playful City’ is the themefor this year’s London Festivalof Architecture, running from 23June – 8 July 2012, writes LauraBroderick.
From reinterpreting familiarplaces through new installationsand animations, redesigningpublic spaces to encouragephysical fitness in the spirit ofthe Olympic Games, to testinginteractive forms of consultationand planning for future urbandevelopment, festival partici-pants will be encouraged to playin, and play with, the cityaround them.
Fitzrovia is one of the focusareas for the festival with lots ofgreat activities happening on themiddle weekend – Saturday 30June and Sunday 1 July. RIBALondon, a regional office of theRoyal Institute of BritishArchitects, has been workingwith local architectural practicesand organisations to curate thisFitzrovia hub which will includefree events for family audiences.
For example, HOK is run-ning a design workshop, DesignMy School in Paradise,in whichyoung people will be invited tobecome architects for a day asthey imagine and describe theirperfect school through drawing,model making and story telling.Feilden Clegg Bradley Studiosinvite people to come andexplore an imagined worldwhere anything can happen-buildings in miniature and
buildings at superscale. Thisevent, Architects Through theLooking Glass, will also includea Mad Hatters Tea Party!
At the RIBA on PortlandPlace, parents and children willhave the chance to recreateLondon’s greatest landmarksusing their arms, legs, handsand feet in a Body Building sky-line workshop. Whilst at theRIBA you can also visit the cur-rent exhibitions, and if exhibi-tions are your thing there arefurther shows on at ARUP andNew London Architecture.
If you are interested in localhistory FitzroviaNeighbourhood Centre will beopen and displaying photos andinformation about the area.There’ll also be walking tours onthe Saturday and Sunday forthose who want to spend sometime exploring the architectureand design in the community.
And for those that want tobe really playful, RIBA Londonis partnering with FitzroviaYouth in Action to host an archi-tects/engineers vs young people5-a-side tournament calledTeenage Kicks. Plus there will begames of carrom to play at theIndian YMCA in the evening.
A Fitzrovia Trail with fulllistings will be available todownload on the LFA websitefrom early June. You can alsoread about the events mentionedabove at lfa2012.org
Leben back to the place forwhich it was conceived, onAugust 2; the beautiful interna-tional oriental dancer Naïma,who specialises in Egyptiancabaret style dancing, will enter-tain with sensuous belly-danc-ing on August 23; theScottish/Franco-Canadian aerialand fire artist La Scarah closesthe festival on September 6.
All performances start at1.15pm and last around 20 min-utes. Entrance to the garden ison the north side of the square,and the performances will benear the Jubilee statue.
For more information andlast minute updates (especiallydate changes due to inclementweather) visit: fitzroysquaresummer.blogspot.co.uk
Free street performanceson the square
Naima appearing on August 23
News 5Fitzrovia News, Summer 2012
The rising cost of living in FitzroviaWhat rent do you pay inFitzrovia? We find a rent scalefrom £99 to £1,500 per week.
Not long ago a narrow houseon Tottenham House went upfor sale for £3 million. The fatprice for the skinny home leftmany locals gasping. But recentevidence of rising rents tookFitzrovia News out onto thestreets to ask what it costs to livein the area we call home.
Over the past few weeks,two cases have come to ourattention of long-standing localtenants facing rising rent billsfrom landlords who make tech-nical improvements. The idea isto "upgrade" a flat, and thenbump up the rent.
This is all good if theimprovements are real and last-ing, but what if - as has beenreported to FN - the alterationsare cosmetic, to allow a rent riserather than a boost in livingstandards?
To test the waters, we nowstart a rent table and ask you toget in touch with us and adddetails.
THE LOWER ENDFitzrovia has many small
rooms and studio flats.Hundreds of students arehoused here in the area. Despitethe changes to housing benefits,for the moment we remain amixed residential area.
To find the lower end of the
By GUY O’CONNELL
rent scale, FN took a well-respected measure for tenantswho are lucky to have a councilflat, but who are not helped withhousing benefit.
According to a recent meet-ing of concerned residents,council tenants of this kind inthe Camden part of Fitzrovia arepaying an average of £99 perweek. (The figures come from arecent edition of the CamdenNew Journal, reporting on a pro-posed 8.1% rise in rents.)
THE UPPER ENDTo find the upper end, FN
looked online at some of thetempting offers put out there bylandlords.
"We are proud to present thisbeautiful 1 bedroom flat in theheart of London. Just 4 minutesaway from Tottenham CourtRoad Station, off Oxford Street.It is a very spacious flat with alarge open plan reception, mas-ter bedroom, lots of storage. Flatis very modern, fully fitted andfurnished. The reception andbedroom opens up to the bal-cony. Located on the 7th floor,with beautiful view of West End,of a secured period conversationwith two lifts. All bills included.Available for Olympics let."
It sounds marvellous, in theheart of Fitzrovia. The cost per
week for this one bedroombeauty? £1500. That's 15 timesthe lower end council rent. Ifyou multiplied the UK averageincome - £24,000 - by 15, thatwould be £360,000 per year.
If you bought a cheap bicyclefor £125, that would be theequivalent of £1,875. Etc etc.
The chances are that as youread this, you fit between thesetwo extremes. Just like the ris-ing cost of buying property here,the figures show that Fitzrovia isone of the parts of Londonwhich has the greatest spread ofincomes and living costs. Thishelps explain the influx of devel-opers trying to find change ofuse of buildings and "refresh"older rented buildings and thetenants.
When we took to the streets,we found some good evidenceof what's been going on.
There are currently developmentproposals which apart fromother negative features involvethe demolition of two Georgianbuildings retaining only thefacades: 74 Charlotte Street and1-3 Goodge Street. Both arecapable of refurbishment forcontinued use.
1-3 Goodge Street is the old-est building in the street (circa1763), has a rare plan form andinternally retains many originalfeatures.
Underlying these proposalsis the idea, apparently shared bythe planners, that in buildingswhich are not listed only thefacades matter. This is funda-mentally mistaken.
Buildings are three-dimen-sional entities where the facadereflects the plan and the internalspaces all of which constitutestheir heritage value.
Retained facades in front ofredeveloped buildings whereparty walls and staircases havebeen removed lose all historicmeaning. The facade no longerreflects the internal layouts orthe spacial character.Developments often extendacross several buildings behind
facades of different ages andstyles. They effectively becomestage sets, including evendummy front doors as is thecase with 1-3 Goodge Street.
It is profoundly mistaken tosuggest that unlisted buildingsrequire less protection. What wethink of as the character ofFitzrovia and its special qualityis made up largely by suchbuildings.
In the four streets at the cen-tre of the Charlotte StreetConservation Area — Goodge,Charlotte, Tottenham, andWindmill Streets — there areonly 12 listed buildings, but 104identified as making a positivecontribution to the conservationarea. This designation givesthem the status of heritageassets.
Government guidance saysthat where development willlead to substantial harm or totalloss to a heritage asset, the plan-ning authority should refuseconsent unless their loss or harmis necessary to achieve substan-tial public benefit that outweighsthe harm or loss. It identifies suchcircumstances as basically whena heritage asset prevents reason-able development of the site orthe asset has no viable use in themedium term. None of these
apply to 74 Charlotte Street or 1-3 Goodge Street.
For 1-3 Goodge StreetCamden’s planning officers have
previously recommended demo-lition with retained facade; thepurported benefits were fillingthe gap at 5-7 Goodge Street. But
this can be achieved by an inde-pendent self-contained buildingon this site and could have beenachieved at any time since 1944;and the provision of nine resi-dential units which could equal-ly be achieved by sensitiveinfilled refurbishment. In otherwords, there is no substantialpublic benefit achieved by thedemolition of this 1763 house.
It is noteworthy that theleading expert on GeorgianBuildings Dan Cruikshank hasexpressed an interest in 1-3Goodge Street and a willingnessto give a view on the qualityand feasibility of refurbishment.Despite the efforts ofBloomsbury ward councillorAdam Harrison to gain access,the owners have refused on thegrounds that the building isunsafe; and surprisinglyCamden planners have declinedto use their authority to securesuch access.
Be warned: looking at thebroader picture is the assump-tion that Fitzrovia’s positive con-tributors — its heritage assets —can be demolished and with theretention of meaningless facadesaccepted. We can look forwardto Fitzrovia becoming a sort ofDisneyland.
Fitzrovia’s heritage and special quality are under threatBy Planning Correspondent
1-3 Goodge Street was built in 1763. Although not listed it is an importantpart of Fitzrovia’s heritage as it retains many original internal features.
FITZROVIA IS AN ATTRAC-TIVE PLACE TO LIVE
Alex (above) is an Americanin his twenties. "I used to live inCanary Wharf with two flat-
mates, all mod cons and a bal-cony for the same price as I nowlive with 4 flatmates, and no liv-ing room here in Fitzrovia, “ hesays. “But I always wanted tolive centrally, and to be onCharlotte Street, even above abusy restaurant, is what I want,and I'm happy to pay for it.”
FITZROVIA HAS BEENCHANGING RAPIDLY
"I moved here in 1967 at theage of twenty." So says Nicholas(above) who runs the barber'sshop on Goodge Street. "I live inWembley now with my family. Ilove Fitzrovia and I know every-one here on this street, but thereis no way I could afford to livehere again."
FITZROVIA IS OUT OFBOUNDS BUT I LIKE TO VISIT
"We all grew up just north of
here,” say two young women.“But it's impossible to afford thisarea (Fitzrovia,) and it's hard toafford to stay just north of theEuston Road,” explain Rahedaand Tania (below). “But whereI'm now living in West Londonit's not good value at all, and I'min a very small place and I thinkI could get better back inCamden.”
In our next edition, we'dwelcome your stories of goodand bad landlords, and if youown a flat and let it to tenants,let us know your plans too.
But for now, FN has concernsthat long standing residents arehaving to leave in the face of ris-ing rents, and we'd love to hearyour stories.
6 News and Features Fitzrovia News, Summer 2012
Shooting of a new film with the working title of“Closed” by Belmont Productions Limited took place inNassau Street in April.
Residents were not too pleased to be confronted by asign claiming that by walking to their own homes theywere "granting their irrevocable permission for theirlikeness and voice to be included in the motion pictureand as part of its exploitation, without compensationand/or credit." Especially when the film makers objectedto being photographed themselves.
But at least the grim hoardings surrounding the old
hospital site were briefly brightened by flowers and pic-tures in a shrine to those who lost their lives in thefilm's plot.
And Hollywood star Eric Bana was there to film thescene. It is being billed as "a big budget internationalsuspense thriller" and is due to be released next year.
The story is about "two ex-lovers who find their loy-alties tested and their lives at risk when they are joinedtogether on the defence team in a terrorism trial inLondon."
Hollywood star Eric Bana on location
Nicky Hadjithoma (picturedabove) must have a unique viewon todays Euro crisis, her fatheris Greek Cypriot and mother isGerman. She has just opened“Neony” a contemporary jew-ellery boutique at 48 GoodgeStreet. “The name Neony camefrom the Greek word for newcombined with my name, it justseemed the right name for mynew venture which is a ‘galleryof jewels’ a distinctive way ofpresenting jewellery”
The interior is very stylish,with minimalist design inspiredby a New York style loft apart-ment. It has a light airy feel withplenty of space, the décor is amixture of antique furniture,exposed brickwork, fancy chan-deliers and a reindeer’s head!There is a comfortable leatherarmchair and illuminated pic-ture frames display quirky andindividually designed, neck-laces, ear-rings, bracelets andrings.
“I travelled round Europelooking for distinctive piecesand designers that appealed tome and I would like to introducethese unknown craftspeople to awider audience. I like being ableto offer unique pieces that arenot available elsewhere.
“Jewellery is especiallyimportant to us women, and Ilike wearing a beautiful piecethat no one else will be wearing.
“I studied fashion design,then went on to complete anMA in Innovation Managementat Central St Martin’s College ofArt. This course involved study-ing markets and consumerbehaviour to gain insights intothe opportunities available.”
The discipline helps anorganization to use its creativityto introduce new ideas, process-es or products. It is the entrepre-neurial meeting of creativity, artand commerce. Nicky workedfor several years in and around
Reindeer’s headin new jewellers
the fashion industry in market-ing and brand communication.
“I branched out to start myown business because I want tobe able to use my creativity andto put all my energies and ideasinto one project.”
Nicky is interested in elec-tronic music especially some ofthe music that has recently comeout of Scandinavia. “Back in thedays when I was involved inrave culture (and I spent someholidays in Ibiza) I used toenjoy hardcore house music butnowadays I listen to more laidback trip-hop and electronicbeats. I am more chilled out andbalance the everyday stresses oflife with some relaxing yoga andmeditation.”
Barbara Corr: Are you glad youmoved from Soho to Fitzrovia?
Ian Marson: Definitely.People are calmer here and seemmore permanent. In Soho a lot ofpeople are passing through. Alsowe were on a top floor in Sohowhereas here on the corner ofGoodge Place we are on theground floor with shop win-dows so we have a street pres-ence.
BC: So what do you do?IM: We do building mainte-
nance in Fitzrovia and Soho.We’ve got sixteen full time car-penters, painters, plumbers,plasterers, electricians etc. Inemergencies we can do sameday plumbing or glazing. Wecharge a minimum of £55 perhour depending on the trade fora one off job - otherwise we areflexible. We have a connectionwith two flooring companies.Also if there’s a job we can’t do,we know someone who can.
BC: Emergency plumbing,that’s good. Water gushing outof the wrong place can be soscary. But is parking round heredifficult for you?
IM: No, we’re happy with it.Some of us go to jobs on bikes –we don’t use the vans when wedon’t need to. We got one jobbecause the client saw one of thelads turn up to a job on a bike.
BC: So what’s your favouritesort of job?
IM: It would be a small job
in a small to medium sizedoffice where we can build a rela-tionship with the client. Forinstance we went to one officejust to install a new entrancedoormat and this led to usbuilding a complete film studiofor them. I like repeat business.I’m happy when a client comesback to us.
BC: And what sort of clientsdo you have?
IM: We work for three lettingagents. I’d say sixty per cent ofour work is for businesses inFitzrovia and Soho and ten percent is for owner occupiers. Wedo all the maintenance acrossthe country for l’Occitane - youknow, the French perfume com-pany.
A lot of our work in Soho isfor the gay community - bars,clubs and so on. Maybe it’s thepink stripe in our logo but wehave a good relationship withthem.
BC: What is the funniestthing MPL have been asked todo?
IM: We were asked to fit twomeeting chairs in a room – how-ever, due to limited space weneeded to hang the chairs fromthe ceiling by way of chains –giving the room a more “quirkylook”.
MPL Maintenance, 15Goodge Place, London W1T4SQ. Tel: 020 7998 3137
Routine and cosmetic dental treatments,
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Image Dental Clinic
21 Foley StreetLondon W1W 6DRTel: 020 7580 5339
www.imagedentalclinic.co.uk
Fitzrovia continues to attract artgalleries at an alarming ratewith seven new establishmentsopening in the three shortmonths since I last reported inearly March, namely: Black ArtsCompany, Derwent LondonGallery, England & Co,Margaret Street Gallery, NettieHorn, Piper Gallery and TiwaniContemporary. That’s an amaz-ing rate of one new galleryopening every two weeks, and atotal of 52 (all listed on the backpage of this issue). Fitzrovianow has, without doubt, thedensest geographic concentra-tion of art galleries anywhere inLondon.
On 3rd May, a packedGallery Different on Percy Streetplayed host to the extravagantlytonsured troubadour and dar-ling of the Indie music scene,King Charles, who serenadedvisitors to the “Stolen Faces”exhibition (featuring large for-mat paintings by JohanAndersson of subjects who havesuffered scarring or disfigure-ment of various types) with animpromptu and well receivedacoustic set.
Our near neighbour FriezeArt Fair opened in New York inMay, and London’s newest ArtFair, “The Other Art Fair”,which modestly claims to offerthe opportunity to buy from 100of the best unrepresented artists,had its second edition in midMay at the cavernous Ambik P3Space, on Marylebone Road, inclose proximity to the galleriesof Fitzrovia. I have also heardwhispers of starting a “LastThursday” initiative where allthe local galleries will remainopen late once a month. Anyother local art news gratefullyreceived at [email protected].
See Art Fare, page 12
By CLIVE JENNINGS
Art galleries totalanother seven up
Ian Marson, from MPL Maintenance and Flooring, GoodgePlace (above) was interviewed by Barbara Corr.
Features 7Fitzrovia News, Summer 2012
Virginia Woolf’s relevance todayOne of Fitzrovia’s most notableformer residents is the writerVirginia Woolf who is regardedas one of the principal female lit-erary figures of the twentiethcentury. During her time inFitzrovia, Woolf occupied a finehouse at 29 Fitzroy Square: thesame house previously occupiedby another influential writer,George Bernard Shaw.
Woolf was a significant fig-ure in London literary society.Her most famous works includethe novels Mrs Dalloway (1925)which challenged traditionalexpectations of a female by por-traying a strong character whousurps all expectations. Herworks also include: A Room ofOne's Own (1929), which thefamous dictum, "A woman musthave money and a room of herown if she is to write fiction.”belongs to. As this quote shows,Woolf was a forward thinkingcharacter and she is celebratedby many female authors today.
Woolf’s words remain inspi-rational to many so I askedFitzrovia residents whichVirginia Woolf quote stands outmost to them and that they canrelate to their everyday life.
Kate Berman of The RidingHouse Cafe, Fitzrovia chose thisquote: 'When the shrivelled skinof the ordinary is stuffed outwith meaning, it satisfies thesenses amazingly.' Orlando, ch. 6(1928).
Kate said: “I suppose I'vepulled this one out as it makesme think of how the building,
By CHRISTINA LATHAM
where we're located, is a rathernon-descript 1950s block whichhad been home to a successionof equally non-descript estab-lishments, but only really tookon significance when we filled itwith a restaurant that is relevantto the neighbourhood.” It isexcellent that the satisfaction ofa successful business and thesense of community can be“stuffed with meaning”.
Jon Edgley Bond from TheFitzrovia Radio Hour suggestedthat Woolf’s inspirational wordscan be most definitely applied totoday’s society and every work-ing life. Jon chose this extract: 'Ifyou do not tell the truth aboutyourself you cannot tell it aboutother people'. The Moment andOther Essays (1948).
Jon explained that TheFitzrovia Radio Hour createsVintage Radio Theatre. Set in thelate forties, telling tales of giantcrabs and evil, haunted bicycles.He noted that because of thisyou could be forgiven for think-ing that there isn't a lot of truththere. However, the characters inthe productions emulate truthand true emotions. Furthermore,Jon noted, Woolf’s qualities andmorals are still prominent; aswithin the stories on FitzroviaRadio there are truisms aboutsexism, classism and imperial-ism, however, put across, albeitin a light and funny way.
However, it is not justWoolf’s actual words that were
You tell uswhich of herquotes stillrelate to yourever day life
influential but also the sentimentthat surrounds them. AngelaLovely from Fitzrovia News hasread several of Woolf’s publica-tions including Orlando and ARoom of One’s Own and shemaintained that what stood outto her was Woolf as a womanahead of her time. To Angela,Woolf’s writing is still poignanttoday because it calls for eman-cipation of women and forwomen to be able to enjoy theirindependence. Although, this isgenerally the case for mostwomen in modern Britain, in amulticultural society there areareas where Woolf’s words canstill be applied to women whostrive for the same independ-ence as Woolf aspired to in hertime.
Carys Williams is a local resi-dent who studied EnglishLiterature at university and par-ticularly enjoyed Woolf’s work.However, as an English studentCarys said she couldn’t help butcomplain that women such asClarissa in the novel MrsDalloway are often portrayed as
The plaque at 29 Fitzroy Square
slightly naive and ‘girlie’.Therefore, although Woolfintended to convey that womenshould be taken seriously, Carysbelieves that sometimes thenovel may be enjoyable with thedescription of parties, mannersand relationships. She feels thatWoolf should have had an evenmore futuristic approach.Therefore, instead of capturingwomen striving independence,she should have actually por-trayed independent women.
Many of our residents maydisagree with one another, but
this alone shows that Woolf isstill inspiring and as topicaltoday as she ever was.
Although, this is all in goodfun, Fitzrovia is proud to havehad such a literary giant andinfluential figure as a former res-ident. So we will leave you withthis: “Each has his past shut inhim like the leaves of a bookknown to him by his heart andhis friends can only read thetitle.” Maybe, we can only readWoolf’s title, but this has left aresounding affect on Fitzroviaand on the world.
Picture puzzleHow observant are you when walking around Fitzrovia?
Can you identify, for example, where the above photograph wastaken?
It was taken by Eugene McConville and is the third in a newseries in the paper.
The answer is above the picture of Sherlock Holmes on this page,
The Dining DetectiveIBERICA MARYLEBONE196 Great Portland Street
Iberica advertises itself as arestaurant, tapas bar and bookstore, and when it first opened itpromised an Art Gallery. TheArt Gallery has closed, it is not abook store and really my feelingafter a meal at Iberica is that,although you are asked to book,this isn’t really a restaurant. Butit is a very good tapas bar andmy strong advice is: only havetapas.
Don’t think, as we did, thatyou might start with a tapas ortwo and then have a shared“slow-cooked chicken stew withPitu rice.” Sounds good, but it isnot really that kind of place:takes over half an hour: isn’tworth £20.50, and I would guessis seldom ordered. I imaginedcooks down below saying, possi-bly in Spanish: “O my God,someone has ordered the slow-cooked chicken, quick, putsomething in the microwave.”
But the tapas we did have(grilled prawns, and chorizo lol-lipops) were very good and herealso are some other examplesthat people around us were eat-ing with obvious relish: chorizo
PICTURE PUZZLE ANSWER:Cleveland Street house opposite
the George & Dragon
lollipop £5.80; grilled Prawnswith garlic £6.90. Tempura ofspring onion with lemon alioliand soy sauce £4.90. Creamymixed rice with manchegocheese £7.50. Fresh fried squidwith alioli £8.50. Grilled mari-nated Iberico pork loin ‘secreto’£11.90. A plate of cheese andcured meat for two to share withbread is £12.50.
Some people just drinkSpanish wine at the bar; manythen obviously decide to stay onand sit at a table and havetapas. During the day a smallSpanish delicatessen operates atone end which sells Spanish
wine, hams, sausages andcheeses. At night the deli-catessen melds in as part of therestaurant and most tables werefull for most of the evening.
But the wine is expensive.The cheapest bottle of rioja onthe menu was £34.50 - but itwas good wine. There was wineby the glass for around £6-£14. And there was also a winefor £1115, and many wines onthe menu were over £100.
Still, there were desserts (allunder £5) which were straightout of an English public school –whisky cake with ice-cream andfoam(!); Spanish rice pudding;Cream Caramel Tocinilto withyoghurt icecream and crum-ble. An added service charge oneverything of 12.5%. And afriendly Spanish waiter whowas working there for his firstnight told us that everybodywas being very nice to him, andhe was certainly very nice to us.
Especially because of thewine prices, Iberica Marylebonewas a bit expensive for yourDining Detective, but a pleasantplace to be. But as all thechanges take place here inFitzrovia, I just hope we aren’tgoing to be priced out of ourown area.
Bloomsbury ward councillors’ surgeries
6.00-7.00pm on the first and third Fridays of the month at
Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre, 39 Tottenham Street, W1T 4RX
And on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at
Marchmont Community Centre, 62 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AB
Adam Harrison, Milena Nuti, and Abdul Quadir : 020 7974 3111
8 Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Let’s get one thing clear:Philippa Roe is no DameShirley Porter. The new leader
of Westminster City Council hatesbeing bundled together with thefirst and last woman leader, whowas at the heart of the ‘homes forvotes’ gerrymandering scandal inthe 1980s.
“We’re completely different,’says Councillor Roe, who tookover seven weeks ago. I meether in her office on the seven-teenth floor of Westminster CityHall. I admire the panoramicviews over to Canary Wharf andthe City, where she worked untilshe had her twins six years ago.
“It’s even better on the otherside,’ she says. ‘You can seestraight into Buckingham Palacegarden.’
Her mother, Dame MarionRoe, was Conservative MP forBroxbourne for more than twen-ty years until 2005 – the yearbefore her daughter was firstelected to the council.
Politics with breakfast
‘I grew up in a householdwhere politics was talked aboutover the breakfast table,’ shesays. ‘I also fundamentallybelieve that if one is able, onereally ought to put somethingback, and I think that local poli-tics is a very good way to dothat because you’re – probablymore so than if you’re an MP –dealing with the everyday livesof people and if you work hardat it you can probably make adifference.’
She came to power after herpredecessor, Colin Barrow, stooddown. His controversial plans tointroduce night-time parkingcharges were labelled as ‘com-pletely mad’ by mayor BorisJohnson and dubbed a ‘tax onnightlife’ by the press.
She wants to move on fromthis controversy too. When I askher what’s the next step for pro-posals such as these, she says,‘There is no next step. The park-ing issue is behind us. I recog-nise there’s still a congestionissue and we need to look at dif-ferent ways of dealing with it.’
One solution, she thinks, isintroducing a 24-hour tube serv-ice. This is something she andher Council are exploring withthe Greater London Authority.
She’s a big fan of Boris. ‘He’sterribly funny,’ she says.
She represents Knightsbridgeand Belgravia, but is keenlyaware that for all its wealth,Westminster is a diverse bor-ough with many problems.
‘We have some of the mostdeprived wards in the country,’she says. And she accepts thatthe new caps on housing bene-fits, which she lobbied verystrongly for, will mean thatsome people will no longer beable to afford to live here.
She’s gone on the record as
saying some may have to moveto other boroughs like Camden,Southwark and Lambeth. Butshe rejects accusations that thiswill destabilise communities,that it is in effect social cleans-ing.
‘In Westminster we have25,000 social housing units.These are the most vulnerablepeople. We are a very mixedcommunity and there’s nothing
in the housing benefit changesthat’s going to alter that, becausenone of those people will beaffected.’
When the changes came in,she says, there were about 4,200people who could possibly beaffected. Fifty per cent of thosepeople are in one-bed accommo-dation, and there’s no problemfor them, and no real problemfor people in two-beds. The peo-ple who are at risk are thosewith large families.
‘For the larger properties, forthe most part, one can find themwithin London with very goodconnections back intoWestminster.
Useful tools
‘And the vast majority ofthese families are sorting them-selves out and probably goingback to where they came from.They came from outsideWestminster and suddenlyfound...ooh, I can get £2,000 aweek in housing benefit – I cango and live in Mayfair. Whatfun! And I would have done thesame. I don’t blame them, it’sthe system that was wrong.’
Philippa Roe is a greatbeliever in sticks as well as car-rots. She’s a strong supporter ofanother change to legislationwhich means people can get aminimum of a two-year tenancyin social housing. Again, sheargues, this should not disruptcommunities.
‘It’s a very useful tool for usto have. Where you have house-holds with antisocial behaviourproblems, it’s a real stick,because eviction is actually veryhard. Hopefully we won’t haveto evict very many before themessage gets across and hope-
fully people won’t behave asbadly.’
She says she sees strong,diverse communities as essentialto the welfare of the city. Shelikes Fitzrovia because it has‘colourful and interesting resi-dents, and colourful and inter-esting businesses.’
Better lives
One of the slogans of herpolitical philosophy is ‘BetterCities, Better Lives.’ This comesdown to basics like clean andsafe streets, which she says iswhat ninety per cent of residentsthink is a priority. And the solu-tions are basic too – gettingmore people to walk and cyclerather than use cars.
‘It’s a bit of an issue forFitzrovia. You see these chauf-
feurs who drop their patrons offat very smart restaurants and sitin their cars watching TV withthe engines running so as not torun down the battery.’
This is another area whereWestminster City Council worksclosely with the GLA, alongwith top priority areas of busi-ness growth, worklessness, asCllr Roe puts it, and crime.
Gang crime, she says, isbecoming an issue inWestminster. And whereas itused to be knives, now it’s guns.Once again, she has a stick upher sleeve. They’ve launched aprogramme called Your Choice.
‘We want to nip it in the budas fast as possible,’ she says.‘Your Choice is about identify-ing people who are at risk ofbecoming part of gangs, peoplewho are in gangs, and womenwho are involved, who are in
By BRIAN JARMAN
‘Hopefully wewon’t have toevict very manybefore the mes-sage gets acrossand hopefullypeople won’tbehave as badly.’
The new leader of Westminster City Council in her office with commanding views of London
gangs with the most awfulforms of exploitation of younggirls.’
‘We have to have a toughresponse. We can move people ifnecessary and we will do it.Getting out of a gang is veryhard without moving.’
Attractive place
For all the talk of movingpeople out of Westminster, theleader of the City Council insiststhat she wants more to comeand live here as long, I suppose,as they are responsible.
‘Westminster is already avery attractive place to be andwe are in very austere financialtimes but despite that I want toensure that it becomes evenmore of a place where peopleaspire to visit, work and live.’
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And don’t call me Shirley
9Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Imagine Tottenham Street,Fitzrovia in 1964. Shortly aftermoving in with her boyfriend at
number 28, 20-year-old FionaGreen looks out of her window tosee the Beatles filming their newpicture “A Hard Day’s Night”,enthusiastically leaping out of theentrance to the adjacent mews.
She takes it in her stride,since first visiting the area twoyears earlier, as an 18-year-oldart student, she had becomeenmeshed in the artistic and lit-erary life of London, andbefriended some of its leadingplayers. In the years that fol-lowed, her Tottenham Streethome was to become a hub ofbohemian and political life andFiona its queen.
A “Raj baby” born in India,Fiona’s family moved toAustralia, her mother’s home,and then on to England in 1954.A trial day spent at A S Neill’sexperimental school,Summerhill, shocked the youngFiona after her antipodean edu-cation at a “ghastly Presbyteriangirls school”. She and her threeyounger siblings were sent toDartington Hall as its progres-sive approach to education wasinspired by the teachings ofRabindranath Tagore, andFiona’s mother, an unusual com-bination of debutante and social-ist, was a disciple of the Bengalipoet and musician. A spell atDartington College of Arts fol-lowed, where a fellow studentwas George Passmore, betterknown as the English half of theart duo Gilbert and George, thena young married man. Studies inart at Corsham (Bath Academy)followed, and it was here thatshe was taught by artist BillCrozier, who became her loverand introduced her to the socialwhirl of Soho.
“We just lived in Soho”,explains Fiona as she recollectstime spent in the infamousCaves de France “a long darkspace and people in all states ofundress”, the Kismet and theMandrake, “all wonderful drink-ing holes”, and of courseMuriel’s, better known as theColony Room Club, where theacid tongued Muriel Belcherheld court. Photographers JohnDeakin and Harry Diamond,writer Jeffrey Bernard and thepainter Robert MacBryde wereall friends. Soho could also bedangerous at times, and Fionarecalls a nasty incident thatstarted with an inadvertentlyspilt drink in The French Houseand ended with her party beingset about in Romilly Street bythugs wielding baseball bats. Itwas in The French, at the tenderage of 18, that Fiona was firstintroduced to Lucien Freud, or‘Lux’ as she knew him, drinkingwith Francis Bacon. It was a
brief encounter, as her boyfriendhustled her off, knowing Freud’sreputation as a womaniser, butone that was to make a bigimpression.
In 1964, Fiona met publisherMartin Green in the MuseumTavern, and they clicked imme-diately. Twelve years her senior,and already the father of threeyoung children under 12, theyset up home in his three storeyflat above a Georgian shop at 28Tottenham Street, where Fionahas lived ever since. What isnow a Nail Bar on the groundfloor was, until around fiveyears ago, a cobblers for threegenerations. In the eighteenthcentury, it was a pub and thearea was latterly predominantlyGerman. Three German familiesused to lived there and theCommunist Club at the otherend of the street played host toMarx and Engels. A combinationof Fiona’s love of the old build-ing and a penny pinching land-lord means that little haschanged in the last 50 or soyears, and one of the bedroomsstill has gas mantels above thefireplace, and another the origi-nal butlers sink.
Martin was a successfulyoung editor at publishersMacGibbon & Kee, having pub-lished Colin MacInnes’ novel“Absolute Beginners” in 1959.He went on to start his ownpublishing house, Martin, Brian& O’Keefe, and their home wasan “open house” for writers,poets and artists, visiting orstaying there. Patrick Kavanagh(“as great as W B Yeats” inFiona’s opinion) Flann O’Brien,Robert Graves, HughMcDiarmid were all regulars.The Irish writers attracted Irishmusicians and the house wasfull of talk and music and fun.
“There was a lot of drinking,talking poetry and late nightpoker, and The Hope pub on the
corner became an extension ofour living room,” recalls Fiona.“We were very close to one ofMartin’s authors Brian Behan,brother of Brendan. KathleenBehan, their mother, was anamazing woman. She stayedwith us, and went to The Hopewhere within a few minutes ofarriving she had everyonesinging ‘The Red Flag.’
Martin and Fiona had twochildren in quick succession, sonBarnaby in 1965, now a comple-mentary therapist, and daughterKaty, an artist, in 1966. Thefront door was rarely locked,and it was so quiet that the chil-dren would play football withthe local restaurateurs’ kids inthe street outside.
Corsham Art College was areal hothouse of talent aroundthis time and many artists visit-ed, including RoyalAcademician John Bellany,whose 1976 portrait of Fionasporting a majestic orange wigstill takes pride of place in herliving room. Such was the extentof their hospitality that somewag once scratched “CorshamDosshouse” on their front door.
Against the backdrop of thisunconventional home life, Fionacarved a very successful careerin education. That she shouldserve society was a principleingrained by her mother, andFiona taught in Islington.Initially at primary level so herkids could accompany her, thensecondary school at Riding Hill(latterly Starcross) where she ranthe art department. She spe-cialised in working with difficultchildren, then was given herown building to work with tru-ants and to operate as shepleased. Fiona ran it as a freeschool within the State systemfor three years. She often had tofind her flock on the surround-ing estates - two of her girlswere prostitutes in Kings Cross.A Masters Degree was followedby ten years with ProfessorDavid Lane working with verytough, violent children, and aperiod directing education pro-grammes in Southwark.
Martin’s mother was verysenior in the ChineseCommunist Party, havingworked on a magazine called“China Reconstructs” withChairman Mao. This resulted intheir house being consideredsafe by African NationalCongress to use for meetings bySouth African exiles (many laterserved in the government). Theirnearby headquarters inRathbone Place were constantlyraided. Fiona fondly remembersThabo Mbeki (later to serve twoterms as the second post-apartheid President of SouthAfrica from June 1999 toSeptember 2008) as “an interest-ing, educated, lovely man.” His
father, Govan Mbeki was impris-oned for 24 years on RobbenIsland with Nelson Mandela,and not released until 1987.Fiona and family would vacatethe house, by previous arrange-ment, during the meetings, butwhen they had ended the drinkwould come out and the danc-ing and singing would start,often featuring the wonderfulANC choir –“it makes my spinecreep just to think about it.” [See“Bombing Apartheid” book reviewon page 14].
Opposite the house was TheScala Theatre, originally built in1772, and in its sixth incarnationwhen it was sadly demolished in1969. Fiona would help out atThe Other Cinema in the base-ment, and remembers JaneFonda coming to speak aboutthe Vietnam War in 1969.Pollocks Toy Museum was aworking mens’ café, Gigs wasowned by “a real villain of aGreek priest” and more recently,in the ‘90s, Fiona was one of thefirst through the door of theUK’s first internet café onWhitfield Street.
By 1976, Fiona and Martinhad grown apart, and were bothseeing other people, including inFiona’s case her old friend ‘Lux’,who she had kept in touch withover the years. Lucien Freudwined, dined and even on oneoccasion painted Fiona, thoughshe remembers they had a mas-sive argument over the dracon-ian and unreasonable demandshe made of his sitters. For 15years, Fiona shared with him therather more lavish lifestyle thanshe had been used to, that heenjoyed. This included dinnersat Elena’s L’Etoile on CharlotteStreet, and lunches at Wheelerswith Francis Bacon and FrankAuerbach. They bonded as bothex-Dartington students, and out-siders, she the Colonial girl andhe the German born boy wholoved horses. Fiona recalls Freudas a “fascinating man” as onewould expect, but also, on occa-sion “a gossipy little bugger.Bizarrely, as they both grewolder Lucien and my ex-partnerMartin looked almost identical.”
Another family that has fea-tured very large in Fiona’s life isthat of Dylan and CaitlinThomas. Their daughter, thewriter Aeronwy was her oldestand dearest friend, having metat school aged 15. Father Dylanwas already dead when Fionaholidayed with the family inSicily in the late ‘50s and metAeronwy’s brother Llewelyn. Itwas not until Caitlin Thomas’funeral in 1994 that they metagain and spent the next sixyears together until his untimelydeath in 2000 aged 60. The old-est of the Thomas children,Llewelyn had a very successfulcareer as an adman with J Walter
Thomson, including creating thecopy for the famous Campariads of the ‘70s.
From helping to organise thefirst Charlotte Street Festival in1973, Fiona has been extremelyactive in Fitzrovia life for manyyears. Corinne Heath and herhusband artist Adrian, anotherCorsham teacher, lived andworked at what is now theRebecca Hossack Gallery onCharlotte Street, and Corinnewas her mentor and inspirationin matters of social responsibili-ty, reminding Fiona of her moth-er.
A trustee of FitzroviaNeighbourhood Association, theFitzrovia Trust, and a member ofthe Charlotte Street Association,Fiona has contributed many arti-cles to this newspaper. She alsoset up the Fitzrovia WomensWriters group, with Rita Ali;Transition Fitzrovia, withNazreen A Subhan, to establish aphysic garden on the old Odeonsite at the junction of GraftonWay and Tottenham Court Road;and negotiated with developersExemplar to display art in andaround the old MiddlesexHospital site. Also, for the lasttwo years she has led an ArtGroup at the American ChurchSoup Kitchen for the homelessand halfway housed.
Now she is having to leaveher beloved Fitzrovia, as anunheralded rent hike of 100 percent, further increased by a renttribunal, has made her positionhere untenable. Fitzrovia ischanging, and sadly not alwaysfor the better, as the people likeFiona who gave it the thrivingartistic image it now trades on(over 50 art galleries, and count-ing) are edged out by the divi-sion of old properties into tiny,expensive flats, unaffordable bylocals.
Portrait of Fiona painted by JohnBellany, also in 1976.
Fiona with daughter Kate at the1976 Fitzrovia Festival.
Queen of Fitzrovia for 48 years driven out by rent hike
By CLIVE JENNINGS
Fiona’s fantastic life
10 Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
My second ‘secret family’ isdirectly responsible forseveral of Fitzrovia’s street
names, and ultimately for the tagapplied to the whole area in the1940s. Community activists andproperty developers alike have rea-son to be grateful to BarbaraVilliers for having unwittingly cre-ated the affectionate term‘Fitzrovia’. FitzRoy is an Anglo-Norman name meaning ‘son of theking’, generally attached to amonarch’s illegitimate children.And our local heroine Barbara pro-duced quite a number of these inthe course of her eventful career.
Barbara’s royal children werenever a very closely guardedsecret. But Catherine ofBraganza certainly knew noth-ing about them when she madethe journey from Lisbon toLondon in 1662 to marry KingCharles II. At that point Barbarawas about to give birth to hersecond child, the first to beacknowledged by Charles as hisown. The news that her loverwas soon to be joined in wed-lock to a princess from Portugalthrew her into a fit of temper.While the ship carryingCatherine to Portsmouth wasstill en route, Barbaraannounced her intention of stag-ing the birth of her baby atHampton Court Palace. If shewas successful, then the happyevent must have coincided withCharles’ and Catherine’s honey-moon in the same riverside loca-tion. The King’s liaison withBarbara was to continue for sev-eral years, in what by then wasan established royal tradition. Toadd insult to injury, Charles alsoappointed Barbara as his newbride’s Lady of the Bedchamber,probably to keep his mistressboth sweet, and close at hand.
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SUE BLUNDELL continues her series of Fitzrovia’s Secret Families
The wildwoman whobore the kingfour children
Barbara Villiers with her son Charles Fitzroy, painted by Peter Lely, c1663
Barbara Villiers was born in1640, the only child of WilliamVilliers, Lord Grandison, and hisyoung wife Mary. Grandisondied in 1643 after being wound-ed at the battle of Newburywhile fighting in the Royalistcause. Barbara had grown up tobe a beauty, with long auburncurls and violet-blue eyes. But asthe daughter of a man who hadbacked the losing side in theEnglish Civil War, she had littlein the way of influence or for-tune, and had difficulty attract-ing a suitable husband. Charles Ihad been executed and his sonand heir was living in exile onthe Continent. After OliverCromwell was sworn in as LordProtector in 1653 Barbara’s uncleEdward Villiers becameinvolved in a conspiracy calledthe Sealed Knot, whose missionwas to foment an uprising inEngland and bring about therestoration of the monarchy.Barbara meanwhile began a pas-sionate affair with the Earl ofChesterfield, and then in 1659married a Royalist supportercalled Roger Palmer, who disre-garded his father’s predictionthat his intended bride wouldmake him one of the most miser-able men in the world. At theend of the year, with the returnof Charles II already on thecards, she and her husband setsail for the Netherlands withother would-be courtiers todemonstrate their Royalist fer-vour. Barbara probably succeed-ed in becoming Charles’s mis-tress before he ever set foot onthe shores of his kingdom.
At Court it was generallybelieved that Barbara Villiers
possessed a good deal of powerover the King. Opinion wassharply divided as to whethershe should be cultivated, ormanoeuvred out of the way. Onone level this is pure Restorationcomedy; but we ought also tobear in mind that in 1649Charles’s father had been sent tothe scaffold for wielding powerin an unconstitutional manner.Now, according to some, thenew king was being ruled by awoman who was little morethan a whore. It wasn’t longbefore someone at Court went tothe trouble of letting QueenCatherine in on the secret of justhow far her Lady of theBedchamber’s duties in thePalace extended. Samuel Pepys,on the other hand, the Clerk tothe Navy Board, was one ofBarbara’s most ardent admirers.One day while walking throughthe Privy Garden in Whitehallhe caught sight of some of herlacy smocks and petticoats hang-ing on a washing-line: “Thefinest ... that ever I saw,” hewrote in his Diary, “and did megood to look upon them.”
The child who was born toBarbara in 1662 was christenedCharles, in two separate cere-monies. Roger Palmer hadarranged for the baby to be bap-
tised into his own RomanCatholic faith. Six days later, inSt. Margaret’s Westminster, hewas re-christened into theChurch of England with bothBarbara and the King in atten-dance. Palmer at that point sepa-rated from his wife, whobetween 1663 and 1665 went onto present Charles with threefurther children - Henry,Charlotte and George FitzRoy. In1670, when the King was finallyplanning to shunt Barbara asideto make room for his new loveNell Gwynn, he awarded her thetitle Duchess of Cleveland. Thisis commemorated in the name ofa street built over 100 years lateralong a former farm track mark-ing the western limit of theTottenhall Manor Estate. Back in1685 the Earl of Arlington hadleft this Estate to his daughterLady Isabella Benet, who sincethe age of four had been marriedto Barbara Villiers’ second sonHenry Fitzroy. Today ClevelandStreet still straddles a boundary,between the modern boroughsof Camden and Westminster.
At the time of his marriagenine-year-old Henry Fitzroy wascreated the Earl of Euston, andthree years later he became theDuke of Grafton. His sonCharles, the 2nd Duke, tookover the lease of the TottenhallEstate from his mother Isabellawhen she died in 1723, makinghim the owner of the land thatwas later to form the northernpart of Fitzrovia. It wasCharles’s grandson, anotherCharles (great-great-grandson ofBarbara) who actually gave thego-ahead to the development ofthe area in the 1760s, when hepurchased the Manor’s freeholdfrom the Dean and Chapter ofSt. Paul’s. The Act of Parliamentconfirming this transfer wassigned by his older brotherAugustus, the 3rd Duke ofGrafton, who at the time was thePrime Minister. This particularCharles Fitzroy, incidentally, wasmarried to a woman called Anne
Warren, the daughter of AdmiralSir Peter Warren. Charles wasalso Vice-Chamberlain to QueenCharlotte, which probably gaverise to yet another of our streetnames.
Though Barbara Villiersnever lived to benefit from theenormous profits which her sexlife had generated, she didemerge from her relationshipwith Charles as quite a wealthywoman. She went on to haveaffairs with a whole string ofmen, including several aristo-crats, an acrobat and an actor.She gave birth to her last childwhen she was 45, and in 1705married a notorious chancernamed Beau Feilding, who waslater prosecuted for bigamywhen his existing wife com-plained to Barbara’s grandsonthe 2nd Duke of Grafton.Barbara herself died in 1709 atthe age of 68.
To us her life may seemrather wild and desperate, butBarbara probably enjoyed her-self a good deal more than theQueen whose existence she hadblighted from the moment hership docked in PortsmouthHarbour. Though Charles was insome ways quite loyal toCatherine, he soon made it clearthat she was going to have totolerate not only his love affairsbut also the daily companion-ship of his mistresses. TheQueen’s Roman Catholicism andher failure, after three miscar-riages, to furnish Charles withany legitimate children madeher the target of a wave ofunpleasant intrigue at Court.Eventually this lack of an heirwas to lead to yet another con-stitutional crisis. Charles died in1685 and was succeeded by hisbrother James II. In the 1688Revolution which ousted himfrom the throne, one of the menwho died fighting on the side ofthe Protestants William andMary was Henry Fitzroy, 1stDuke of Grafton, aged just 27.
Personally I have mixed feel-ings about Barbara Villiers, butone thing seems clear. In thepleasure-seeking court of KingCharles II both sexes enjoyed thefreedom to engage in extra-mari-tal affairs. For women, however,this lifestyle was only an optionif they were beautiful andyoung. Some of them certainlyacquired wealth and a degree ofinfluence as a result. But in theprocess they also lost respect.The term most consistentlyapplied to Barbara in the seven-teenth century was ‘RoyalWhore’. Surely today shedeserves to be celebrated in adifferent guise, as the Not-quite-Queen-Mother of Fitzrovia.
There are four portraits ofBarbara Villiers in an excellentexhibition at Hampton Court,called ‘The Wild, the Beautifuland the Damned’, which runsuntil Sept. 30. In one of them(pictured above) she is shown ina ‘Madonna and Child’ posewith her eldest son CharlesFitzroy.
11Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
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The ActressA short story by
SUNITA SOLIAR
Illustration by CLIFFORD HARPER
She rushes out of Warren Streetstation and hurries toStarbucks. In the queue she
checks her watch, rememberingthis routine from when she was astudent at RADA: there was moretime then – now she is alwaysrushing. They don’t know howlucky they are, she thinks. Theseyoung hopefuls she is about tomeet.
‘Next please,’ the baristacalls.
She orders a Frappuccino.‘Skimmed milk,’ she says, andcatches a glimpse of her profilein a mirror. She has to be careful:she’s always been on the plumpside but not quite curvy – herbreasts aren’t big enough; herwaist is a little too thick. Shesucks in her stomach. Her phonerings and she reaches into herbag for it.
‘Hello?’‘Love the new headshots,’
her agent, Emily, says. ‘You lookolder.’
‘Thanks.’‘It’s a good thing: you can
play mid-thirties or so. Yummy-mummy roles. Listen though,about your name – ’
‘What about my name?’‘Selina Anthes…it’s too
Greek.’She hesitates. It isn’t only her
Greekness: she’s seen the look ofdisappointment on the faces ofcasting directors – expecting asultry young woman to go withthat name. She says, ‘I amGreek.’
‘Half Greek. But you don’tlook it. Your asset is yourAmerican-ness. It gives yousome appeal.’
Not extra appeal. She wouldlike to tell her agent where shecan get off, but she has to becareful. She’s only been withEmily for a couple of weeks –
her last agency closed. PerhapsEmily is testing Selina. ‘I like myname,’ she says.
‘Of course you do.’The barista shouts out her
Frappuccino.‘I have to go.’‘Listen, don’t worry. We’ll
work on it.’She hangs up. The barista
asks if she wants whippedcream.
‘Please,’ she says. ‘I knowthe skimmed milk means Ishouldn’t.’ The barista doesn’tseem to hear her. She collects herdrink. Closer to the mirror shecatches the beginning of a linearound her mouth. Yummymummy. Christ. She’s onlytwenty-seven.
She sits on a stool on thestage, waiting for the students toarrive. There are several otheractors there, and they talk aboutrecent projects. She had a minorrole in a big British movie buther scenes got cut. She’s donesome T.V., a couple of film-school projects. As the studentscome in, eager and serious, shefeels suddenly confident – shehas her Equity card in her pock-et and, after all, they are here tolearn from her. That’s some-thing.
Their teacher, a man in hisfifties with sleek grey hair andbig hand movements, details theitinerary of the three-day course.Selina looks around the room ata boy wearing faded jeans; a girlin a long dress and uncombedhair. How old are they?Nineteen? Twenty? She used tothink these types were coolwhen she was their age. Shegrew up on a small Greek islandand most of her clothes camefrom catalogues. Now she hasfashion sense – she wearstrousers, a pretty blouse and awide belt. A girl at the end of arow catches her eye: she is beau-
tiful – slim, dark hair and sensu-al eyes. Selina sits up, breathesher stomach in. She is startledwhen the other actors rise – shedid not hear the teacher finishspeaking.
For the next two days Selinaisn’t paired up with the exoticgirl but she can’t stop watchingher. She knows it is silly – at thatage, so many girls seem youngand beautiful. But Selina neverwas. She was larger then – a sizesixteen. The sight of this girlmakes her feel ashamed.
On the third day she workswith her. The girl says, ‘You’reSelina, aren’t you? Your improvyesterday was incredible.’
Selina notes the Americanaccent. ‘We have something incommon,’ she says.
‘I’m Nicole.’It’s too plain a name for
someone so striking. Selinawants to be able to scorn her butshe’s watched her improv work
too: she’s beautiful and she canact! Only in this professionwould they say it like that.
The scene they’ve been set isthe opening of All About Eve.Selina plays Karen, best friend toMargo Channing; Nicole theaspiring actress, Eve. The line ofaction is clear: Eve must seduceKaren into taking her to Margo.They face each other and Nicole-Eve says, ‘I hope you don’tmind my speaking to you.’
Selina replies, ‘Not at all.’But her words are meek. Therole of Eve calls for a mousy,downtrodden young woman;Nicole dominates without try-ing. When Nicole says it tookher courage to speak to Karen,Selina spits out: ‘To speak to justa playwright’s wife? I’m thelowest form of celebrity.’ Herwords accuse Nicole. It goes onlike this, antagonistically. Selinamakes it hard for her, enablingher to build up so much sympa-
thy that if the film went on, Evewould come out as the rose ofthe piece.
The day is exhausting buteventually it ends. On her wayback to the station Selina stopsfor coffee. She is asking thebarista for skimmed milk, nowhipped cream, when she catch-es Nicole’s reflection in the mir-ror.
‘Hi,’ Nicole says. ‘You reallypushed me today.’
‘The key is to work outwhat’s really going on under thewords. Eve is devious.’
Nicole orders an espresso.‘And I’d expected Karen to beopen and accommodating,’ shesays, the keen student. ‘I’ve seenthe film…you made me find adifferent Eve. I had to provemyself.’
Yes, she thinks. A girl likeNicole never has to prove her-self. Suddenly, Selina says,‘What’s your last name? I’ll look
‘I’m the lowestform of celebrity’she spat out
out for your name in lights.’‘Nicole Miller. Nothing spe-
cial. You gave me a lot today.’Selina thinks: it will be at
least a year until she graduates.Until then anyone might takeher name, mightn’t they? Likeshe said, it’s common enough.To take some small part of hermagic! To take it away! But isthat the truth? No. No agent willlet this beauty take that nameinto the world. If Selina appro-priates it, this girl won’t evenmiss it – better things await her.
Nicole watches her. Selinasays, ‘It’s all about feeding offothers. Never arrive on stagewith a set idea of who you’regoing to be.’ Her phone rings.‘Well, good luck.’
Outside she answers the call.‘So, about your name,’ her agentsays. ‘I’ve got a couple of choic-es.’
Selina sips her coffee. ‘Noneed.’
12 Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Charles Dickens lived inBolsover Street in addition to allthe local addresses listed in ourlast issue, writes Mike Pentelow.
The actual site, on the northeast corner with CarburtonStreet, is now occupied byRegent's Park Holiday Inn.
Ruth Richardson in her book"Dickens & The Workhouse"revealed that Dickins took lodg-ings in the street in 1837 when itwas called Upper Norton Street.
According to one website(www.victorianweb.org) thiswas at number 30 Upper NortonStreet (although it claims he wasthere in 1836).
Peter Potter's 1832 map ofthe Parish of St Maryleboneshows that this was on the cor-ner of Carburton Street, asdescribed.
Interestingly, this is just 120paces from Greenwell Street,which was called BuckinghamStreet in those days, and Iremember reading in the 1970sthat Dickens lived here also(although I have since beenunable to retrace the source).
He certainly lived at 15Buckingham Street, which stillexists off the Strand (and alsoassigned this address to his fic-tional character DavidCopperfield), but is it possibleDickens also lived in theBuckingham Street, offCleveland Street?
Ruth Richardson statesDickens lived in BuckinghamStreet off the Strand in 1831,whereas Claire Tomalin (in"Charles Dickens, A Life") stateshe lived in Buckingham Street,without specifying which one,three years later in 1834.
If any readers have anyinformation about Dickens liv-ing in the Buckingham Streetwhich is now Greenwell Street Iwould be grateful to receive itthrough this paper (contactdetails on page 2).
For those who missed thelast issue Dickens lived at thefollowing Fitzrovian addresses:22 Cleveland Street (10 NorfolkStreet), 147 Gower Street (4Gower Street North), 70Margaret Street, and 13 and 25Fitzroy Street. He also installedthe young actress Ellen Ternanat 31 Berners Street, visited hisfather at 34 Keppel Street, hisgreat aunt at 16 Berners Street,his aunt at 7 Charlotte Street,and his uncle at 35 OxfordStreet.
Dickens alsolodged inBolsover Street
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Art Fare continues with itsmission to keep its readersabreast of Fitzrovia art
developments through quickfireinterviews with a selection of gal-leries. This time, we talk to threegallerists, new to to Fitzrovia, eachspecialising in work in a specificmedium: Libby Sellers – design;Zelda Cheatle – photography; andlens based media and Megan Piper– mid career painters and sculptors.
Libby Sellers, Gallery LibbySellers, 41 Berners Street
FN: How long has thegallery been open?
LS: Eight months: we openedthe doors to the new galleryspace in September last year.
FN: What attracted you toFitzrovia?
LS: The excellent coffeehouses, the fantastic shoe repairshop and, of course, the othergalleries.
FN: Where were you before?LS: We used to operate as a
pop-up gallery so in theory wewere nowhere before, just every-where every now and then.
FN: Who are the directorsand what are their backgrounds?
LS: Libby Sellers is a designhistorian, gallerist and formersenior curator of the DesignMuseum, London for sevenyears where projects includedthe first UK retrospectives ofMarc Newson and Peter Saville.Libby was nominated for the2008 Paul Hamlyn BreakthroughFund for cultural entrepreneursand the Wallpaper* CourvoisierDesign Awards in 2009.
FN: What is your policy onchoice of artists?
LS: We work with designerswho choose to locate their workoutside of the mainstreamdesign industry, and instead cre-ate unique or editioned piecesthat go beyond functionality toembrace autonomy, exclusivityand narrative.
FN:Any forthcoming high-lights?
LS: To coincide with theOlympics, Gallery Libby Sellersis hosting our own take on theGames and presenting a chesssalon with specially commis-sioned sets and games furniture.Also, a new musical score writ-ten and performed specially forour exhibition with the supportof the Richard Thomas MusicFoundation.By a quirk of fate,the timing of the London show
Art FareBy CLIVE JENNINGS
Studio Job ‘Pyramids of Makkum’at Gallery Libby Sellers.
falls almost 40 years later to theday to that of the infamous 1972Fischer v Spassky World ChessChampionship.
Zelda Cheatle, MargaretStreet Gallery, 63 MargaretStreet
FN: How long has thegallery been open?
ZC: Since 21st April 2012.FN: What attracted you to
Fitzrovia?ZC: Mixture of galleries and
real life in the epicentre ofLondon.
FN: Who are the directorsand what are their backgrounds?
ZC: Zelda Cheatle andDeborah Goldman, photographyand fine art.
FN: What is your policy onchoice of artists?
ZC: Excellence in the medi-um.
FN: Any forthcoming high-lights?
ZC: Yaakov Israel, JamesBond and James Morris.
FN: Do you have associa-tions/liaisons with otherFitzrovia galleries?
ZC: We know and like T.JBoulting, Diemar Noble,Paradise Row and England +Co. We hope to become part ofthe Thursday late night, lastThursday of each month in gal-leries in the area.
FN: Around 10% of Londongalleries are now in Fitzrovia, doyou see it increasing and becom-ing an internationally famous artgallery area like Chelsea in NewYork City?
ZC: Yes, most definitely.Megan Piper, The Piper
Gallery, 18 Newman Street FN: How long has the
gallery been open?MP: The gallery will open on
29th June 2012.FN: What attracted you to
Fitzrovia?MP: It's an exciting area and
has become a magnet for a var-ied and dynamic group of gal-leries. The number of galleries inthe area has really put it on themap.
FN: Who are the directorsand what are their backgrounds?
MP: Megan Piper andAndrew Morris. Before starting
the gallery Megan worked atMomart, the fine art handler.Andrew founded London ArtFair in 1988, so has had a longstanding involvement with theart world.
FN: What is your policy onchoice of artists?
MP: The Piper Gallery isdedicated to showcasing thework of contemporary artistswhose careers have spannedforty years or more. The galleryaims to present these artists to anew generation and to demon-strate both the strength of theirlifelong commitment to theirpractice and the continuingdynamism of their recent pro-duction.
FN: Any forthcoming high-lights?
MP: Yes! The gallery's inau-gural exhibition Then and Nowopens on 29th June - looking atthe work of two British artists:Edward Allington and VaughanGrylls. An exhibition of FrancisWest's recent paintings will openon the 7th September and anexhibition of Tess Jaray's recentpaintings will open on 10thOctober.
FN: Any information ofinterest about the building/pre-vious occupants?
MP: 18 Newman Street is aVictorian property and was pre-viously occupied by a companycalled Henry Newbery, whowere based there for around 25years. Henry Newbery wasfounded in 1782 by JohnNewbery, a Berkshire weaver,six generations of Newberyshave created and sold uphol-stery trimmings and fabrics.Theshop front has ornate and dis-tinctive gothic detailing to thesurround, and has been com-mented on in Westminster's con-servation reports.
Design, photography and sculpture
Sea of Galilee, by Yaakov Israel, in the Margaret Street Gallery.
13Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
great supporter of porcelainfrom Davenport pottery inStaffordshire and contributed tothat company’s success andearly expansion.
Lesser known facts aboutHanway Place include the secretlocation of an LEB power sub-station (St Marylebone sub-sta-tion) in the deep basements oftwo adjoining residentialGeorgian buildings during thesecond world war to hide itfrom enemy action. More recent-ly, residents also boast that “theVillage” (which has moved tonearby Soho) opened in HanwayStreet and was the first gay barin London’s West End.
Walking through is like tak-ing a trip back in time: theWestminster Jews Free Schoolbuilding, which was opened in1811, the gaudy array of albumcovers in the retro vinyl recordshops and the diversity ofrestaurants ranging fromSpanish, Japanese, Korean andFusion.
There is always the restora-tive sound of music waftingfrom the shops and bars. and thejoyful sense of being invited tojoin the dance. Yet it retains thatfeeling of being shut away fromobservation; hidden, otherworldly, and lost in time andspace; a forgotten treasure. Likeall great gems it has to be appre-ciated, protected and conserved.
some time the resort of the high-est fashions for mercery, andother articles of dress; and it hascontinued to this day to benoted for its china-dealers andcuriosity shops, as it was in daysof yore when high-heeled shoesand stiff brocades were all therage.”
Just how it acquired its nameis not clear although there hasbeen speculation the title derivesfrom Jonas Hanway, who reput-edly introduced the umbrella toEngland and may have run anoutlet in this fashionable shop-ping street of traders in china,fabrics, watches and other acces-sories.
Another famous residentwas the builder William Bakerwho lived in Hanway Street atthe time he laid the first stone innearby Baker Street in 1755. In1808, another resident, Mrs.Elizabeth Alexander, whoclaimed to be aged 106, wasreputed to be the oldest womanin England. In the absence ofreliable records who knowswhether she actually was 106years old.
As you enter Hanway Streetfrom the Oxford Street end lookout for a little sign reminding usthat the widening of the road in1841 was made possible throughthe generous donation of E.H.Baldock who ran a china curioshop. Baldock’s, as the museum-like shop was known, was a
is reputed to be an oasis in aquiet place. Today the recordshops are enjoying a revival andhave acquired street cred asretro vinyl meccas. The upstairsand downstairs clubs havebecome fashionable drinkingbars for a variety of people whocan appreciate and enjoy arelaxed and bohemian atmos-phere. Even though the land-mark Blue Post pub has van-ished from the TCR corner ofHanway Street, there are numer-ous bars and restaurants to caterfor a variety of tastes. The gloomof neglect and despair is liftingand the blossoming of thisdynamic corner at the heart ofLondon will be greatly assistedby the continued involvement ofthe residents, traders and widercommunity in the appreciationand promotion of their uniquearea.
The main street originallyknown as Hanover Yard, becameHanway Yard and then HanwayStreet. It follows the line of anancient footpath which can bereliably traced back at least tothe time of Henry VIII; and theconstruction of buildings seemsto have started in the early1700s. There is early reference towhat was described as a littlefield partly in the parish of StPancras (now part of Camden)and partly in the parish of StMarylebone (now inWestminster), containing 2.5acres sold by James Mountjoy in1569. According to EdwardWalford in London Old andNew Vol. 4, 1878: “it was for
residents fear that their neigh-bourhood’s concerns are notfully addressed by eitherWestminster or Camden Counciland that they are often forgottenor neglected – there is a real con-cern that they all too often fallbetween the boundary cracks. Inspite of this many residents feelthat with the support of thewider community we can con-serve this unique area. Thosewho have read Neil Gaiman’s(1996) Neverwhere may remem-ber the depiction of HanwayPlace as an entrance to LondonBelow.
“He turned into HanwayStreet. Although he had takenonly a few steps from the well-lit bustle of Oxford Street, hemight have been in another city:Hanway Street was empty, for-saken; a narrow, dark road, littlemore than an alleyway, filledwith gloomy record shops andclosed restaurants, the only lightspilling out from the secretivedrinking clubs on the upperfloors of buildings. He walkedalong it, feeling apprehen-sive….The Mandeer, that wasthe restaurant. He passed thebrightly lit front door, therestaurant’s steps leading invit-ingly down into the under-ground, and then he turnedleft.”
The Mandeer, according tolocal residents, was London’sfirst and finest vegetarianrestaurant. It is now long goneand superseded by Hakkasan,one of London’s most exclusiveand expensive eating venues. It
You will not find it on anymap of the area or anyLondon A to Z, but
“Hanway Close” is emerging as thepreferred name to describe a verysmall conservation area, of twosmall lanes in the shadow ofCentre Point at dawn.
They are Hanway Street andHanway Place, in the corner ofthe Tottenham Court Road andOxford Street intersection (thesouth eastern tip of Fitzrovia),which are delicately juxtaposedbetween many worlds old andnew. Apart from offering a richdiversity of restaurants, bars,services, trades and shops(including direct access to two ofLondon’s most vibrant shoppingparades Oxford Street andTottenham Court Road), the areapulsates with the sounds andsyncopations of music for allages ranging from Flamenco tosoul and R&B. The Beatles wereregular visitors to this locale inthe swinging sixties and there isstill that feeling of a cool placeto chill, listen to music dance oradmire the flamenco dancers.
Hanway Street was designat-ed as a conservation area in 1990because of its “intimate charac-ter and charm, created by thenarrow, curving streetscape andpiecemeal way in which it hasdeveloped”. The street is one ofthe last late-medieval routesthrough Fitzrovia and St Gilesand is recognised as having sig-nificant historic value by bothCamden and Westminster. Yetthe recent decision to grant plan-ning permission for the widen-ing of the Tottenham CourtRoad entrance to Hanway Streetto accommodate delivery lorriesfor a new Primark retail outletwas met with regret and disap-pointment from local residentsand conservationists.Construction on the vast 85,000square feet Primark clothingstore opposite Tottenham CourtRoad station (where Virgin,Zavvi and Sports Direct used tobe) commenced early in 2011and it is expected to be openlater this year. The disruption tothe lives of local residents and tothe flow of pedestrian traffic isalready causing concern.
Many of the few remaining
By STEPHEN CARTER
A wander through late-medieval streets
JONAS HANWAY (Getty Images)
Hanway Street and Hanway Place with its mix of record shops and bars. Inset right: The plaqueto E H Baldock (opposite where Bradley’s Spanish bar is now) who ran a china curio shop.
14 History features Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Book reviews
The smuggling of anti-apartheid taped broadcastsand leaflets into South Africa
bolstered the liberation movementwhen it was at its lowest ebb in the1960s.
And it was all planned atgreat personal risk in theGoodge Street area, as isrevealed in this new book.
After Nelson Mandela andnumerous other activists werejailed for life in 1964 and theunderground network destroyedit "spelt the nadir of the libera-tion struggle", writes RonnieKasrils in the book's introduc-tion.
He himself was exiled toLondon and formed a commandgroup to plan daring acts todemonstrate the AfricanNational Congress was notdead. These included broadcast-ing taped messages and distrib-uting leaflets (blown into the airfrom exploding buckets) at railand bus stations in South Africaduring rush hours.
The command group met at39 Goodge Street, the shabbyoffice of Yusuf Dadoo and theexiled South African CommunistParty. The group consisted ofKasrils, Dadoo, Joe Slovo, and
Jack Hodgson. Just round thecorner was the African NationalCongress office at 49-51Rathbone Street, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement at 89Charlotte Street (after its originaloffice was bombed in 1961 byBOSS, the South African secretpolice, at 200 Gower Street).
Ken Keable was one of thoserecruited to release "leafletbombs" in South Africa. Herecalls meetings with Kasrilsoutside the Dominion Theatre,269 Tottenham Court Road. "Forthe most secret work he took meto a flat near Tottenham CourtRoad, the owner of which hadgiven Ronnie a key. It was therethat he gave me a suitcase witha false bottom containing about1,200 small enveleopes, alreadyaddressed, which I was to postin Johannesburg."
This flat was possibly 28Tottenham Street, where Martinand Fiona Green lived and letthe ANC and its choir meet.
As well as posting the lettersKeable released one of the leafletbombs with its broadcast mes-sage. "Ronnie had played thetape to us in the flat in London,"he writes. "It started with 15minutes of silence (this was our
Hospital high jinks at the Middlesex
The hilarious escapades of twolarger than life women whoran the Middlesex Hospital
Schools of Radiography after thewar enliven this excellent book.
Marion Frank, who becameprincipal of the schools in 1948,had fled Nazi Germany as a jew-ish refugee at the age of 17 in1937. Her first experience withthe hospital had been in 1938when her application to train asa radiographer was rejectedbecause of her German origins.
In the particularly severewinter of 1947 she workedunpaid at the hospital for threemonths to gain post-diplomaexperience, and did most of herstudying in bed to keep warm.
After that she went to workin a Canadian hospital, but gavein her notice after being asked todo work for which she was nottrained. With no money sheapplied to a circus to be ahuman cannonball. When thecircus manager made it clearthat sex with him was part ofthe deal she discharged herselfbefore he fired her. She cleanedup this story for some morerespectable audiences by claim-ing he had told her she was toofat.
The position of superintend-ent radiographer and principalof the school at MiddlesexHospital became vacant in 1948and she applied for it. Whilereturning to London by sea insteerage class she met a doctorwho advised her to wear a hatfor the interview. On arrival shespotted what she thought was ahat shop from the top of a bus. Itturned out to be selling lamp-shades, so she bought one andwore that to the interview, andwas duly appointed.
She lived in one of the hospi-tal staff homes where strict seg-regation of the sexes wasenforced after a certain time ofthe night. On one occasion amale radiologist, wrapped onlyin a towel after visiting the com-munal bathrooms, found himselflocked out of his room. Heshared a balcony with Marion'sroom, so knocked on her door toget to it. To preserve each other'smodesty it was agreed shewould open the door, and returnto her bed under the covers. Asthe radiologist approached thebalcony he trod on one ofMarion's mousetraps whichsnapped on his foot. As heyelled, his towel slipped andMarion leaped out of bed to seewhat all the alarm was about.
Sir Winston Churchill wastaken to the hospital in 1962 tohave a fractured thigh treated.Because he was known to sweara lot, it was deemed inappropri-ate for young female radiogra-phers to be present, so Marionfilled in and found it impossibleto keep him still for the x-rays.As crowds gathered outside in
Cleveland Street upon hisrelease she gave strict instruc-tions to staff that they were notto take any photographs ofChurchill leaving. She wasembarrassed therefore when theDaily Telegraph next day pub-lished a picture of her leaningdangerously out of a window tofilm the event on her cine cam-era.
In 1980 she was awarded theOBE and the school celebratedwith a party at which frank-furters were served. They hadbeen steamed in a steriliser usedfor cleaning metal enema cathers(a common practice which wasmarked by the issuing of the"Order of the Frankfurter" to allthose at the party). Luckilynobody got food poisoning.
The other powerful womanwas Mary Craig who was at thehospital from 1934 to 1974 andas well as being a tutor was incharge of the MeyersteinInstitute of Radiotherapy.
She too was awarded theOBE (in 1972). Not being theowner of such a conventionalitem as a handbag she had toborrow one when receiving theaward from the Queen atBuckingham Palace. When Mary
returned the handbag to herfriend she absent mindedly leftthe OBE medal inside it.
She was known for encour-aging all grades to progress andtrusted her staff fully. Once shewas asked to give a talk to aradiographers' conference on"The Art of Delegation." She del-egated her deputy, MargaretWells, to do it for her, which theaudience thought was a superbexample of practising what shepreached.
There are other amusing inci-
London Recruits, The Secret War against Apartheid, edited by KenKeable, published by the Merlin Press (ISBN 978-0-85036-655-6).
By MIKE PENTELOW
Radiating Knowledge, The Story of The Middlesex HospitalSchools of Radiography, edited by Adrienne Finch (published byDisco).
dents in the book involvingother characters. These includex-raying a sword swallower toprove he did actually swallowthe sword, a private patient hav-ing a barium enema instead of aspine x-ray, and sowing thecourtyard lawn next to the x-raydepartment with mustard andcress to fool the pompous bossinto thinking radiation wascausing the grass to mutate.
But there is a wealth of muchmore serious material provingthe great worth of the schools.
During their existence from 1935to 1990 they trained over 1,200students in diagnostic and treat-ment radiology, medical ultra-sound and nuclear medicine.They came from 52 differentcountries and had a huge influ-ence throughout the world.
Copies of the book (ISBN:978-0-9571625-0-1) can beobtained at the UCLH shop,Euston Road, or by emailingPatricia Ducker [email protected]
Bombing apartheid with leaflets
get-away time) followed by thestriking words 'This is theAfrican National Congress, thisis the African NationalCongress, this is the voice offreedom.' Some militant songswere next, performed by theLondon based ANC choirknown as Mayibuye. I think thefirst song was the ANC anthem,Nkozi Sikelel' iAfrika, and fol-lowed by a speech."
The leaflets were releasedsimultaneously in other townsand were widely reported in thepress, which sent out a messagethat the ANC was still alive andactive.
Another recruit was Eddie
Adams. "The first part of myintroduction to what was need-ed was a training session withRonnie in an empty office inCharlotte Street. We crouchedbehind some desks while heexplained and showed me howto operate a street broadcast.The second session related towhat we called 'leaflet bombs'.These consisted of a domesticplastic bucket with a platformover a tube with explosive pow-der in it. On the platform was apile of propaganda leaflets. Thiswas set off by a timer of the typeused by motorists when theyparked their cars. They buzzedwhen the parking time was up.This device would send leafletsa hundred feet into the air." Hiswas set off at Cape Town rail-way station in 1969.
Another recruit anonymous-ly recalls being trained in mak-ing bassic explosive mechanismsfrom easily obtainable compo-nents in "a small attic roomsomewhere off Oxford Street."
Other recruits were selectedby Bob Allen, London secretaryof the Young CommunistLeague, and introduced toRonnie Kasrils "usually in a par-ticular pub near to TottenhamCourt Road tube station." A pubin Tottenham Court Road was
RONNIE KASRILS
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
15Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
Ten years agoBy GEORGE BINNING
Suggs (pictured), the singer withthe band Madness, recalled hislife in Fitzrovia when appearingon Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
He lived above Maples car-pet shop in Tottenham CourtRoad and was a regular at thenearby Roxy Club which hostedup and coming punk bands suchas The Clash.
“From that I got the idea thatanybody could have a go,” hesaid.
At the time he was workingin Warren Street, cleaning sec-ond hand cars for dealers “everyday regardless of the weather.”
Meanwhile the rich andfamous were being attracted tothe private Portland Hospital inGreat Portland Street to givebirth. Rooms cost from £694 to£1,244 a night and a Caesareancost £3,256 for the first night.
Among those who stayedthere were Liz Hurley, Zoe Ball,Victoria Beckham, Anneka Rice,Jerry Hall, Pamela Stephenson,Mel B, Patsy Kensit, VictoriaWood, and Julie Walters.
From Fitzrovia News,December 2002 (no issue appearedin the summer that year).
Suggs thecar cleaner
Check your lucky stars with the third of our new horoscope column
Is there a profes-sional code towriting your ownhoroscope? The
conjunction of Mars and my rul-ing planet Saturn (15 August) ispromising, and makes me feel
Where will you be spending June 20th, the summer solstice? Thelongest day of the year ought to be spent celebrating appropriately, iffor no other reason than to sate the inner pagan in all of us.
An evening picnic would be suitable enough, or a mad dancearound a burning wicker man for those who want to go the wholehog. I might go to Stonehenge with a very large picnic.
Between the end of June until mid August Mercury will comeinto opposition to Neptune three times. The resonance of this distantpulse will be felt most by Virgos and Geminis, but may well affectLeos and Pisces too (explained later). You can also see the tangledpath of Mercury in Leo’s section of the diagram, with Neptune hov-ering opposite.
There is a Friday13th in July thisyear and on thatday Uranus goes
into retrograde in Aries sky.Without wanting to alarm you,Uranus is the forebear of unpre-dictability, and unforeseenevents may prove very problem-atic.
You Taurean’s arethought to be quitewell grounded peo-ple, though maybe
an intimate relationship is caus-ing you to question that? WhenVenus faces Pluto on August 15you may be forced to take a riskon it, but don’t worry about fac-tors you cannot control.
When Uranus, yourruling planet hits asquare with Jupiter
on June 26 you will come upagainst rules and boundaries,you might consider rebellion.
In July and August,your ruling planetJupiter moves intoa more favourable
position with Neptune, whichhangs in your sky. You will be incommand of your senses, goodnews for those with hayfever.
Your planetMercury was acomplex relation-ship with Neptune
this summer. In astrology, thepersonalities of the Sun, Moon,and planets each have an influ-ence over one particular starsign. Neptune is the exception,signifying that for Gemini, thiswill be a period of personalreflection. Things will startbecome clear from the 8th ofAugust and you can definitelylook forward the 13th.
August will bringfleeting loveunderneath twofull moons as
Venus canters through the houseof Cancer. There is danger ofmissing the opportunity asUranus sits square at the begin-ning of the month.
Solstice falls asMercury reachesthe edge of Leo’ssky in June. Your
strengths will set you apart.Britain may be double dipping,but if you are considering achange of scene at that time, Iforecast growth.
A Virgo can bemore prone to over-analyse than aGemini, so be care-
ful of over thinking events thatmay be significant only to youaround the 28th of June and 4thof August, again, look forwardto the 8th and 13th.
Mars drifts intoconjunction withSaturn in Libra’ssky on the 15th of
August. In your personal life,leadership and responsibilitywill augment your natural senseof diplomacy.
You may have dif-ficulties in lovethis summer, per-haps your waywith words isn’t
working to your advantage? Thearrival of Mars on the 24th ofAugust should encourage you tobe clearer.
When Jupitermoves into Geminion June 12 youmay start to feel
more confident to experimentwith your working methods.You may have to adapt to a newsituation in the workplace, makeit play to your strengths.
Aquarius
Pisces
Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Illustrations: planets by George Binning; zodiac signs by Chris Tyler.
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
also where another recruit, PeteSmith, was briefed by Joe Slovoand Yusuf Dadoo, for a missionto Pretoria.
Alex Moumbaris, a Greekcommunist, also planted leafletbombs, after making contactwith the ANC when itsRathbone Street office was in thesame building as the League forDemocracy in Greece, campaign-ing against military rule.
Ronnie Kasrils went on tobecome head of intelligence forMK, the military wing of theANC, where he became knownas the "Red Pimpernel" and thendeputy defence minister in thefirst South African governmentafter apartheid.
He wrote a book "Armedand Dangerous - my undercoverstruggle against apartheid", pub-lished in 2004, which has a chap-ter on the London Recruits.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
PUB SIGNS OF THE TIMESThe Fitzrovia News “pub signs”poster has rapidly achieved his-toric status.
In the few months since itwas published no less than fiveof the local pubs on it havechanged their hanging signs.
Three of them have sadlyreplaced pictorial signs with justthe bare name - so to see themore interesting originals youwill have to get the poster. Theseare the College Arms at 18 StoreStreet, the Green Man at 36Riding House Street, and theSmugglers Tavern at 28 WarrenStreet (although thankfully itretains the figurehead of a sea-farer).
The Mortimer Arms at 174Tottenham Court Road haschanged its name to theFitzrovia Belle so has changedits sign accordingly, with a newpicture.
The Bar at TCR, at 183Tottenham Court Road, hasamended its name to TCR Bar,and also changed the sign whilekeeping the non-pictorial letter-ing format.
The Smugglers Tavernas it was (above) andnow (right).
The Mortimer Arms as itwas (above) and as therenamed Fitzrovia Belle(right).
The College Arms old(above) and new (right).
The full colour poster isavailable in two sizes whichcan be purchased from theFitzrovia NeighbourhoodCentre at 39 TottenhamStreet, W1T 4RX. A2(590x420 mm/23x16.5 inches)are £5 each, and A3 (415x295mm/16.5x11.5 inches) aretwo for £5.
Getty Images
like kicking butt on that day.Though not much portents inmy love life anytime soon!
Advertise in Fitzrovia News
Our rates are very reasonable and we
distribute 5,000 copiesthroughout [email protected]
20 Listings Fitzrovia News Summer 2012
WHAT’S ON AROUND FITZROVIAEmail [email protected] by 11 August for September 2012 issue, and put “Listings” in the subject box.
Alison Jacques Gallery, 18 BernersSt (www.alisonjacquesgallery.com):To Jun 31 – Saul Fletcher.Arch One, 12 Percy St(www.archonepictureframing.co.uk):Ongoing - various artists.Art First, 21 Eastcastle St (www.art-first.co.uk): To Jun 23 – David Price(The Close of the Silver Age) & BlueCurry (New Work). Jun 28 to Aug 18– Jake Harvey (Stone) & JessicaHarrison, Aksuo Okamoto. Arup Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy St(www.arup.com/phase 2): Checkwebsite for details.Bartha Contemporary, 25 MargaretSt (www.barthacontemporary.com):To Jun 30 – Julia Mangold. Jul 5 toAug 18 – Mike Meire (Economy ofAttention).Black Arts Company, 73 GreatTitchfield St (www.theblackarts.org):Check website for detailsBuilding Centre, Store St(www.buildingcentre.co.uk): To Jun9 - ICE London Civil EngineeringAwards 2012.Caroll/Fletcher, 56-57 Eastcastle St(www.carrollfletcher.com): Jun 1 toJul 6 – Eulalia Valldosera (BloodTies). Jul 20 to Sep 14 – NataschaSadr Haghighian.Cole, 3-4a Little Portland St(www.colecontemporary.com): ToJun 9 – Robert Nichol (Erebus andTerror). Jun to Jul – Marie Angeletti.Coningsby Gallery/Debut Art, 30Tottenham St (www.coningsby-gallery.com): To Jun 2 – St Judes inthe City. Jul 15 to 21 – The PictureShow. Jul 23 to 28 – Pictures at anExhibition.Contemporary Applied Arts, 2Percy St (www.caa.org.uk): To Jun 9– Various artists (Five Decades ofHarrow Ceramics). Jun 15 to Jul 21 –Various artists (The BolingbrokeHospital).Curwen Gallery, 34 Windmill St(www.curwengallery.com): Checkwebsite for details.David Roberts Foundation, 111Great Titchfield St(www.davidrobertsartfoundation.com): To June 9 - Curators Series 5(Bouvard and Pécuchet'sCompendious Quest for Beauty).Dekko, 85 Charlotte St(www.dekkoadvertising.com). Checkwebsite for details.Derwent London Gallery, 43Whitfield St(www.derwentlondon.com): Jun 14to Aug 18 – Construction &Architecture. Diemar/Noble Photographic Gallery,66-67 Wells St (diemarnoblephotography.com):Check website for details.Gallery Different, 14 Percy St(www.gallerydifferent.co.uk): To Jun12 – Various artists (Out of Africa).Jun 15 to Jul 17 – Various artists(Street Life). Jul 19 to Aug 18 –Various artists (London is Calling).England & Co, 90-92 Great PortlandSt (www.englandgallery.com): Checkwebsite for details.Exposure, 22-23 Little Portland St(www.exposure.net): Check websitefor details.Framers Gallery, 36 Windmill St(www.theframersgallery.co.uk): ToJun 2 – A Go-Go Art Girls (DistilledMemory). Jul 16 to Aug 18 – AdrianEnsor (Monumental London).Gallery at 94, 94 Cleveland St(www.galleryat94.com): Check web-site for details.Getty Images Gallery, 46 EastcastleSt (www.gettyimagesgallery.com):
Check website for details.Hanmi Gallery, 30 Maple St(www.hanmigallery.co.uk): Checkwebsite for details.Haunch of Venison, 51 Eastcastle St(www.haunchofvenison.com): To Jul7 – Various artists (The Observer).Gallery Libby Sellers, 41 Berners St(www.libbysellers.com): To Jun 16 –Royal Tichelaar Makkum (Pyramidsof Makkum)Josh Lilley, 44-46 Riding House St(www.joshlilleygallery.com): Jun 1 toJul 6 – Vicky Wright (Falling IntoPositions).Laure Genillard, 2 Hanway Place(www.lauregenillard.com): Checkwebsite for details.Lazarides Gallery, 11 RathbonePlace (www.lazinc.com): Jun 1 to Jul5 – Nina Pandolfo (Feelings).Margaret Street Gallery, 63Margaret St (www.margaretstreetgallery.com): ToJul 5 – Yaakov Israel (The Quest forthe Man on the White Donkey).Modern Art, 23-25 Eastcastle St(www.modernart.net): To Jun 23 -David Altmejd. 29 Jun to Aug 4 –Sara Barker.Mummery+Schnelle, 83 GreatTitchfield St (www.mummeryschnelle.com): ToJun 23 – Alexis Harding. Jun 29 toAug 18 – Various artists(Distractions from the Modern).Nancy Victor, 6 Charlotte Place(www.nancyvictor.com): To Jun 5 -Lesley Hilling (Under the sign of theHour Glass). Jun 8 to Jul 6 – ChrisAgnew (The Pomp ofCircumstances). Jul 12 to Aug 3 –Helen Murgatroyd. National Print Gallery, 56 Maple St(www.nationalprintgallery.com):Check website for details.Nettie Horn, 17A Riding House St(www.nettiehorn.com): To Jun 17 –Bertille Bak. Jul to Aug – DexterDymoke.Paradise Row, 74 Newman St(www.paradiserow.com): To Jun 30 –Tom Gidley (From the Corner ofyour Eye to the Corner of the roomand Back Again).Pilar Corrias, 54 Eastcastle St(www.pilarcorrias.com): To Jun 21 –Leigh Ledare (An Invitation). Jun 28to Aug 3 – Mary Ramsden.The Piper Gallery, 18 Newman St(www.thepipergallery.com): Jun 29to Aug 11 – Edward Allington andVaughn Grylls (Then and Now).Rebecca Hossack Gallery (1), 2aConway St (www.r-h-g.co.uk): ToJun 2 – Peter Clark (Showtime). Jun4 to 30 – The Artists of Ampilawatja(Songlines 24). Jul 2 to Aug 8 -Londinium.Rebecca Hossack Gallery (2) 28Charlotte St (www.r-h-g.co.uk): ToJun 2 – Hepzibah Swinford. Jun 14to Jul 7 – Lucy Casson.Regina Gallery, 22 Eastcastle St(www.reginagallery.com): To 23 Jun– Pavel Pepperstein, VictorPivovarov (Ophelia).Rollo Gallery, 51 Cleveland St (rol-loart.com): To Jun 30 – SarahLederman (A Notion of Longing).Rook and Raven, 7/8 RathbonePlace (www.rookandraven.co.uk):Jun – Penny (Economy of Scale).Rosenfeld Porcini, 37 Rathbone St(www.rosenfeldporcini.com): To Jun27 – Roberto Almagno (ThePerfection of Form). Jul 6 to Sep 15 –Mehran Elimnia.Store Street Gallery, 32 Store St(www.storestreetgallery.com): To Jun23 – Various artists (Rock, Paper,Scissors). Jul 13 to Aug 18 – Variousartists (Icons).
Tiwani Contemporary, 16 LittlePortland St (www.tiwani.co.uk):Check website for details.T J Boulting, 59 Riding House St(www.tjboulting.com): To Jun 2 –Robin Maddock, Jared Schecter (GodForgotten Face / Anonymity).Twist Gallery, 67a Great TitchfieldSt (www.twistgallery.co.uk): Checkwebsite for details.Gallery Vela, 38 Langham St(www.galleryvela.com): Jun 1 to Jul7 – Veronica Smirnoff (The MaddingSpring).Whisper Gallery, 27-28 Eastcastle St(www.whisperfineart.co.uk): Checkwebsite for details.Woolff Gallery, 89 Charlotte St(www.woolffgallery.co.uk): Checkwebsite for details.Yannick Gallery, 74 Wells St(www.yannickgallery.com): Checkwebsite for details.
S t d b
Fitzroy Square Opera presents Laboheme by Puccini. Sung inEnglish & performed by TheGarden Opera Company FitzroySquare Gardens, London W1Thursday 28 June 2012 at 7.30pm.Box Office: 07581 257 594 Email:[email protected] Tickets(inc. Seat): Adults in advance£27.50, on the gate £30 Under 18s£22.50, Under 5s free (one per pay-ing adult)
ART GALLERIES
KARAOKE/DISCO
THEATRE
LIVE MUSIC
CINEMA/FILM
LIVE COMEDY
PUB QUIZZES
EXHIBITIONS
TALKS
OTHER EVENTS
All Saints, 7 Margaret St: See"Other Events" at end.Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(www.cultura.embavenez-uk.org):Luis Quintero Guitar, June 8;Mother Tongue, violin and piano,June 12; Inti Raymi Festival, June14; Latin-American Music Festival,June 26; Casa Alba, music anddance, June 29.The 100 Club, 100 Oxford St(www.the100club.co.uk): JimPenfold & The Hollywood Killers,June 9; Milos Karadaglic, June 11;Buster Shuffle, June 12; ChantelMcGregor, June 14; Redline, June15; Barry from Watford's BingoBonanza! June 19; Police DogHogan, June 20; The Golden EagleJazz Band, June 21; Joanofarc, June22.UCL Chamber Music Club,Haldane Room, Main Campus,Gower Street(www.ucl.ac.uk/chamber-music):June 7, 5-6.30pm.
TCR Bar, 182 Tottenham Court Rd:Open mike for singers to live back-ing group, every Thursday, 7pm.One Tun, 58 Goodge St: Karaoke,June 2, then last Saturday of month.
College Arms, 18 Store St: Mondaysat 8pm.Fitzroy Tavern, 16 Charlotte St:Wednesdays at 7.30pm in basement.Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place:Improvisation on Thursdays,8.30pm, and stand-up on Saturdays,7.30pm upstairs.
Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon St(www.thebloomsbury.com): AnEvening with Martin Amis, June 12;Gregory Porter, June 13-14; Springinto Summer, June 16; Focus on thePositive, June 18; Laugh Till It Hurts,June 20; Tome Stade Live - DVDRecording, June 21-22; Barry andStuart: Show & Tell, June 23; TheOnly Way Is Masters, June 29-30.Ballet Central, July 6-7.Camden People's Theatre, 58-60Hampstead Rd(www.cptheatre.co.uk): Pop Magic,June 8-10; World War Freeze, June23-24.Dominion Theatre, 269 TottenhamCourt Rd(www.dominiontheatre.co.uk): WeWill Rock You, ongoing.London Palladium, Argyll St(www.the-london-palladium.com):The Wizard of Oz, ongoing.RADA, Malet Street, oppositeBirkbeck College (www.rada.org):John Gielguid Theatre: Stars in theMorning Sky, until June 9. GBSTheatre: You Never Can Tell, untilJune 9. Masked, and Penetrator, June28 to July 7. Jerwood VanbrughTheatre: Cymbeline, until June 9. AsYou Like It, June 29 to July 7. TheMerchant of Venice, July 2-7. KingLear, June 30, July 3 and 5. RadaStudios, 16 Chenies Street:Honeybees the Musical, June 23; TheMerchant of Venice, and TheCanterbury Tales double bill, June27-29; Design and CostumeGraduate Exhibition, July 5-7.
Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(www.cultura.embavenez-uk.org): ElGran Azul, June 1.Green Man, 36 Riding House St:London Animation Club (londonani-mationclub.com) upstairs, June 12,then first Tuesday of month.Odeon, 30 Tottenham Court Road:Weekly film details fromwww.odeon.co.uk or 08712 244007.Screen @ Rada, Malet St, oppositeBirkbeck College (www.rada.org):Frankenstein, June 14 and 16; LaTraviata, Aug 11; Ravel Live, Aug 19;The Fairy Queen, Aug 21; La Nozzedi Figaro, Aug 23.UCL JZ Young Theatre, AnatomyBuilding, Gower St: The Valley ofGwangi, June 20, 6.30pm.
British Museum, Great Russell St(www.britishmuseum.org):Shakespeare: staging the world, July19 to Nov 25; Modern Chinese inkpaintings, until Sept 2; PicassoPrints: The Vollard Suite, until Sept2; Crowns and ducats: Shakespeare'smoney and medals, until Nov 25.Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(www.cultura.embavenez-uk.org):Examples of restoration work toVenezuelan cultural heritage sites,June 21-25.Grant Museum of Zoology, 21University St (www.ucl.ac.uk/muse-ums/zoology): Extreme Animals(half term activities), June 6-8;Buried on Campus (human bones),until July 13; Silly Season (animalbehaviour), until July 17.Royal Institute of BritishArchitects, 66 Portland Place(www.architecture.com):Contemporary NorwegianArchitecture, until June 15; DesignStories: The Architecture Behind2012, June 25 to Sept 21.Slade School of Fine Art, Gower St(www.ucl.ac.uk/events): MA/MFAFine Art Degree Show, June 9-14.UCL Art Museum, South Cloisters,Gower St (www.ucl.ac.uk/events):One Day in the City, June 15 to Aug10.Wellcome Library, 183 Euston Rd(www.wellcomecollection.org):Brains: The mind as matter, untilJune 17.
Royal Institute of BritishArchitects, 66 Portland Place(www.architecture.com): DoArchitects Help? June 19, 6.30pm;Beyond The Glass Room, July 3,6.30pm; Masterplanning Futures,July 10, 6pm.UCL JZ Young Theatre, AnatomyBuilding, Gower St: It Came fromthe Stores (curious objects fromGrant Museum of Zoology), July 17,6.30pm.UCL public lectures (Thursdays,1.15-1.55pm), normally DarwinTheatre, Gower St, entrance in MaletPlace, but temporarily in BritishMuseum (www.ucl.ac.uk/events):Neanderthals excavations at Jersey,June 7; Virtual British Museum col-lections online, June 14; A book byany other name, June 21; Paintingpractices under the microscope, June28.Wellcome Library, 183 Euston Rd(www.wellcomecollection.org):Visualising the AIDS crisis, June 21,3-4pm.Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place:Sohemian Society - Novelist LauraDel Rivo, June 18, 7.30pm; NigelJones (author of The Tower), July 5,7.30pm.
All Saints, 7 Margaret St: ADiamond Jubilee Concert, June 24,7.45pm.All Souls Clubhouse, 141 ClevelandSt (www.clubhousew1.org):Diamond Jubilee Party, Greenwell St,June 1, 1-9pm.Royal Institute of BritishArchitects, 66 Portland Place(www.architecture.com): FitzroviaTrail, Family Activity, June 30.
One Tun, 58 Goodge St: EveryTuesday, 8pm.Prince of Wales Feathers, 8 WarrenSt: June 11 then very Monday, 7pm.
WALKSFitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre,39 Tottenham St: FascinatingFitzrovia, June 30, 12-1pm. £5
God save your mad parade