we are not impressed news.fitzrovia.org.uk fitzrovianews · 2013-12-01 · camden council to buy...

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Issue 131 Winter 2013

FitzroviaNewsFitzrovia News is produced by residents and volunteers and distributed free to all businesses and residential addresses in Fitzrovia

We are not impressed

By News Reporters

Plans for redevelopment of twolarge sites in Fitzrovia havedrawn criticism from campaign-ers. University College LondonHospital NHS Foundation Trust(UCLH) in a flurry of activityover the autumn have announcedoutline proposals for the formerStrand Union Workhouse site inCleveland Street and the formerOdeon cinema site on the cornerof Tottenham Court Road andGrafton Way.

UCLH will this winter submitplans to Camden Council to builda mix of private and social hous-ing on the former workhouse sitewhich is currently occupied byproperty guardians and used aswelfare offices for a nearby con-struction site. The proposalsinclude demolishing all the non-listed parts of the site.

Dr Ruth Richardson, theCambridge historian who led ahigh-profile campaign to get theformer workhouse listed, hasattacked the proposals as beingunsuitable on a site of this histori-cal importance.

“Dead from the Strand parish-es are buried deep in the groundaround the Workhouse and thereare several good solid Victorianbuildings, including the Master’sHouse and the Receiving Wards,on each side of the listed build-ing. At the back, there are twosplendid Nightingale Wardswhich are unique in London forbeing attached to an eighteenthcentury poorhouse.

“The owners of the site haverecently put forward plans whichenvisage the destruction of every-thing but the listed building. Ahigh-rise apartment block willoccupy the burial ground andglitzy buildings are planned toflank the most famousWorkhouse in the world, whichwill be broken up internally forexpensive flats.

“I asked a man who said hewas the architect if his buildingswould last as long as thosealready standing there have done– yet, for some reason, he seemedunable to enunciate a reply,”writes Richardson onSpitalfieldsLife.com

The development plans alsofall short of the amount of social-ly-rented housing that should beincluded on the site say localcampaign groups the CharlotteStreet Association and theFitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation.

As previously reported (FN130 September 2013) UCLH madetwo attempts to wriggle out of itssection 106 obligation to provideaffordable housing on the siteand the penalty clause that allowsCamden Council to buy the site

for £1 if the obligation is not met. Camden Council refused both

the applications to renegotiate thesection 106 agreement to providehousing. But the s106 agreementstated that there should be atleast 44 social housing units onthe workhouse site, plus a contri-bution of units commensuratewith planning policy.

However, UCLH’s proposalsonly include 41 socially-rentedunits.

Plans by UCLH to build anew cancer treatment centre onthe Odeon site have also drawncriticism. The public exhibtionheld in the autumn did not showenough detail and a very largebuilding is planned with no open

Poor deal for housing and heritage. UCLH’s plans to demolish the Victorian buildings and redevelop around theGrade II listed former Strand Union Workhouse building on Cleveland Street. The proposals have been criticised byheritage campaigners and those who argue there needs to be more affordable housing on the site. Picture: UCLH.

Continues on page 3

Madness inTottenhamCourt Road

See page 19

Infamous poetcelebrated

See pages 12-13

UCLH unveils new plans forworkhouse and Odeon sites

2 — Fitzrovia News issue 131 Winter 2013 facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews

Issue 131 Winter 2013Published 3 December 2013

Editorial TeamMike Pentelow: editor and features editorLinus Rees: assistant editorPete Whyatt: news and production editorClive Jennings: arts editorBrian Jarman: writer and sub-editorBarb Jacobson: associate editorJennifer Kavanagh: associate editorJess Owensassociate editor

Contributors:

Peter ArkellSue BlundellJayne DavisClancy Gebler DaviesClifford HarperDenise JulienEdward KellowAngela LovelyEugene McConvilleSunita SoliarKipper Williams

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Letters, emails and commentWrite to [email protected] or post to Fitzrovia News, Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, 39 Tottenham Street, London W1T 4RX

Boris’s plan for out-of-hours deliverieswill be a nightmarefor residentsI noticed a couple of weeks agothat in the Metro newspaperTransport for London had apage of their news. At the topwas the news that Boris Johnsonand TfL are aiming to lift therestrictions on out-of-hoursdeliveries.

This is the successful out-come of much lobbying by theroad freight lobby over the lastfew years. While they clearlyaim to enable HGVs to comeinto central London after 11pm,through the night, it looks as if itwill include allowing the usualdaytime and evening deliveriesby vehicles of all sizes to be car-ried out after 11pm.

There have been a few trialsof late night deliveries already,some before the Olympics andduring the Olympics period.Boris Johnson has declared thelatter to be a great success, butfor very many residents it was anightmare, with vans of all sizesarriving under their windows atall hours after midnight, wakingthem up and keeping themawake during long noisy deliv-eries.

A Code of Practice wasdevised for quieter deliveries,but in reality even if it was keptto, it made little difference. Theproposal includes allowing con-struction vehicles to deliver after11pm as well.

Anyone who lives, as I andmy neighbours have been,between several long-termbuilding sites will dread havinghuge materials and cementdeliveries close to their homesthroughout the wee hours.

We already have a highnumber of extremely noisy pri-vate waste and recycling collec-tions rat-running through theWest End residential roads andgrinding away under people'swindows late at night, dieselpowered street cleaning machin-ery up and down all night long,Ferrari's and similar upmarketcars with ear-splitting souped-up exhausts driving round andround all night, and pedicabswith full-volume music echoingdown side streets until 3am andlater.

Boris Johnson and TfL arecompletely disregarding the factthat people live in centralLondon, and that people doneed to get a good night's sleep.

It is time for residents andthe groups that represent themto stand up for residential‘amenity’, for adults and chil-dren to be able to have a peace-ful night's sleep.

Not only should the out-of-hours deliveries restrictionremain in place, but the timeafter which they are not allowedshould be brought back to theearlier time of 9pm.

Noise levels in centralLondon are already at or abovethe levels at which humanhealth is harmed. Children areparticularly vulnerable to theeffects of disturbed sleep, andadults should have at least anhour or two of quiet time in theevening.

Vivienne LoeschBrown Hart Gardens, Mayfair, W1

My client has been championedby esteemed restaurant critics

I am writing on behalf of VillageLondon restaurant group, withregards to the Dining Detectivereview of Riding House Café inFitzrovia News (Issue 130Autumn 2013).

My client feels that theaforementioned editorialaccount is far from being anappropriate representation of therestaurant's offering, and wouldlike to file an official complaint.Much of the copy contains wild-ly inaccurate observations whichwould indicate that the writer inquestion is not qualified to be ina reviewer position.

We would ask whether thisjournalist has any prior under-standing of food and or therestaurant industry. Since open-ing three years ago, RidingHouse Café has been champi-oned both by restaurant critics

in national broadsheets andesteemed restaurant guides, andis widely considered to be one ofthe capital’s most highly regard-ed modern brasseries.

In your publication theDining Detective repeatedlyrefers to the cooking as being‘microwaved’, and that this ishow they ‘manage the bigcrowds’, demonstrating a seri-ous lack of understanding ofwhat is offered.

A microwave would neverbe found in a restaurant of thisquality and for your outlet toimply otherwise is unacceptable,misleading to your readers, andinsulting to the many peopleworking hard to deliver highquality food.

Antony P. RettieDirector, Anteater PR, London

My mother, who is now 96 yearsold, was born and brought up at33 Warren Street. Her parents,my grandparents, moved intoWarren Street between 1901 and1911 (Census) and all the chil-dren, and there were many, wereborn there.

Mum has many happy mem-ories and talks about so manyadventures from those days. Justas World War 2 started theymoved to Shepherds Bush, butmy grandmother missed WarrenStreet life and would oftenreturn, along with mum.Rose Kemp, London

Happy memories of Warren Street

Please stop running your enginesMay I through your newspaperplease make a polite request todrivers of motor vehicles?

Would drivers kindly turnyour engines off when parked inour streets.

I know it is cold and youwant to keep your heaters onbut please could you show someconsideration for the people liv-ing and working nearby.

This is already a heavily-pol-luted part of London and byrunning your engine whenparked you are adding to thisand harming the health not only

of those with lung problems buteveryone else whether they beyoung or old.

Name and address supplied

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By Angela Lovely

London assembly memberDarren Johnson says the Mayorof London is actively encourag-ing overseas investors to buy uphomes in London. In a reportpublished in September he saysthe Mayor’s policies are doinglittle for ordinary Londoners buteverything to feed a “developersfeast”.

The Green Party assemblymember argues that the Mayoris supporting anything that getshomes built. But the troublewith Boris Johnson’s approach isthat it is encouraging the build-ing of luxury homes that noordinary Londoner can affordand the Mayor is not even track-ing the sales prices of all thenew homes getting built inLondon’s “opportunity areas”.To make matters worse, notenough social housing is beingbuilt on the back of these luxurydevelopments.

Darren Johnson cites a num-ber of examples of housingdevelopments elsewhere inLondon, but he could also haveincluded the Fitzroy Place devel-opment, the largest buildingdevelopment in the heart ofFitzrovia. Less than 18 percent ofthe homes built on the site willbe classed as affordable, andonly around 10 percent of all theflats will be socially-rented,thanks to Westminster CityCouncil’s planning committeewho unbelievably took at facevalue the developers pleas thatany more affordable housingwould make the developmentuneconomic. Fitzroy Place washeavily marketed by the owners

Exemplar to overseas investors,as we previously reported.

Then there’s DerwentLondon’s Saatchi Block redevel-opment which was denied plan-ning permission by CamdenCouncil because of a lack ofaffordable homes, only to beoverturned by Boris Johnsonwho said 16 affordable homeson Derwent’s largest develop-ment site was enough.

And the former hospitalworkers’ accommodation atCleveland Residences were mar-keted to overseas investors evenbefore the tenants were asked toleave by property developer theMarcus Cooper Group whoacquired the flats from UCLHCharity.

Darren Johnson points outthat it should be rememberedwhat ordinary Londoners canactually afford:

“Using the definitions nor-mally used by the Governmentand Mayor, we can say that tobe affordable for the averagehousehold, house prices should-n’t be higher than £140,000 for asingle earner and £170,000 for acouple. Rents for somebody onthe minimum wage shouldn’t behigher than £73 per week, or£147 per week for a couple.”

Johnson says the Mayorcould call for a housing policythat taxes overseas investors;gives councils, housing associa-tions and co-operatives themoney to build affordablehomes; and bring in rent con-trols and extra security of tenurefor private tenants.

Crumbs for Londoners – a report byDarren Johnson.

Boris Johnson’s housing policy isfeeding a “developers’ feast”

Fitzrovia councillor resigns fromWestminster Council cabinet post Remarks made by West Endward councillor Jonathan Glanzon the right wing ConservativeHome blog in October were toostrong even for the hard-nosedWestminster Council leaderPhillippa Roe.

Glanz wrote an article titledTrust funds for social tenants? Thetrue cost of central London councilhousing where he described thelives of those living in socialhousing within “a stone’s throwfrom Oxford Street” as “notentirely dissimilar” to the “Madein Chelsea brigade, the youngpeople portrayed in the ITV [sic]television series who spend theirdays dining out and sippingchampagne on London’s King’s

Road”.Glanz, a cabinet member for

housing, was asked to resign hiscabinet post by leader PhillipaRoe who told the Daily Mail:“We understand that manysocial housing tenants face sig-nificant financial and other pres-sures and are in no way compa-rable with those portrayed in‘Made in Chelsea’.

“We celebrate our mixedcommunities with private prop-erty alongside high qualitysocial homes We are committedto giving people ladders ofopportunity through social andaffordable housing and by link-ing them with the employmentopportunities available here.”

space on the site. The proposedbuilding would occupy theempty site and involve the dem-olition of the RosenheimBuilding in Huntley Street.

The new five storey building

will be adjacent to theParamount Court residentialblock with very little space inbetween.

The Charlotte StreetAssociation say there should beopen space between the newbuilding and Paramount Court.

UCLH plans criticisedContinued from front page

BID installs footfall cameras aheadof Fitzrovia economic report

Pedestrian movements are being monitored and analysed in Tottenham Court Road and Charlotte Street.

By News Reporters

Pedestrian movements inFitzrovia are to be monitored,measured and analysed thisChristmas, and two new reportslooking at the local economyand the impact of Crossrail onvisitor numbers will be pub-lished, say the FitzroviaPartnership BusinessImprovement District.

The Fitzrovia BID, whichwas set up in August 2012, isinstalling equipment to monitorpedestrian movements inTottenham Court Road andCharlotte Street this month.Several locations have beenidentified as sites for footfallcameras which will track pedes-trian flow patterns.

The move comes in the wakeof a reported reduction in shop-pers visiting Tottenham CourtRoad and a number of retailershaving left the street over thepast few years. Although knownfor its electrical retailers it isthese stores that have left, oftenbeing replaced by chain sand-wich shops. But the furniturestores have also reported declin-ing visitor numbers.

A comprehensive economicreport commissioned by the BIDwill be published in January,and a study on the potentialeffect of Crossrail on visitornumbers is also due to be pub-lished shortly. But the reportsare unlikely to have much to sayabout the quality of life for peo-ple living in Fitzrovia.

The Fitzrovia BID say theywill install seven footfall cam-eras: two at the northern end ofTottenham Court Road byUniversity College Hospital andWarren Street Tube Station; twoat the southern end of the street,close to the Dominion Theatre;two in the middle near the Healsfurnishings store and WhitfieldGardens; and one at the junctionof Charlotte Street and GoodgeStreet, close to what they arenow calling the “Food & DrinkQuarter”.

Retail analysts Springboardwill fix the footfall cameras onlighting or CCTV columns andsoftware will allow the BID tocollect daily information, createmonthly reports on pedestrianmovements, and analyse thesuccess of marketing initiatives.

A Fitzrovia Economic report

is due to be published inJanuary. The highlights of thereport, say the Fitzrovia BID,will include a number of statis-tics on the characteristics of thelocal economy.

Electrical retailers still have asignificant presence onTottenham Court Road butspending is declining, with atrend for shoppers to view prod-ucts in stores but purchaseonline from home. The percent-age of electrical retailers (9 per-cent) is far higher than in theWest End as a whole (1 percent).

Vacancy rates in the area are12 percent which is below theUK average of 14.1 percent. Thelocal vacancy rates are howeverskewed because of high vacancyrates in some streets due toongoing construction work.

However, the report will alsostate that those people surveyedexpressed a desire to see furtherindependent retailers attractedto Fitzrovia and the surroundingarea, rather than chain stores. Itis these independents that giveFitzrovia its unique attractioncompared to the wider West

continues page 5...


Great Portland Estates winsapproval for its Royal Mailsite redevelopment plansBy News Reporters

Westminster City Council hasallowed Great Portland Estatesto get away with less than 18percent affordable housing on itsproposed mixed-use develop-ment in Rathbone Place.

Westminster’s planning com-mittee in October passed theplans to create a mix of offices,retail, restaurants and housingon the site around a central openspace. The social-rented portionof this will be provided off-sitein Mortimer Street and GreatPortland Street.

The FitzroviaNeighbourhood Associationmade a representation to theplanning committee expressingits concerns.

“Westminster Council’s tar-get for affordable housing is 25percent. The proportion ofaffordable housing generatedfrom this development wouldonly be 17. 1 percent of the totalhousing. Furthermore, only 60percent of these would be forsocial rent, which means a mere10 percent (18 units) of the hous-ing generated by this schemewill be for social rent.

“We are also concerned thatthe off-site social rented housing

will displace existing private-rented housing at the sites inMortimer Street. This existinghousing in Mortimer Streetwhile not ‘affordable’ is notprime luxury and therefore rela-tively affordable compared withthe amount of prime luxury onoffer. In effect the increase insocial-rented would be off-set bya decrease in existing, averagely-priced private-rented.

“While we welcome theaddition of the social-rentedunits we are concerned aboutthe loss of small office units at88 Great Portland Street becauseof a loss of employment and lossof premises suitable for smallbusinesses. There is already atrend under way to convertsmall and relatively affordableoffice space to residential whichdetracts from the character ofthe area which currently sup-ports a variety of commercialunits and diversity of businesssizes.”

Great Portland Estates said itplans to start work in 2014 forcompletion in 2016.

“The development will be amajor contributor to the regener-ation of the East End of OxfordStreet, ahead of Crossrail open-ing in 2018,” they said.

Mixed outcomes of planning applicationsand appeals in Camden and Westminster

By News Reporters

There have been several appealsagainst Camden Council whohad refused permission for anumber of redevelopments onconservation and planninggrounds after concerns wereraised by the Charlotte StreetAssociation.

The most significant of thesewas an appeal made byCharlotte Street Investments(registered in the British VirginIslands) who wanted to converta row of buildings in CharlotteStreet into private flats, and cre-ate a large retail and restaurantunit by knocking through walls

at ground floor and basement tocreate a larger unit. The plan-ning inspector dismissed thisappeal because of loss of smalloffice space.

Both the Charlotte StreetAssociation and the FitzroviaNeighbourhood Associationattended the appeal in supportof Camden Council.

Two other appeals weremade by other developers onbuildings in Charlotte Street. At74 Charlotte Street, the inspectorallowed the appeal to demolishmost of the Georgian buildingsave for the facade, and anotheris pending. Again, the CharlotteStreet Association attended the

A planning inspector dismissed an appeal by an off-shore company whowanted to redevelop a row of buildings in Charlotte Street.

appeals in support of Camden.The restaurant Dabbous has

also appealed against a decisionby Camden to lift the conditionsimposed by a previous planningappeal. These conditions statethat no customers should beallowed on the premises after11.30pm Monday to Saturdayand after 10.30pm on Sunday.Written representations weremade in support of Camden byboth the CSA and FNA as wellas by local residents. This deci-sion is still pending.

Despite concerns raised bythe Fitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation and a recommenda-tion for refusal by Westminster’splanning officers, a planningapplication to convert offices to34 private flats at 31-36 FoleyStreet was allowed at aNovember committee.

No affordable housing isbeing provided and a financialcontribution of only £1.3m to theWestminster Council’s afford-able housing fund is conditionedon the granting of the applica-tion. Yet the Council’s own for-mula for affordable housing con-tribution was nearly £7m.

Another condition was aparking fund of £200,000 for res-idents of the scheme to use inany car park within a 1½ mileradius of the site.


...Continued from front page 3

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Fitzrovia West neighbourhoodarea application sent toWestminster Council

What are neighbourhoodplans and areaaction plans? A Neighbourhood Plan is acommunity-led framework forguiding the future develop-ment, regeneration and conser-vation of an area.Neighbourhood Planning wasintroduced under the govern-ment’s Localism Act 2011

A Neighbourhood Plan maycontain a vision, aims, planningpolicies, proposals for improv-ing the area or providing newfacilities, or allocation of keysites for specific kinds of devel-opment.

It may deal with a widerange of social, economic andenvironmental issues or it mayfocus on one or two issues only.

Although local people leadthe creation of the neighbour-hood plan it is usual to employa professional to draw up theplan. Government grants areavailable to pay for this.

There are alternatives toproducing a NeighbourhoodPlan. One alternative is to pro-duce an Area Action Plan.These have similar status toneighbourhood plans but areled by the local council ratherthan local people and aredrawn up by council planningofficers.

mycommunityrights.org.uk

By News Reporters

A group of residents and busi-ness owners on the Westminsterside of Fitzrovia have submitteda Neighbourhood Area applica-tion to Westminster Council fordesignation under the LocalismAct. The application which wassubmitted at the end ofSeptember by the Fitzrovia WestNeighbourhood Forum is thefirst step in the process of creat-ing a community-led frameworkto guide land development inthe area.

This is the third applicationto include the Westminster partof Fitzrovia in a neighbourhoodarea application. An applicationwas submitted last year by theMarylebone Forum, and anapplication was submitted bythe Fitzrovia Forum to create aCamden-Westminster cross-boundary neighbourhood area.

The Marylebone Forumapplication has been challengedas being unsuitable for Fitzrovia,and the cross-boundary applica-tion has run into difficultiesbecause Westminster Councilhas indicated that it would notsupport it, and some Fitzrovia

residents were also against it asthey saw it being dominated byCamden.

Two public meetings havebeen held by the Fitzrovia Westto discuss the various proposalsand garner further support foran independent Fitzrovia WestNeighbourhood Area. GreatTitchfield Street resident WendyShillam organised the meetingswhich have been chaired byGriff Rhys Jones who isPresident of Civic Voice.

Westminster councillorsJonathan Glanz and GlenysRoberts have also attended oneof the meetings.

Invitees were told: “Localarea residents and businessowners formed the Fitzrovia(West) Forum SteeringCommittee in response to theMarylebone Forum neighbour-hood area application. Our con-sultations have identified broadsupport for the view thatFitzrovia is distinct fromMarylebone (to the west) withdifferent development opportu-nities and planning issues. Wehave also identified broad sup-port for the designation of aFitzrovia (West) neighbourhood

area and the subsequent forma-tion of a Fitzrovia (West)Forum.”

The meetings gave popularsupport for the Fitzrovia WestNeighbourhood Area.

More meetings will be heldand further information can beobtained by visiting:fitzwest.org/wordpress

A separate application for aFitzrovia East NeighbourhoodArea is due to be submitted toCamden Council this winter.

Currently Camden andWestminster are consulting on across-borough neighbourhoodarea application. (Readers mayhave seen signs on lamppostsrecently.)

In neighbouring Bloomsbury,Marylebone and Soho there arealso applications either submit-ted or pending with Camdenand Westminster Councils.

You can find out more aboutcurrent consultations by visiting:

westminster.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplanning/camden.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplanning/

Map (not to scale) shows approximate boundaries of Fitzrovia West andFitzrovia East Area applications. Source: FitzWest.org from an adapted mapwith kind permission of FitzroviaLates.co.uk

Fitzrovia Area Action Plan reachesfinal stages before becoming policy

In April 2013 Camden Councilsent the Fitzrovia Area ActionPlan to the Government forindependent examination. Thisis the final stage of the plan butsome alterations can still bemade.

The Area Action Plan refinesCamden’s borough plans to bemore specific to the challengesof managing development inFitzrovia, particularly those thatseek to balance business andinstitutional needs with those ofthe residential community.

The Plan will next year formpart of the Local DevelopmentFramework and will therefore beused when the council makes

decisions on planning applica-tions in Fitzrovia.

The Fitzrovia Area ActionPlan was initiated by theCharlotte Street Association andmembers of other communitygroups were invited to take part.Camden Council’s planning offi-cers led the process and includ-ed landowners, institutions andlarge businesses who wish todevelop on sites withinFitzrovia.

An open space study wasalso carried out along with anumber of other studies to sup-port The Plan.

bitly.com/FitzroviaAAP

End.Other statistics released

ahead of publication state: Thereare over 4,200 people livingwithin the BID area.

A mix of owner occupancywith 30% of homes owned eitheroutright or with a mortgage,29% socially rented and 33% pri-vately rented. There are 16,813workers in the BID area.

A transport report commis-sioned by the Fitzrovia BID, willreveal potential passenger flowsfrom Tottenham Court RoadCrossrail stations; taking recent-ly revised population andemployment projections forLondon to give new projectionsfor Crossrail passenger inflowsand outflows.

But what none of this moni-toring of pedestrian movementsor the reports on visitor num-bers will do is assess the impacton the quality of life of peopleliving in Fitzrovia. While theeconomic report recognises thenumber of people living in theBID it mostly views them asunits of consumption.

While the traditional retailon Tottenham Court Road is indecline there are an increasingamount of bars and restaurantsopening in the neighbourhood.It is this shift from a mostly day-time economy to an evening andeven a late night entertainmentdistrict that will be of concern tothose who live here.

What residents may well askis: where is the report that meas-ures the impact of this food anddrink quarter on those livinghere, and where is the reportthat investigates the enforce-ment of Camden Council’s plan-ning and licensing policy?

BID reports onlocal economy


Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Associationstrengthens its housing, welfare anddebt advice with new staff member

The Fitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation (FNA) hasemployed a new worker to givehousing, welfare and debtadvice, writes Angela Lovely.

Rumanna Akther who livesin East London has joinedSamina Dewan and BarbaraJacobson as part of the adviceteam. Akther will be workingpart-time for two days a week.She is a highly qualified adviceworker and also works withWestminster Citizens AdviceBureau for three days a week.

The new post is funded bythe Cabinet Office and adminis-tered by the Big Lottery, whichwill look at what’s known as‘system failure’.

The project is being deliv-ered in partnership with theMigrants Resource Centre, theZacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) andWestminster Citizens AdviceBureau (WCAB).

The FitzroviaNeighbourhood Associationwhich is a registered charityspends the greater part of itstime giving free housing, wel-fare and debt advice.

Although Fitzrovia is oftenregarded as being affluent, mostresidents are living in rentedaccommodation and are facingincreasing housing costs.

Approximately 30 percent ofFitzrovia residents live in socialhousing and another 30 percentlive in private rented accommo-dation.

It is those in the private rent-ed sector who have experiencedthe greatest change in their cir-cumstances in recent years dueto welfare benefit changes andincreasing housing costs.

In early 2014 the FNA willfinally move to its new premisesat 5A Goodge Place.

The FNA has been at theNeighbourhood Centre at 39Tottenham Street since 1975.Once the FNA leaves the premis-es Camden Council will be put-ting the building on the openmarket.

The Fitzrovia Trust, a localhousing charity, is hoping topurchase the building and con-vert it into a mix of commercialand socially-rented accommoda-tion.

FNA will continue to pro-vide housing, welfare and debtadvice on Tuesdays andWednesdays to speakers ofEnglish, Bengali, Sylheti andUrdu at Goodge Place.

FNA also publishes FitzroviaNews and organises the FitzroviaFestival. See: fitzrovia.org.uk

Fitzrovia Festival 2014Plans for Fitzrovia Festival arebeing made in readiness forevents in 2014. There will beexhibitions, guided walks, andmusic events at a variety ofsmall venues. The FitzroviaNeighbourhood Association isorganising the Festival whichwas first held in 1973.

Pete Whyatt has beeninvolved with the Festival sincethe early 1990s. “The people livehere, was the theme of the firstFitzrovia Festival and that is asimportant today as it was backin 1973”, he says.

Festival to take place along-side other events like the GreatTitchfield Street Festival and theLondon Festival of Architecture.

[email protected]

Floral lawns and rain gardens will improvethe environment around Holcroft Court

By Denise Julien

Fitzrovia has some areas withvery wide pavements where wecan create green spaces with flo-ral-lawns and rain-gardens.

A Rain Garden is an urban-greening-alternative that absorbscarbon dioxide and excessiverain. A floral lawn is made up ofa patchwork of various plantsand weeds such as daisies, red-flowering clover, thyme,chamomile, pennyroyal andCorsican mint. This provides abetter habitat for pollinatinginsects, including bees, than tra-ditional grass. Combining a raingarden with a floral lawn givesthe best possible outcome.

Furthermore, this floral lawn iseasy and cheap to maintain,requiring to be mowed only fivetimes per year.

Residents of Holcroft Courtare near to starting this inCarburton Street, and hope tocontinue all the way roundClipstone Street and GreatTitchfield Street.

Replacing paving withgreening not only makes envi-ronmental sense, it will alsoblock illegal pavement parking.

Once Carburton Street iscompleted, I’ll be looking toraise money for the rest.

If anyone has a good idea forfund-raising please contact me:[email protected]

How greening outside Holcroft Court could improve Great Titchfield Street.

Christmashampers forpensioners

Sir Robert McAlpine, the con-truction company buildingFitzroy Place, are sponsoringChristmas hampers forFitzrovia’s pensioners again thisyear.

If you know of a neighbouror friend who would like toreceive one please contact Barbat the Fitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation 020 7580 4576.


Michelin recognises Fitzrovia eateries in2014 guide, but the food fight continues

By Angela Lovely

The prestigious Michelin guideto restaurants and hotels hasawarded nine Fitzrovia estab-lishments in its 2014 edition.However, food and restaurantsarouse passions in the neigh-bourhood in many ways.

Three restaurants —Dabbous in Whitfield Street,Pied à Terre in Charlotte Street,and Hakkasan in Hanway Place— retained their single Michelinstars. In addition Michelinawarded a new star to Lima inRathbone Place.

“Lima is the first Peruvianrestaurant to gain a star andhighlights the increasing popu-larity of South American cui-sine,” announced Michelin.

“We have never produced aGB & Ireland guide that pro-vides our readers with suchdiversity and variety”, saysRebecca Burr, Editor of the 2014guide. “Fantastic B&Bs, wonder-ful pubs, stylish hotels, worldclass restaurants and great valueeateries — we have them all inour guide.

“The Michelin guide hasalways reflected what’s outthere and London in particularhas never offered so muchchoice — there really is some-thing for everyone and for everyoccasion and there appears to beno end to the number of excitingnew restaurant openings. Withcuisines and culinary influencesfrom all parts of the globe, it’sno surprise that the capital isone of the most exciting cities inthe world for food,” says Burr.

“This year’s selection alsosees 27 new Bib Gourmands —the award which recognisesthose establishments offeringgood food at affordable prices(the limit being £28 for threecourses) and one that is hugelypopular with our readers. Theguide now has 143 ‘Bibs,’”

announced Michelin.Barrica and The Salt Yard

both in Goodge Street retainedtheir Bib Gourmand status withnew Bibs awarded to Gail’sKitchen in Bayley Street, Honeyand Co in Warren Street, andPicture on Great Portland Street.The owners of Picture told usthat Michelin reviewers visitedthem shortly after they openedfor the first time in June thisyear.

Fitzrovia eateries have donepretty well and should be con-gratulated. But behind the finedining and rave reviews therestaurant trade and Fitzrovia’sresidents have not always seeneye to eye.

One couple who were con-sidering living in Fitzroviaapproached me and asked whatit’s like to live here. I first askedthem what attracted them to theneighbourhood. They said thedistrict was relatively quiet forsomewhere so central, they likedthe Georgian and Victorianarchitecture, and that it hadsome very attractive restaurants.

I asked them: “Would youlike to live close to a restau-rant?” They looked at each otherbefore replying with a definite“no”. They didn’t want to livesomewhere where they could bedisturbed by taxis and mini-cabsdropping people off and pickingthem up, and certainly not nearthe noise and smells of extractorfans, or the crowds that gatheron the pavement outside someplaces.

This is a common complaintand planning applications forchange of use from retail torestaurant premises are usuallymet with strong objections fromindividual residents andFitzrovia’s community organisa-tions. New applications for alco-hol licenses are similarlyopposed.

Fitzrovia’s restaurants it

seems are simultaneously agood thing and a bad thing,with both restaurateurs and resi-dents expressing frustrationwith each other. The manage-ment of the neighbourhood’sconservation areas and listedbuildings while helping to keepthe built environment attractivehas also been a source of frustra-tion and resentment.

A Fitzrovia News colleague ofmine spoke to an architect whois a resident and has been work-ing in restaurants and designingextraction systems. The architectangrily told him that argumentsover conservation were frustrat-ing his and restaurant owners’attempts to comply with envi-ronmental health concernsraised by other residents andCamden Council.

If anything, these argumentsare likely to continue. Undernew planning guidelines prem-ises under 100 square metres canconvert from retail to restaurantuse without planning permis-sion. And the Fitzrovia BusinessImprovement District (BID) isactively promoting Fitzrovia —particularly Charlotte Street —as “London’s Food and DrinkQuarter”, with scant regard forthe street’s conservation or peo-ple living there.

At least no Fitzrovia restau-rant has been humiliated by los-ing its Michelin credentials. Butthe constant pressure on theneighbourhood to accommodateyet more restaurants and extendthe opening hours of existingones is a recipe for continuedconflict. And Michelin don’taward stars for strife.

The Michelin Guide Great Britain& Ireland 2014, £15.99. TheMichelin Guide London 2014,£11.99 provides extended text onLondon’s restaurants.

Lima in Rathbone Place is the first Peruvian restaurant to gain a Michelin star. Nine Fitzrovia eateries awarded.

Dabbous plans Barnyard Ollie Dabbous the “culinary messiah” chef looks set to open his sec-ond restaurant in Fitzrovia. Dabbous Enterprises Ltd made an appli-cation to Camden Council in October to make alterations to a restau-rant at 18 Charlotte Street, currently operating as ‘Curryleaf’, toaccommodate its new Barnyard brand restaurant.

The planning application submitted by Brinkworth Design Ltd onbehalf of Dabbous states: “The new tenant Dabbous Enterprises Ltdpropose to continue the A3 usage and operate as ‘Barnyard’, aninformal restaurant and bar serving wholesome comfort food in arelaxed and upbeat environment.”

Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer are the chefs, owners and hus-band-and-wife team behind Honey & Co, a Middle Eastern cafe onWarren Street that was named best newcomer in the 2013 ObserverFood Monthly Awards in October.

The chain restaurant Burger & Lobster is due to open a branch at6 Little Portland Street, which was previously the ORA restaurant.

Opening andclosing shops

Closed

MicroMend computer repairs3 Tottenham StreetLord’s Indian Restaurant, 161 Whitfield StreetMasa Afghan restaurant55 Goodge StreetRob menswear 24 Wells StreetHat Studio 5 Margaret StreetGreggs 19 Goodge StreetNeony jewellery 48 Goodge StreetNicholas wines 25 Charlotte Street

Clipstone Street petrol Station

Opened

Boopshi's Schnitzel and Spritz 31 Windmill StreetFrenco Manca Sourdough Pizzas98 Tottenham Court RoadTiger gifts fancy goods homewares241-242 Tottenham Court Road, Obika mozzarella bar11-13 Charlotte StreetBibimbap Korean restaurant 10 Charlotte StreetNojoum Lebanese Restaurant andShisha 55 Goodge Street

Kings Canary hair stylists81 Great Titchfield Street42 hairdressers 42 Windmill StreetGoodge Street Espresso31b Goodge StreetRemedy wine bar 124 ClevelandStreetCafé 139 Whitfield StreetPicture modern British restaurant110 Great Portland StreetStubHub ticket shop29 Great Portland StreetJonning and Riashi hairdressersGoodge Place

Drakes Tabanco sherry bar3 Windmill StreetTortilla Mexican food6 Market PlaceSainsburys Local1-2 Berners StreetReady2munch 48 Goodge Street

Kamps Bäckereicafé German bakery154 –155 Tottenham Court RoadArchipelago restaurant53 Cleveland Street (relocated from Whitfield Street)

Opening soon

Fan New Trimmings 14 – 18 Great Titchfield Street(relocated from Winsley Street)Park Cameras53 – 54 Rathbone PlaceWest Elm furnishing homewares209 Tottenham Court Road


Searching for memories ofthe Middlesex Hospital

Khaldoon Ahmed and Zaynab Dena Ziari standing in front of BrianBarnes’ depiction of the Middlesex Hospital in a mural. They want to hearabout people’s stories of the Middlesex Hospital to create a lasting memory

By News Reporters

Do you have memories of theMiddlesex Hospital in Fitzroviathat you’d like to share? A doc-tor and an architect are workingtogether to collect people’s sto-ries and memories of theMiddlesex Hospital, whichstood on Mortimer Street until itwas demolished in 2007.

Khaldoon Ahmed trained asa doctor at the Middlesex from1994 until 2000 before continu-ing his career at other hospitals.But it is the Middlesex he hasreturned to, to piece togetherpeople’s memories about thehospital that he and many oth-ers still hold a fondness for.

Zaynab Dena Ziari from theArchitectural Association inBedford Square never visited theMiddlesex but as an architectshe is interested in people’s rela-tionship with the hospital andtheir memories of it as a place.“My interest is beyond thebuilding — memories of a placeI haven’t been to,” she says.

Her father is from Iran, butshe’s never been there. But hismemories of the country andhow he relates them to her iswhat interests her.

“My relationship to thisplace that I have a strong emo-tional connection to, but nophysical connection, has beenentirely constructed through sto-ries. And for that reason, story-telling has played a very impor-tant part in my life — and hasbeen much more significant forme than ‘place’.

“More than anything I aminterested in the significance ofstory-telling in the constructionof memory, or what you might

call false memory (in my case),and I continuously question theimportance of being situated ina ‘place’ without a story.

“My interest in theMiddlesex Hospital is somethingakin to that, but the architect inme wonders to what degree theform of the space directly orindirectly affected the peoplewho used it. So I will be curiousto know how much of people’smemories are tied into how thespace actually was,” she says.

Ahmed remembers as atrainee “following the doctorsthrough the wards and corri-dors, the smell of the hospital,the patients sitting with oxygenmasks”, he says. “The smellsand sounds of the old hospitalare very different to a modernhospital. Just by walking you’dexperience different soundsbecause some of the floors werewooden. I remember the grandwooden panelling, the chapel,and the Frederick CayleyRobinson’s Acts of Mercy paint-ings which used to hang in thefoyer.”

Together the two of themwant to hear from former staffand patients about their experi-ences in the hospital to create acollection of lasting memories.The stories that they gather willdirectly impact the potential out-come of the project.

“Were you a neighbour? Orjust a passerby? Whatever yourconnection is — do you haveany stories of memories relatedto the Middlesex Hospital inFitzrovia that you would like toshare?” they ask.themiddlesexhospital.co.uk [email protected]

Nurses celebrate 50 years

On 11 November 1963 35 youngtrainees embarked on their nurs-ing careers. Fifty years later theyreturned to the site of the hospi-tal where they trained.

Known as the “November’63 Set” they spent the first threemonths of their nursing livesbased at Lancaster Gate andbussed to the McDonaldBuchanan nursing school inOgle Street for lectures and basicpractical training. They lived atJohn Astor House in Foley Streetfor their first year, where theycould enjoy the grandeur of thewood-panelling and the on-siteswimming pool, but had toadhere to a curfew of being intheir rooms by 10pm each night.

For work they had to abideby strict regulations for hairlength, skirt length and nomake-up or jewellery, but offduty, mini skirts and hot pantshad arrived by the mid 60's

It was a rewarding but toughlife with long hours and the firstpay packet was £7 per month.

In their second year theylived at York House in EastcastleStreet, later moving on to share

demolished they’ve had to makedo with a walk around the siteand reception at the King andQueen in Foley Street.

November 11th 2013 wastheir 50th anniversary, and 27out of original 35 came from allover the UK to celebrate. At theLangham Court Hotel onLangham Street (which used tobe the Howard De Walden nurs-es home) 27 former nurses metfor a drinks reception and cele-bratory meal. As the wineflowed so did the memories.“Freshly baked doughnuts fortea. Being measured for uni-forms, the utter fear of the firstWard. Days of bed baths, mak-ing beds, tinc benz inhalers, fla-tus tubes and hiding in thesluice were followed by thedread of night duty. and othermemories that are probably bestleft out of print.”

Before the reception five ofthe group (escorted by BruceNixon, Sir Robert McAlpine’sexternal relations manager) tooka trip around the Fitzroy Placesite including entry into thechapel which is being renovated.

with other nurses in independ-ent flats.

After the three-year appren-ticeship they qualified as StateRegistered Nurses (SRN). Theywere encouraged to stay andwork on the wards as juniorstaff nurses with black belts

The trained nurses all wenton to receive a certificate fromBrigadier Sir Geoffry Hardy-Roberts (Secretary-Superintendent of MiddlesexHospital, 1946-1967). They wereblessed at a service in the hospi-tal chapel.

The group kept in touch witheach other and held regularreunions where they returned toFitzrovia and the hospital. Tenyears ago they met at theBoardroom of the Middlesex,but since the Hospital has been

Above: the November1963 set

Right: Tessa, Sheila,Harriet,, Madeline andGill at the November2013 reunion visitingFitzroy Place

Angela, Margaret, Harriet and Lindy standing on steps outside MiddlesexHospital with fellow nurses in 1965

Does anybody remember an artistwho worked in an office at 49-51Rathbone Street in 1970?He helped to produce a comic inthat year entitled "The Story ofSimon and Jane" about the struggleagainst apartheid in South Africa.It has been acclaimed as "a magnif-icent piece of pop art" by RonnieKasrils, who fought apartheid inexile in Rathbone Street at thetime, and wishes to contact him.He describes him as being about40 at the time (so about 83 now)and was of medium height, slen-der build, merry brown eyes, highbrow, dark curly hair, and possiblyJewish.If you have any information pleasepass it to Mike Pentelow, c/oFitzrovia News, 39 TottenhamStreet, London W1T 4RX (email:[email protected]).

Anti ApartheidArtist Appeal

By Pete Whyatt


Charlotte Street

Word from the Streets

By CHARLOTTE STREET and her family

HENDRIX SMASHING TIMELegendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix was renowned forsmashing his guitar in a frenzy on stage. Now a part ofhis heritage has been smashed by the University ofWestminster in Little Titchfield Street.

Back on October 1, 1966 the then unknown Jimiwas invited on stage from the audience by Eric Clapton,who was performing with Cream there in Portland Hallwhen it was part of the Regent Street Polytechnic.Jimi's performance was so electrifying that Clapton feltcompletely upstaged. But he became one of his bestfriends as he rose to stardom.

This historic event was commemorated by a glassetching of Jimi in the corridor of the building (by thenthe Polytechnic of Central London), which was seen bymy older brother Mortimer when he was a studentthere. Now that has been smashed and thrown out bycontractors for University of Westminster carrying out"refurbishments."

Will Jimi be turning in his grave? More likely hewould have smashed it to pieces by now.

CHAMPAGNE CHARLIEMy brother Percy was incensed by remarks thatcouncil house tenants in the area are living "achampagne life style."

He is one of them and has just had a cap placedon the benefit he can claim for rent, leaving a short-fall, and a further cut from the so called "bedroomtax." That does not leave him much to splash outon bubbly.

The remarks came from Westminster Council'sthen housing chief, Jonathan Glanz, the councillorwho represents the West End ward covering southwest Fitzrovia.

He bemoaned the council's subsidising of localauthority property rents to social housing tenantsnear Oxford Street who, he claimed, lived the lifeof "Made in Chelsea" television stars "who spendtheir days dining out and sipping champagne."What a Charlie, as we used to say.

When he eventually agreed to resign from hishousing position, over the offence caused, the corkswere popping in Percy's flat. A very cheapsparkling wine, I hasten to add.

Cartoon by Jayne Davis.

WRESTLING BEARJimmy Chipperfield of circus fame had an unusual visitor when hewas a patient at Middlesex Hospital in 1938. It was his Siberianwrestling bear, Bruni, who had pined so much for his missing masterthat a visit was arranged.

This picture, plus another of the massive bear emerging from ataxi in Mortimer Street, are part of a fascinating new exhibition inUniversity College Hospital at 235 Euston Road. It is called theHeritage Trail and is situated on four floors at the podium (up untilnow this and other treasures from the rich past of the area's two his-toric hospitals have been hidden in the basement of the new hospi-tal).

It is run by UCLH archivist Annie Lindsay, who told me: "Doencourage your readers to visit the exhibition, they are most wel-come. If they have any questions they can contact me at: [email protected] or on the phone 020 73447 7717." I can certainly rec-ommend a visit, and thanks Annie for letting us reproduce the pho-tograph free of charge. Jimmy Chipperfield, by the way, became a

fighter pilot in the war a coupleof years after leaving the hospi-tal. But he managed to keep intouch with Bruni, as his RAFWeathersfield base was used tohouse the circus animals! Afterthe war he became manager ofthe circus, whose earlier animaltrainer, his ancestor also calledJimmy Chipperfield, had beenborn in Tottenham Court Roadin 1846.

GIANT GRIZZLYTalking of bears, the giantbrown grizzly (stuffed) inTottenham Court Road wasthere until 1965, not the 1940s asI implied in a recent column. Solet's hope there is more chanceof someone remembering theseven-foot high beast and whathappened to it... as it is believedto be worth at least £10,000. Itwas outside Catesby's furniturestore at 64-67 Tottenham CourtRoad, which had been therefrom 1886.

ELTON LOOKALIKEJohnnie Andrews, governor of the King'sArms in Great Titchfield Street, was verytouched last month to receive a portraitof him by this column's talented illustra-tor, Jayne Davis (left in picture), one ofhis customers.

There was much amusement when we

quoted an article in our gossip column ofexactly 40 years ago by my illustriouspredecessor, the late Alfie Maron.

Writing in the December 1973 issue ofTower he said Johnnie "has often beenchased and almost manhandled becausefans mistake him for the musical person-ality Elton John."

MODEL ANSWERMandy Rice-Davies, the modelinvolved in the ProfumoScandal of 50 years ago,revealed a little known fact onthe radio on November 15. Shewas treated in MiddlesexHospital at the age of 17 (a yearbefore the scandal) for a drugoverdose after her lover PeterRachman had died. It was partof a dramatised account of theaffair called "Well, He Would,Wouldn't He?" on Radio 4. Thetitle comes from her famousanswer in the trial to the theprosecution statement that LordAstor denied her claim thatthey'd had sex. "I was not try-ing to be funny but just statingthe obvious," she said.

NOBBS BADGEREDDavid Nobbs, writer of ReggiePerrin, also came up with an amus-ing anecdote on Radio 4. He wasreturning from a broadcasters' con-ference on the tube at TottenhamCourt Road station when a passen-ger addressed him as David and

asked how hiswriting wasgoing. Thinkinghis fame musthave beenrecognised hegave a brief rundown of his lat-

FOLK HERO

HAPPY AS LARRYLaurence Olivier's time as apupil and choir boy in All SaintsChurch at 7 Margaret Street wasbriefly mentioned on Radio 4last month. His latest biography"Olivier" by Philip Ziegler wasserialised as the Book of theWeek. It marked the 50thanniversary of the NationalTheatre, of which Olivier wasthe first director and co-founder.Olivier boarded at All Saints forfive years from the age of eightwhen his acting skills were nur-tured. He also got married thereat the age of 23.

BLUE MURDERNewman Street could soon be get-ting two blue plaques. An article inthe latest issue of Camden HistoryJournal reveals that Jerome K

CELEB WATCHMichael Portillo was spotted bymy sister Margaret in CharlotteStreet walking towards OxfordStreet. "He looked calm, dapperand very smart," she told me.Not at all like a "sad man on thetrain" as he is unkindly belittledby his fellow "This Week" televi-sion host, Andrew Neil (whomakes Margaret’s blood boil).

MAORI COOKINGIf you are contemplating cooking intraditional Maori style with earth...don't get it from Regent's Park.The Maori friend of one of our con-tributors decided to cook in the tra-ditional way when visiting(although on a gas stove rather thanin a pit). He heated some stones in awok, put pork ribs, chicken andsweet potatoes on the hot stones,then put the earth wrapped in a teatowel over it like a big flattish pud-ding.

The result was delicious... butonly after he rejected the Regent'sPark earth and got it instead fromEpping Forest.

Good to see folk singer PeggySeeger performing at the King& Queen in October. She intro-duced one song by saying itcontained one line which wasparticularly resonant to her.When my younger brotherWarren asked her afterwardswhich one it was, she ratherflummoxed him by askingwhich one he thought it was.As it was the first time he hadheard it he could not remembera single word of the lyric.

Jerome (author of Three Men in ABoat) lived at 36 Newman Street inthe 1880s. It was written by mylordly friend Professor RichardEkins, from neighbouringBloomsbury, and actress DebbieRadcliffe. On page 19 of this paperyou will read that the artistRichard Dadd lived at 71Newman Street in 1843 when hekilled his father.

est project. It was only on emergingfrom the station that he realised hewas still wearing his conferencebadge which read: "David, Writer."


Plumbing for charity. MPL Maintenance and Plumbing Supplies had abusy coffee morning at their shop in Goodge Place in aid of MacmillanCancer Support. Across the UK on Friday 27 September people took part inwhat is dubbed the “world’s biggest coffee morning”.

Euston Shuffle. Long-established Fitzrovia cafe Double J’s re-opened for businessat 333 Euston Road. Having closed the shop on Charlotte Street at the end of lastyear it’s been a long wait for the regular customers to again sit down for one oftheir famous breakfasts. Owner Mustafa (centre) is joined by Lisa and Ioana fromthe previous shop in Charlotte Street. The cafe is on the site of the Regent ChineseRestaurant which closed earlier this year after more than 20 years of trading.

Friends and Family of BertieDinnage gathered in WhitfieldGardens on Saturday 30 Novemberto help plant a tree in his memory.Camden Council supplied a seven-year-old Paper Bark Maple paid forby friends and relatives to be plant-ed in the gardens.Dinnage for many years led theFriends of Open Spaces Fitzroviacommunity group. He was also aleading member of the CharlotteStreet Association and cared pas-sionately about public open spacesand greenery in Fitzrovia.Max Neufeld of the Charlotte StreetAssociation led a tribute at theplanting ceremony while Dinnage’swidow Keiko was first to place soilat the roots of the tree. Dinnage who for much of his work-ing life worked at the LondonBorough of Haringey architects’department had the unusual dis-tinction of having six mentions inthe Pevsner guide for London. Hisdesign for a library is influenced bythe Scandinavian architect AlvarAalto — a humane modern archi-tecture influenced by landscape andnatural materials.Bertie Dinnage died after a shortillness on 16 February 2011.

Pictured: Staff of LDG visiting the Soup Kitchen at Whitfield Street. LDG estate agents in Foley Streetare supporting the Soup Kitchen at the American International Church. Laurence Glynne, foundingpartner at LDG, said he was very keen for the business to sponsor the Soup Kitchen both financiallyand with volunteers. Glynne told Fitzrovia News: “We are delighted to work with the Soup Kitchenand support the work they do feeding the homeless and needy in central London”. LDG are also help-ing raise awareness of the Soup Kitchen and encouraging their clients to donate. The Soup Kitchen willfeature on the cards given out by the company this Christmas. “We hope to raise people’s awareness ofthis very worthy cause”, said Glynne. Photo: Marek Chilicki Gold Lens Photography Ltd.

The Soup Kitchen, founded in 1986, is a resource for the homeless, elderly, lonely and poor in centralLondon, providing free hot meals, clothes, and creating a sense of belonging and community. Servingaround 70 people a day from 10am to 12 noon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday,with the Clothes Closet open on alternate Mondays. For more information and to donate, please visitthe Soup Kitchen website www.amchurch.co.uk/soup_kitchen.htm


SNOWY: Cleveland Street lastJanuary.

Fitzrovia will not get its fair shareof street and pavement gritting thiswinter according to a local pension-er who rang Fitzrovia News to com-plain after reading CamdenCouncil’s latest guide to its servic-es.

The male octogenarian called ournews office to draw our attention topage 17 of Camden’s magazinewhich is delivered to all residents inthe borough. In an article entitled“Get ready for winter” it shows amap of the streets Camden will grit.In Fitzroiva, only Tottenham CourtRoad, Great Russell Street andGower Street are on Camden’s grit-ting route. Under the map it says“our reduced budget and resourcesmeans we may not be able to gritsome side roads and footpaths”.

So watch your footing this winter.

Above: Picture of festive lighting as sent by the Fitzrovia Partnership Business as part of theirpublicity. “We are delighted that for the first time the famous Tottenham Court Road, CharlotteStreet, and Goodge Street area has its own Christmas celebration of lights and trees organised byThe Fitzrovia Partnership,” said Lee Lyons, BID Manager.

However, an investigation by Fitzrovia News has revealed that the cables and junction boxesattached to the 30 trees have been attatched in a way that is possibly damaging to the trees. Whilethe lights are hooked onto the branches with rubber hooks and will be removed in January, thelighting infrastructure which will remain all year round for four years has been attatched with6mm plastic cable “zip-ties” tied tightly around the branches without room for growth. In the day-light the boxes and bunches of excess cables also look unsightly in the mature trees which are most-ly in a conservation area. The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association has asked Camden Councilwho maintain the trees to check for damage. Camden say its tree officers will carry out an inspec-tion.

In 2009 The Fitzrovia Partnership nailed lights to the trees with a staple gun.

Below: Picture taken by Linus Rees of a London Plane tree in Charlotte Street showing junctionbox and cables attatched with 6mm cable ties.

The restoration of the Fitzrovia Mural in Whitfield Gardens took a leap for-ward with a condition survey carried out in November to determine thestate of the render and paintwork. This survey is the first step in gaining anaccurate cost of the restoration ahead of a grant application to the HeritageLottery Fund to pay for part of the restoration. Funding from elsewhere willbe essential to the project’s success. So far sponsorship has been obtainedfrom Great Portland Estates, Hudsons estate agents, and the Fitzrovia BIDis also pledging financial support. The project will provide opportunities tolearn about the history of Fitzrovia as well as attend arts workshops, talksand involvement with the restoration itself. If you are interested in learningmore about the project or how to get involved please [email protected] or contact the Fitzrovia Community Centre whoare managing the project.


The poetfamed forcausing mayhem in thepubs and cafesof Fitzrovia

By Clancy Gebler Davies

The 60th anniversary of DylanThomas's death on November 9,1953 was marked by a produc-tion of Under Milk Wood held atthe Fitzrovian pub where he fellin love at first sight with hiswife Caitlin Macnamara.

The Wheatsheaf in RathbonePlace was one of a number ofFitzrovia haunts, including theFitzroy Tavern, where Thomasdrank and it is thought to be inthe Wheatsheaf in 1936 that thepainter Augustus John intro-duced Dylan to Caitlin, thehard-drinking chorus girl andthe daughter of a poet who hewas to marry a year later.

The production was attendedby singer/songwriter, authorand broadcaster Cerys Matthewsand chairman of the DylanThomas Society of Great BritainJeff Towns, who brought a size-able contingent with him fromSwansea.

Brainchild of MaverickTheatre's artistic director NickHennegan, the production's castof six - Emily Wilden, JamieSpindlove, Sarah Dorsett, RogerSansom, Ceri-Rose Lacombe andAdam Haigh - were directed byKatie Merritt in a spirited andmoving production. Readingfrom the script in the style of aradio broadcast, the perform-ance had several membersmoved to tears, especially by thestand-out performance of EmilyWilden as Pretty Polly.

Maverick Theatre's NickHennegan had the idea to puton the show whilst running hisLondon Literary Pub Crawlwhich started earlier this year.

“One of the scenes in thepub crawl is where Dylan meetshis wife at the Wheatsheaf” says

Hennegan, “and I knew this biganniversary was coming up. Ihad this strange kind of feelingthat we should make this nod tohim by doing Under Milkwoodupstairs here, so I went to see if Icould get the rights to put it on.”

He recruited director KatieMerritt - who recently graduatedfrom the MFA Theatre Directingcourse at East 15 Acting School –and there was a big responsewhen they put out a call foractors to take part.

“ I liked the idea of doing itpretty raw – in the pub withoutany lights or recorded soundeffects, just the human voice,”says Hennegan. “It was a verystripped back minimalist pro-duction.”

He had concerns that theywouldn't pull it off.

“We had very little moneyand I wasn't sure we'd get anaudience,” says Hennegan.”Butwe hit social media pretty hardand the Dylan Thomas Societygot to hear about it. They cameto the Wheatsheaf directly afterthey laid a wreath to DylanThomas at Poets Corner inWestminster Abbey.

“We sold out most of theperformances.”

About 25 people came fromSwansea with the Dylan ThomasSociety of Great Britain.

“Dylan loved Fitzrovia,” saidchairman Jeff Towns.

“Caitlin was with AugustusJohn when she met Dylan and Idon't think John was bestpleased at first, but later hebecame their patron and gavethem money.”

BBC Radio 6 DJ CerysMatthews brought her familyalong.

“We had to squeeze them allin behind the bar,” says

Play for voices moves Wheatsheaf audienceon anniversary of Dylan Thomas death

Hennegan. “Cerys sent a textafterwards saying we'd doneDylan proud so it did what weintended it to do.”

Pictured: Front row left to right - Emily Wilden, Jeff Towns from the Dylan Thomas Society, Jamie Spindlove, andKatie Merritt, Director. Back Row left to right - Sarah Dorsett, Roger Sansom, Ceri-Rose Lacombe, Adam Haigh,and Nick Hennegan, Artistic Director. Photograph: Clancy Gebler Davies

Maverick winstheatre awardStage One, the charitable arm ofThe Society of London Theatre(SOLT) gave Nick Hennegan anew producers bursary awardfor his London Literary PubCrawl — a promenade showthat doesn’t go near a theatrebut was inspired by Nick’s workat The Billesley — a Birminghampub where he created the city’sfirst full time pub theatre.

The guided literary walk fea-tures many Fitzrovia pubs.

“I'm incredibly flattered towin this award from SOLT. Theymake and represent the biggestand best theatre in the world,”said Nick. “I also love the factthat a council estate kid fromBrum can play with the big boysin London. When I first got toLondon and sat in the FitzroyTavern in Fitzrovia with picturesof Dylan Thomas, GeorgeOrwell and others I thought,there must be some stories here.It was a process we’d used tocreate new work usingBirmingham stories. The resultwas the London Literary PubCrawl — a promenade theatreproduction that has been verywell received”.

Nick set up the MaverickTheatre Company in 1994 with amission to increase access to theperforming arts.

londonliterarypubcrawl.commavericktheatre.co.uk

By MIKE PENTELOWPrior to meeting CaitlinMacnamara in the Wheatsheaf,Rathbone Street, in 1936 DylanThomas had already been barredfrom the Cafe Royal in RegentStreet.

His offence was "scraping histongue with the menu and pre-senting the detritus to anotherdiner."

His dining habits were how-ever tolerated in Fitzrovia at theBertorelli restaurant, 19Charlotte Street, and the slightlymore basic Tony's Cafe, also inCharlotte Street.

He was introduced to artistAugustus John in the FitzroyTavern, Charlotte Street, by fel-low artist Nina Hamnett in 1936.When Augustus John laterwalked into the Wheatsheafwith his girl friend Caitlin andmet Dylan the couple hit it off.

Dylan and Caitlin spent thenext five nights together in theEiffel Tower hotel, 1 Percy Street,charging the bill to AugustusJohn much to his chagrin.Caitlin found Dylan's clotheswere stinking and his knowl-edge of foreplay non-existent.They ate no food throughout thefive days, but just drank in thelocal pubs including the FitzroyTavern, where there is now abasement bar named after him.

They arranged to get mar-ried, but the first two times theyspent the licence fee on drink sohad to pull out. They finallymade it the third time lucky ayear after meeting each other.

In 1941 Dylan was living at 8Conway Street, when his friendthe film director Ivan Moffatt,who lived round the corner at 4Fitzroy Square, got him a jobwriting scripts for the Ministryof Information (where hebefriended the Soviet spies GuyBurgess and Donald Maclean).

By 1944 Dylan was living inthe top floor at 12 Fitzroy Streetand, according to Nick Bailey'sbook on Fitzrovia, "not withoutsome disturbance to other ten-ants in the house" includingcomposer Elizabeth Lutyens.

After the war he wasemployed at BroadcastingHouse, Langham Place, byGeorge Orwell and John Arlott,to recite poetry on air. He liked aglass of Frascati beforehandround the corner in the flat ofhis friend the artist and writerMichael Ayrton at 4 All SoulsPlace. On one famous occasionDylan turned up drunk for thebroadcast and read Ode on StCecilia's Day as ShaintSheshiliash.

While writing his own mas-terpiece Under Milk Wood, setin the Welsh village ofLlareggub ("bugger all" back-wards) he often recited parts inthe Wheatsheaf, including pas-sages which were censored fromthe final version - such as townhall messages about fish declar-ing war on the area, and theAnti-Christ reaching the district.As reported in Fitzrovia Newsrecently he was said to have lefthis only copy of the play in TheGeorge, Great Portland Street,while drunk.

Occasionally he was said tohave recklessly drunk in theMarquis of Granby, RathboneStreet, to pick fights withguardsmen who were there topick up gay men. Just across theroad from this pub he was eject-ed from the Rathbone Arts Club,28 Rathbone Place. Another pubhe frequented was The Stag inNew Cavendish Street. MargaretTaylor (wife of AJP) sought himhere in search of money heowed her, so Dylan hid behindthe bar until she left.

He finally finished UnderMilk Wood the year before hedied, and was on a tour ofAmerica giving public readingsof it that he collapsed and diedafter consuming a large amountof whiskey. At the funeral inWales, fellow poet LouisMacNeice had also been imbib-ing when, in a confused state, hethrew his sandwiches on the cof-fin in the belief that they were abunch of daffodils." Strangely,Dylan had once eaten a bunch ofdaffodils for a bet with anotherFitzrovian poet, Roy Campbell.


By Edward Kellow

Joyce Grenfell, the celebratedactress and singer, was a fre-quent visitor to the MortimerStreet flat of Richard Addinsell,the composer who is best knownfor his ‘Warsaw Concerto’.

From the letters she wrote toher mother, it is clear thatGrenfell took great pleasurefrom composing, recording andperforming with Addinsell.

“I find him the perfect com-panion,” she wrote in 1943,though she knew Addinsell wasnot “the least interested in me asa gal”.

A Fitzrovia Music Festival isbeing planned for 2014 whichwill see performances in localchurches, civic buildings, pubsand restaurants.

The concerts, the brainchildof local musician Daniel Bateswho lives in Hanson Street, aregoing to be presented in a newway.

“No stuffy concert halls — sodon’t worry if you’ve neverbeen to a concert before. Themusicians will take you on thejourney with them that will notonly give you some of theworld’s most beautiful musicbut lead you through the streetsof Fitzrovia to learn more of itscolourful characters and myster-ies,” says Bates who promises amusic festival with internationalmusical stars from both the clas-sical world and also a wide

range of other world musicalstyles.

The concerts which will takeplace over three or four dayswould be “beneficial to thedevelopment of the area cultur-ally” and also “foster a sense oflocal community and friend-ship”, he says.

The Fitzrovia Music Festivalwill also be running a full edu-cation project funded externallyby one of Britain’s leading musi-cal charities.

The programme will consistof music workshops in localschools and playgroups basedaround the artistic characters ofFitzrovia.

It will aim to promote agreater understanding of thelocal area through the childrencomposing their own music andperforming it.

Festival of music plannedfor churches and pubs

Also they are excited to pres-ent the “Concert in your ownhome” programme, where theelderly and less mobile in ourcommunity can sign up to beentertained by a merry band ofmusicians in the comfort of theirfront room.

Bates says: “I want it to befirst and foremost a communityevent and would love as muchinfluence and interaction fromall members of our communityto set it all in motion.

“Whether you have ideas formusic, or great stories of thearea, or are fabulous at makingcakes and tea, your music festi-val wants your input.”

Contact Daniel Bates: [email protected]

His legacy liveson in the pub hewas barred fromDylan Thomas was often ejected from the Fitzroy Tavern for hisdrunken behaviour. Now he is commemorated in its basementArtists and Writers’ Bar (pictured above).

His daughter, Aeronwy, visited the pub every year in her role aspresident of the Dylan Thomas Society until her untimely death in2009.

She is pictured right with her brother Llewelyn who frequentlystayed in the Tottenham Street flat of Fiona Green from 1994 until hisdeath in 2000.

Grenfell also did a lot of“washing, dusting and generallyhousemaiding” for Addinsell,getting his rations, and makingup beds. In November 1943,Grenfell and Addinsell “tunedin to a programme in praise ofD, and his music”.

Grenfell wrote to her mother:“One thing that pleased himspecially was that the factory atthe back of his house had theprogramme relayed throughoutthe works!” This is the only clueas to the location of Addinsell’sflat in Mortimer Street.

Warsaw Concerto composer inMortimer Streethad famous fan

FitzroyTavernwritersandartistsbar


Wish all our customers in Fitzrovia a very

Merry Christmas and a

Prosperous New Year

23-24 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8LF

T 020 7637 0821 E [email protected]

www.rib.co.uk

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STINGTSIDENTIAL LE

By BRIAN JARMAN

She’s been an actress, a success-ful businesswoman, a reluc-tant housewife, and she

trained with James Bond. She’shobnobbed with the political eliteof Europe, and once refused to talkto Winston Churchill because hewas drunk.

But 86-year-old RositaSimpson, still going strong,doesn’t really want to talk aboutany of it.

“I’ve spent my whole life

avoiding publicity,” she says.“It’s false. People don’t tell thetruth and people don’t believeit.”

Ros comes from a long lineof independent Yorkshirewomen. She was named afterher grandmother, who ran awayto America on her 16th birthdayto join her young man, of whomthe family disapproved.

She returned a few yearslater with a new scheme for hire

purchase – selling goods fromthe family business with weeklyrepayments.

“She was very much of thepeople,” says Ros. “She knewwhat everyday people workingin the mills needed, and whatthey could afford. She nevermade the weekly amount morethan what they could pay.”

Her mother would cyclearound the villages collectingthe money.

Ros herself left Yorkshiretowards the end of the SecondWorld War to come to study atthe Royal Academy of DramaticArt in Gower Street. She lived ingirls’ hostels in the area andworked at Lyons Corner Houseon Oxford Street.

“We used to get searched onthe way out for sugar lumps,”she says. “Sugar was reallyscarce in the war.”

One of her contemporaries atRADA was Roger Moore, whowent on to play James Bond.With her typical Yorkshire blunt-ness, Ros says, “He couldn’t act.He was the laziest person I evermet. But a film director took ashine to him and decided he wasgoing to be a star.”

Ros herself was spotted bythe BBC radio drama producerFelix Felton, who used to comeand teach there.

She started playing the partof Ethel in the BBC’s originalproduction of Just William, andworked on Children’s Hour.Under her maiden name of

Rosita Cussins, she played inweekly rep up and down thecountry, and in the West End,including the LondonPalladium.

She didn’t like working therebecause the stage backed direct-ly on to a wall, so if you had toexit one side and enter another,you had to run downstairs,underneath, and up the otherside.

“You’d hear all the actorsabove moving around thestage.”

Apart from that, she lovedevery minute of the actor’s life.But it all came to an end whenshe met and married an olderman, Alfred Simpson, who wasa mandarin at the Ministry ofSupply.

“Young men never appealedto me,” says Ros. “I felt like tak-ing their hand and seeing themacross the road.”

But she didn’t take kindly tobeing a housewife.

“Working was more impor-tant to me than being married,”she says. “I tried to go back onstage when I came back fromhoneymoon, but my husbandwouldn’t take me to rehearsals.”

By that time she had gone tolive with him and his 15-year-old daughter in Eltham.

“I was never much of ahousewife,” she says. “I tried.But I was a good stepmother.”

She turned her energiesinstead to acting as a hostess tovisiting dignitaries from Europe,

showing their wives aroundLondon. But even this she didwith her characteristically inde-pendent style.

“I didn’t want to meet DeGaulle. I was at a function withWinston Churchill but I said Ididn’t want to speak to himbecause he was drunk.”

Eventually Ros had two sonsof her own, bought a Georgianmanor house in Kent, and set upvarious businesses, includingsome in the Fitzrovia area.

Her son followed in her foot-steps, and she worked with himwhen he set up a chain of movierental stores, long before thedays of video or DVD.

And now she’s come back tothe area she first came to 70years ago. She lives in a home inGreat Titchfield Street, whichshe says is lovely. She has familyconnections to Sergio’s restau-rant there and opens it up everymorning.

Of course it’s changed sincethen. Whole blocks would disap-pear in bombing raids. Sheremembers the area clogged upwith trucks full of American sol-diers.

“They used to shout at usgirls in the hostel, ‘Want somegum?’ We thought they meantglue.”

And she thinks the area haschanged for the good.

“People are nicer. In the warpeople were friendly, but theywere jealous of what other peo-ple had. Now people are freer.”

Yorkshire lass who put Churchill in his place

WINSTON CHURCHILL. Getty Images


She was sitting near the aisle,her bag and umbrella placedon the seat next to the win-

dow. She knew she shouldn’t blockthe seat, but she needed to finishannotating the novel Black Waterfor her seminar that morning; shecould hardly do it with her thingson her lap. That was why she’d sattowards the back of the top deck –the rows ahead had at least one freeseat. She hoped if she kept herhead down no one would botherher, but each time the bus stopped,she would glance up to see who goton, instinctively assessing which ofthe travellers she would mind least.It was quite incredible to think thatin a lifetime of journeys by tubeand bus you’d probably sit next toat least one murderer, perhaps ahandful of rapists, and any numberof wife beaters without even know-ing it.

She was making a note in thebook about The Senator’s bigteeth, when she heard a throatbeing cleared and stared up twopillars of navy pinstripe to see abroad-shouldered man standingover her.

He said, ‘Do you mind mov-ing up?’

She took in the other vacantseats, meaning for the man tosee her annoyance and go else-where; he didn’t. She shuffledover, and he sat down, his legsfalling open so that his left thighpressed against her. She crossedher legs away from him. Howarrogant, she thought. To fancyhimself so well endowed as toneed to trespass onto her side.

She returned to her novel;her concentration was rattled bythe attempt to keep her thighaway from his. Adjusting herumbrella into the crook of herarm and resting her book on herbag, she tried to get back intothe story, but her neighbour’sphone was trilling every coupleof seconds. She glanced at hisscreen and saw that he wasswiping through pictures ofprovocatively posed women.One of those ‘casual sex’ apps.She couldn’t help gawping. Heflashed a look in her direction,catching her before she couldshift her gaze, and snapped,‘Didn’t anybody tell you it wasrude to snoop?’

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.‘Well, what type are you?’ he

said, eyeballing her.She fidgeted, and turned her

body towards the window awayfrom him; she stared at herbook, thinking that perhaps sheshould move. But she could feelhim watching her, and if sheasked to move, he might getangrier.

He said, ‘What’s that you’rewriting then?’

‘Nothing.’ She tilted thecover of the book so that hecouldn’t see.

He leaned over, scrutinizingthe blurb on the back cover.‘Joyce?’ That ponce writer, is it?James Joyce?’

‘It’s Joyce Carol Oates.’ Shecouldn’t resist defending; thenwished she hadn’t.

‘Never heard of her,’ he said,with a sneer. ‘So you like topoke around in other people’sbusiness, do you?’

‘I’m just trying to study,’ shesaid, her gaze locked on herpage. She could feel his breathon her cheek. Her umbrellaslipped and she clamped it withher left arm, resettling her thingsand taking the opportunity toclose Black Water: he was taint-ing it. She thought about puttingit away, but she didn’t dare openher bag: it seemed too exposing.She tucked the book down theside of her seat.

He said, ‘So you’re at univer-sity, are you? UCL, is it?’

He must know this route; itpricked her, and her face musthave given her away because hesaid, ‘On your way there now?’

The bus pulled to a halt andshe grabbed her things to getup. ‘It’s my stop,’ she mumbled.

He put his hand against theseat in front of him. ‘This isn’tyour stop,’ he said. ‘You’ve gotanother two at least. Sit backdown.’

She looked around her: mostof the passengers wore head-phones or were focussed ontheir phones. She thought shecould call out for help, she couldsay he was harassing her. Thenwhat? Most likely no one woulddo anything, and she was still

stuck on the inside. She sat backdown.

The man grinned. It was aquick, sharp movement, likepeeling skin. ‘Look,’ he said.‘Sorry I flipped. No hard feel-ings. I’m sure you didn’t meanany harm, a pretty girl like you.What’s your name?’

She pressed her kneestogether; her throat felt dry.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I’m onlybeing friendly. Tell me yourname.’

She didn’t want to, but hisknee nudged hers. His hand wasspread over his thigh and shenoticed what a thick, compacthand it was, bright pink, asthough pumped up with blood,and she thought how quickly itmight spring into a vice.‘Sophie,’ she told him.

‘Sophie,’ he said, as thoughswilling it. ‘That wasn’t so hard,was it?’

Did she imagine him flickingher hair with his finger? Sheflinched and scanned the otherpassengers. No one seemed theleast bit concerned and shealmost wondered if she wereexaggerating things in her head.The way people carried on inpublic, looking on, not payingattention to each other, it waseasy to think that whatever hap-pened to you wasn’t real. Shelooked out of the window andwatched the buildings pass by.

He said, ‘I knew you were anice girl. That’s why I sat next toyou.’ He patted her knee, his fin-

gers lingering a moment toolong. She definitely didn’t imag-ine that. Nor did she imaginehim saying, ‘I’ve got an eye forthe nice girls.’

She felt sick, and as the buspulled up at her stop, she froze,wondering if he would let heroff, thinking of how to ask confi-dently because she was sure thatshe must not sound like she wasbegging. But then he said, ‘Thisis your stop, isn’t it?’

She nodded and got up,clutching her things. He tuckedhis legs in, giving her only a fewinches in which to squeeze pasthim. She could feel his kneesagainst the backs of her thighsand his eyes on her.

‘You have a nice day now,’he said.

She glanced back, almostwith gratitude, and mumbled‘You too.’ Then she ran downthe stairs and off the bus. As itdrove away she took a breath,which seemed like her first forseveral minutes: he had let hergo. Hadn’t he let her go? Onlyonce the bus was out of sightdid she notice that she had leftbehind her novel. He had herbook and he was reading hernotes. She drew her hair throughher fingers as though wipingaway his touch. Or maybe not.Perhaps the book was stillwedged down the side of theseat, of no interest to him what-soever. She couldn’t say for sure.You could just never tell.

Stranger on a bus

Illustration by Clifford Harper

A SHORT STORY BYSUNITA SOLIAR

PICTURE PUZZLE ANSWER: Warren Mews, under the arch atthe back of 33 Warren Street

By the DINING DETECTIVE

Two good but slightly different Spanish eating placesDrake's Tabanco, 3 WindmillStreet; Barrica, 62 Goodge St.Tapas were once slices of salty

ham or chorizo, served free in abar with sherry to persuadedrinkers they wanted anotherdrink! Then they evolved intocheap snacks and alcohol in aninformal atmosphere. In Londonat least, the tapas bar has come along way.

Barrica, the very populartapas bar in Goodge Street nowhas a sister establishment aboutthree minutes away. Just offCharlotte Street, Drake’sTabanco is a Spanish restaurantrelated in some managerial way,and in the way it presents itself -indeed I had seen some of thevery pleasant and friendly staff Imet at Drake’s, working atBarrica. Both places have someexcellent dishes: here’s to thechefs at both places.

Drake’s has a bar/tapas areain the front like Barrica; the floorin Drake's is made in interestingold stone blocks and there aresherry vats behind the counter,and then down a few steps thereis a comfortable dining roomwith a charcuterie bar at thevery back. I read a review ofDrakes in one of the nationalnewspapers by their restaurantcritic which praised the food but

complained rather of the ‘choiceof sherries’ and how their pricesadded to the final bill (and nodoubt his bill was paid by hisemployer!). The article forgot tomention that there are also verynice Spanish wines and beersavailable.

And at Drake’s there are alsoproper main courses. The tapasincluded a small but most excel-lent portion of cured sardines ina kind of mayonnaise (£5.50)and a large fresh serving of adelicious creamy mackerel pate(£4.50). There were pickled cock-les (£3); but a plate of smallslices of a special pig, fed only, itis said, on acorns, cost £15. It

was beautiful if the slices werevery thin and freshly sliced. Butnot if part of the presented plateheld thicker, possibly pre-cutpieces which were dry and – lit-erally – uneatable. You couldshare various tapas ‘boards’:Seafood board for £17.50;Charcuterie Board for £17.50 orCheese Board for £12.00. I likedthe fact that there was a short,clear main-course list. RolledLamb Breast and Puy Lentils(£11) was very tasty; there wasalso Octopus for £18; Hake for£15; Beef Short ribs (£14); and avegetarian stew of white beansand wild mushrooms (£9.50)The desserts were mostly tartsbut there was a scrumptiousraisin ice-cream with a liqueursauce, (very alcoholic) for £5.

At Barrica (where all dishesare tapas) there are small snacksat the bar, almonds, olives etcand then more interesting onesin the diningroom. The PatatasBravas is £4.50 and I think thebest Patatas I have ever had, anda good cauliflower and pearsalad is £5.50. £3.50 for oneextremely small piece of toastwith duck breast seems perhapsa bit ambitious price-wise; thereis squid for £6.95. Presa (a smallchar-grilled sausage of porkshoulder) is £8. But as I say the

dishes in both places are on thewhole enjoyable and if you are aregular I guess you work outwhat you like and what you canafford. On a recent Friday nightBarrica was absolutely full, pro-gressively noisier and withqueues waiting, whereasDrake’s – not yet as well-known– was more relaxed, less full andmuch less noisy – so a three-minute walk would be worthyour while if you’re tired ofwaiting.

I leave the other dining criticto speak of the sherry prices. Butin both places – particularly itseems to me at Barrica - wine isexpensive and if you and a com-panion are drinking differentwine, by the glass, the cost ofyour meal can double. Tocharge, in a tapas bar, over(sometimes hugely well over)£7.50 for a ‘large’ glass of wine,or nearly £6 for ‘small’ (this isbefore 12.5% service charge isadded) seems (to me) to defeatthe meaning of ‘tapasbar.’ Rather, these two places aretwo slightly different, good,Spanish eating houses but, likemost of the burgeoning places inFitzrovia, a couple need tochoose their meal very carefullyand frugally, or have at least £70in their pocket.


Unforgettable characters No 5: NANCY CUNARD

By MIKE PENTELOW

Nancy Cunard (1896-1965)was born into a richshipowning family but

rebelled totally against its val-ues, becoming a communist andstrong campaigner against theracial discrimination that wasrife in her day. She also enduredconsiderable hardship and dan-ger when reporting against thefascists in Spain during the civilwar.

She is portrayed in a newbook called Flappers, Six Womenof a Dangerous Generation byJudith Mackrell (Macmillan,£20). The author described heras her favourite of the six whengiving a talk to the SohemianSociety in the Wheatsheaf,Rathbone Place recently.

The book describes the preju-dice shown against Nancy'sblack lover, jazz musician HenryCrowder (1890-1955), inFitzrovia in 1930. On hearing oftheir relationship Nancy's moth-er, Lady Maud Cunard, hiredprivate detectives to follow thecouple for any evidence thatmight get Henry arrested anddeported.

The couple often stayed inthe Eiffel Tower restaurant andhotel at 1 Percy Street, run bythe Austrian chef, Rudolf Sutlik,who had been interned duringthe first world war. LadyCunard made anonymousphone calls to him threateninghim with jail unless he evictedCrowder, which he reluctantlydid.

This further alienated Nancyfrom her family who hadalready disinherited her becauseof her liaison with Crowder.

Nancy had first been intro-duced to the restaurant, a meet-ing place for bohemian writersand painters, by her friend IrisTree, a Slade art student atGower Street (who is another ofthe six women in the Flappersbook). Nancy and Iris rented astudio, nicknamed "the Fitz", inFitzroy Street in 1913, widelydescribed as "squalid." JudithMackrell, in her talk, supportedthis, explaining: "There wasalways blood, vomit, and semenafter their parties in the studio,which they did not bother toclean up."

In July 1914 Nancy read thefirst issue of the "heretical" mag-azine Blast, edited by Vorticistartist and writer PercyWyndham Lewis from his studioat 4 Percy Street.This included a"Bless" list of approved charac-ters such as artists, music hallsingers, and prize fighters, and a"Blast" list of establishment fig-ures to be destroyed, such asconductor Thomas Beecham, thelong time lover of Nancy'smother.

It was in the Eiffel Towerthat Nancy met many men whobecame her lovers, includingauthors such as Samuel Beckett,

Michael Arlen, and AldousHuxley. Sex with the latter shedescribed as "like being crawledover by slugs." His appeal wasnot redeemed when they weresunbathing once and a deaddog, which macabrely had fallenout of an areoplane, landed onthem.

In about 1919 she rented aroom above the Eiffel Tower forthe first time and wrote a poemabout it called "To the E.T.Restaurant". She described it asher "carnal spiritual home" withits "wits and glamour, strongwines, new foods" and the"strange sounding languages ofdiverse men."

One of them was the satanistAleister Crowley who gave herblood poisoning by biting herneck with his filed fangs in a"serpent's kiss."

Her relationship with HenryCrowder lasted from 1928 to1935, the longest of her life.Being with him, said JudithMackrell in her talk, "opened hereyes to what it was like being ina disadvantaged position, andinformed her sense of naturaljustice, leading her to take onthe culture of oppression." Shespent years compiling an 800-

page book anthology of blackculture and history, called"Negro", published in 1934which was a pioneering work of

its time.From 1933 to 1934 she shared

an attic flat in Percy Street with

Aristocrat against racismthe left wing poet EdgellRickwood.

When the fascist army ofGeneral Franco rose in armedrevolt agains the democraticallyelected Spanish republican gov-ernment in 1936 Nancy wascommissioned by the AssociatedNegro Press to report from thefront line. This she did withgreat courage, often under fire,until the government was finallydefeated in 1939.

She spent most of the secondworld war back in London, thenduring the 1950s stayed in sever-al Fitzrovian guest houses andcheap hotels. Part of her rebel-lion had been to smoke in public(which had been illegal forwomen until 1908) and she oftenused the tobacconist at 29Rathbone Place.

In 1960 she visited Franco'sSpain and was promptly thrownout, returning to London in aprecarious mental state. Sheroamed the streets "insultingpolicemen and making outra-geous sexual approaches tostrangers." This landed her injail and then a sanatorium, fromwhich she was released on acourse of anti-depressants.When she mixed these withalcohol, for consolation afterbreaking her thigh in a fall in1965, the combination drove herto madness.

She fled to Paris where sheset fire to her hotel room andthen escaped to a taxi driverwho, observing her wild expres-sion, took her to the nearestpolice station. She died two dayslater in hospital."She refused toconform to what others wantedof her to the very end," conclud-ed Judith Mackrell.

Nancy Cunard and Henry Crowder, watercolour by Anthony Wysard, 1928 (National Portrait Gallery).


Going undergroundWhere was Tottenham CourtRoad underground station in1907? Well on the Northern Line itwas where Goodge Street stationis now, and what is nowTottenham Court Road was calledOxford Street. But TottenhamCourt Road on the Central Linewas always called that since itopened in 1900.

Confused? You may well be,because from 1908 to 1909 four ofthe stations in Fitzrovia had namechanges.

All this is chronicled in a freeexhibition called "Take the Tube,A History of the UndergroundRailway in Camden" which isshowing until December 31 atCamden Local Studies & ArchivesCentre at Holborn Library inTheobalds Road.

When the Northern Lineopened in 1907 the presentWarren Street was called EustonRoad (as can still be seen in tileson the platform walls), and asmentioned Goodge Street wascalled Tottenham Court Road,and Tottenham Court Road wascalled Oxford Street. Because ofthe confusion of the two differentTottenham Court Road stationsbetween the Northern Line andthe Central Line (run by two sepa-rate companies) the NorthernLine stations were renamed in1908 to their present ones.

To complete the story EustonSquare station was called GowerStreet from when it opened in1863 until renamed in 1909; andGreat Portland Street wasPortland Street when it opened in1863, became Great PortlandStreet in 1917, then Great PortlandStreet & Regent's Park in 1923,

and back to Great Portland Streetin 1933.

There are pictures in the exhi-bition of Goodge Street station in1925 and 1957, Warren Street sta-tion in 1930 and 1939, TottenhamCourt Road station in 1914 (and aposter of it from 1924), andGower Street station in 1863.

The cover of Penny IllustratedPaper in January 1885 reports anexplosion in the tunnel betweenGower Street and Kings Cross,caused by dynamite in theChalton Street signal box.

And a page of IllustratedLondon News of 1864 depictsunderground works at the top ofTottenham Court Road by thejunction with Euston Road. Thiswas just a year after the firstunderground line opened fromPaddington and Farringdon, the150th anniversary of which wasrecently celebrated.

The exhibition also recordshow General Eisenhower's head-quarters for planning the Alliedlandings of France in June 1944were in a shelter under CheniesStreet and Goodge Street station.

How well do you know Fitzrovia’s landscape? Can you identifywhere the picture above was taken by Eugene McConville? Clue: thewall and door have since been painted black. The answer is belowthe Dining Detective picture on page 15.

Picture puzzle

ABOVE: GoodgeStreet station in1925 when theNorthern Line wascalled theHampsteadRailway.(Courtesy ofTransport forLondon).

RIGHT: TottenhamCourt Road stationundergoing a previ-ous reconstructionin 1924 (Courtesyof Transport forLondon).

Gower Street station before it was renamed Euston Square in 1909(Courtesy of Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre).

Tunnelling work at the junction ofTottenham Court Road and EustonRoad from Illustrated London Newsof 1864 (Courtesy of Camden LocalStudies and Archives Centre).

The exhibitioncontinues untilDecember 31 atCamden LocalStudies andArchivesCentre

39 Foley Street

London

W1W 7TP

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Bloomsbury wardcouncillors’ surgeries

6:00 - 7:00pm first Friday of the month at

Fitzrovia Community Centre, Foley Street, W1W 6DN

6:00 - 7:00pm second and fourth Fridays of the month at

Marchmont Community Centre, 62 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AB

Third Friday of the month is a 'roving surgery'. Get in touch if you would

like us to conduct the surgery at your street or building.

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Contact 020 7974 3111 or [email protected]

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FitzroviaNeighbourhood

Associationis moving to newpremises duringJanuary 2014 to

5A Goodge Place,W1T 4SD

020 7580 [email protected]

fitzrovia.org.uk

Our drop-in housing and welfareadvice service open

Tuesdays 10am to 1.30pm

Women-only housing and welfareadvice: Wednesdays 11am to 1pm

The author of over 100 books,including War of the Worldsand The History of Mr Polly,

H G Wells was as energetic as alover as he was as a writer. So itcomes as little surprise to learnthat some of his amorous activi-ties were conducted within theboundaries of Fitzrovia. The lawof averages alone would seem todictate this.

Today Wells would almostcertainly be termed a sex addict.But back in the early years of the20th century he saw himself as adisciple of the strand of socialismwhich advocated free love andcommunal marriage. This wasnever a dominant strand, andWells’ affairs shocked many of hisfellow members of the FabianSociety. In 1909 his relationshipwith a beautiful and brilliantyoung Fabian called AmberReeves had ended in scandal andin the birth of a daughter, Anna-Jane. The 43-year-old Wells setabout consoling himself for theloss of Amber in a typically robustbut for him relatively discreetfashion.

At the time Wells was livingwith his wife Jane and their twosons at 17 Church Row,Hampstead. Remarkably hefound Hampstead too noisy – thehouse was close to St John’sChurch and it hosted numerousfunerals – and in his hunt for awriting retreat he’d lighted on the

peaceful streets of Fitzrovia.From 1909 to 1913 he rented a

small flat on Candover Street, inwhat David Lodge, in his excel-lent novel about Wells, A Man ofParts, calls ‘the nondescript areaeast of Great Portland Street’. Itmay have been in Belmont House,although so far I haven’t beenable to verify this. The flat had akitchenette, a bathroom, and a liv-ing-room just large enough tohold a divan bed as well as a deskand a chair.

The divan had multiple usesof course. By all accounts Wells’saintly wife Jane was tolerant ofhis numerous relationships, stipu-lating merely that he did his bestto keep the gossip at a minimum.Perhaps she was just grateful for abit of a break. So if Wells wasdetained in town overnight shecan’t ever have been in muchdoubt about the nature of theevent that was keeping him there.

Who knows how manywomen Wells escorted to the nar-row divan bed in CandoverStreet? In H.G.Wells in Love, apostscript to his autobiography,Wells writes, ‘Among those kind-ly ladies who honoured me atCandover Street … there came avery bright little lady …,’ whomhe nicknamed ‘Little e’. This wasElizabeth von Arnim, an engagingand sprightly novelist whose

domineering Prussian husband -referred to as ‘The Man of Wrath’in her books – died in 1910. VonArnim’s affair with Wells began inthe same year, and lasted until1913. She was 43 herself at thestart of the relationship, far olderthan Wells’ usual targets.

In recent years von Arnim’swork has enjoyed a revival ofinterest, thanks in part to a 2011episode of ‘Downton Abbey’ inwhich the valet Molesley madethe servant Anna a present ofElizabeth and her GermanGarden. This was von Arnim’sfirst novel, a runaway bestsellerpublished in 1898. She wrote 21books in all - my personalfavourite is The Caravaners – andshe comes over as a wickedlyobservant and witty woman.Prolific in more ways than one,she used to complain that herhusband Henning only had tosneeze in a room where she wassitting and she immediately gotpregnant. She had struggled tosupport her five children after thecollapse of Henning’s finances,and was clearly not short of ener-gy and determination herself. So Ido hope she enjoyed the after-noons which she spent in the stu-dio flat with the indefatigableWells, not to mention her foraysinto the backwater which thesedays we know as Fitzrovia.

SUE BLUNDELL continues her series on Secret Families of Fitzrovia

H G Wells about 1908. National Portrait Gallery

Kindly ladies whoentertained H GWells in small flat

Elizabeth von Armin. Getty Images

A Tottenham Court Road bookshop of a century ago pictured on thispostcard (right) is now for sale at 40p at Camden Local Studies &Archive Centre, which is above Holborn Library in Theobalds Road.

As can be seen it is of Harold Brown, Bookseller, Books Boughtand Book Binding. It was at 79a Tottenham Court Road on the north-ern corner with Tottenham Street, and you can just make out part ofthe sign of Wakelin Garage which was at 5 and 7 Tottenham Street in1900.

Just before this time George Bernard Shaw noted the area hadseveral brothels in the area but not a single bookshop.

The card captions the bookshop as c1900 but it first appears instreet directories in 1910.

When we had a bookshop...


40 years ago

ShivPharmacy

70 Great Titchfield Street London W1W 7QN

Prescriptions

Multivitamins

Herbal MedicationsNatural and

Homeopathic produce

Friendly MedicalAdvice

Open Monday to Friday8.30am to 6pm

Tel/Fax

020 7580 2393

[email protected]

"One in every eight dwellings inthe Camden half of Towerlandwas empty on Census Day 1971and in the Goodge Place areafour out of ten dwellings wereunoccupied.

"These alarming figures,which are bound to be worsetoday, have been compiled fromover 1,000 questionnaires thatwere filled in by householderstwo years ago. They werereleased last week.

"At the same time, 48 percent of all households with morethan three people had more than1.5 persons in each room.

"The survey also reveals thatof households renting furnishedproperty 13 per cent did nothave an inside lavatory and 19per cent had neither a bath norshower.

"Similar figures are yet to bepublished for the Westminsterpart of Towerland, but mean-while a survey, carried out bythe Cavendish ward of theLabour Party, shows that thereare 200 or mor flats lyingvacant...

"Much of the blame can be

Two books have come outrecently about Richard Dadd(1817-1886), the artist who

was living at 71 Newman Streetwhen he murdered his father in1843.

The first is a novel called TheFairy Vision of Richard Dadd byMiranda Miller (published byPeter Owen, £10.99).

The author gave a talk abouthim at Camden Local Studies andArchive Centre in TheobaldsRoad recently, and stated Daddhad shared a studio at 70Charlotte Street with fellow artistsWilliam Powell Frith (1819-1909)and Augustus Egg (1816-1863).

Dadd in fact was a model forFrith's famous painting of DerbyDay, in which he appears wearinga red fez on the left of the picture.All three artists often got drunktogether when they were studentsat the Sass school at 6 CharlotteStreet (now 32 BloomsburyStreet). And all three are nowhung in the Tate Gallery.

Dadd's problems started whenhe went on a year-long trip to thefar east in 1842. His landlady atNewman Street (just oppositeNewman Passage) became terri-fied of his odd behaviour on hisreturn, and his doctor said he wasvery ill and should stay in hospi-tal.

But Dadd's father insisted hewas suffering from nothing morethan sun stroke and just needed arest. He took him for a trip intothe countryside, which was wherehe stabbed his father to deathwith a knife and razor, under thedelusion that he was the devil.

Like three of his siblings he

was declared insane and confinedto Bedlam (where the ImperialWar Museum now is), and movedto Broadmoor in 1863, where hecontinued painting. One of hispaintings The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is now in the Tate anddepicts a detail of his father (achemist) with a pestle and mortar.

Dadd is also included in abook called Victoria's Madmen,Revolution and Alienation by CliveBloom (published by PalgraveMacmillan, £20).

The author gave a talk on it tothe Sohemian Society at theWheatsheaf in Rathbone Placerecently.

He said that Dadd, whom hedescribed as the fairy painter,"became more and more para-noid, believing the devil was inhis head." And, concluded Bloom,"his medical problems exempli-fied the terror of the 1830s and1840s."

Among those who were out-casts by temperament and choice,he added, was the artist andwriter Percy Wyndham Lewis(see Nancy Cunard feature onpage 16) whose nihilist magazineBlast aimed to "get everything outof the way and regenerate."

Artist who killedhis father subjectof two new books

Scandal of empty flats and overcrowdinglaid at the feet of the big land-lords of the area, MiddlesexHospital, EMI, UniversityCollege, Joe Levy's StockConversion and those facelessothers protected by estate agentssuch as Davis & Co, BernersStreet, who carry out their plansfor large scale redevelopment."

(Tower, December 1973)

By MIKE PENTELOW

Westminster Council, underLady Porter, announced that itwas axing the Library in LittlePortland Street, and its UrbanAid grant to the FitzroviaNeighbourhood Centre.

Nick Bailey, Chair of theFitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation, declared: "The FNArefuses to accept thatWestminster can just pull theplug on its responsibilities inEast Marylebone..."

Gossip columnist AlfieMaron wrote: "I add my horrorof the thought of the LittlePortland Street Library possiblyclosing down. The number ofpensioners who rely on thiscomfortable library with itshelpful staff will be sadly put to

much inconvenience if this movetakes place."

An advert on the back pageproclaimed: "Portland Library,Little Portland Street, is YOURlocal library. Why not pay it avisit?"

(Fitzrovia Neighbourhood News,December 1983)

30 years ago20 years ago

A book celebrating witchcraftwas published by a local author.It was called A Woman's Book ofShadows - Witchcraft: ACelebration, published by TheWomen's Press, and written byElisabeth Brooke. She said shepractised "herb craft, astrologyand women's mysteries." Thiswas her fourth book to be pub-lished.

A BAFTA award for besttrailer of the year was won byElectric Pictures of Percy Street.The trailer was for the filmDelicatessen. The small inde-pendent film distributor hadbeen going for eight years andhad recently set up its ownvideo label for distributingfilms.

(Fitzrovia News, December 1993)

Madness singer Suggsreveals how he endedup in Middlesex

Hospital after breaking his toenear Gower Street in this pleas-ingly idiosyncratic autobiogra-phy.

He was auditioning for afilm at "a dance studio nearGower Street" [surely the DrillHall at 16 Chenies Street]which had a lot of dancesequences. He started with a"free-form routine, just skip-ping about and throwingshapes", then went into spin-ning and starjumping. Told tojump higher and higher he"took one last Valentinoesqueleap" and landed awkwardlyon his big toe. The adrenalinkept him hobbling throughmore routines until the ses-sion ended. But he ended upin Middlesex Hospital inMortimer Street with his footin plaster, having broken histoe.

Suggs was outside thecouncil flat he lived in withhis mother at Maples House,149 Tottenham Court Roadwhen he bumped into a friendwho told him about the bandthat became Madness. Hedescribed it as "a brand-spanking-new flat, it had twobedrooms, a bathroom, afridge, everything, it was likea palace."

The band in those dayswas called The Invaders, andhe became its singer. As adevoted Chelsea fan occasion-ally he put going to footballabove rehearsing with theband. One day he saw anadvert in Melody Maker for aband seeking a "professionallyminded singer", with a phonenumber which he recognised

as his own band's leader. Hephoned it with a disguised voiceto apply and asked what hadhappened to the old singer. Hewas told: "He had an attitudeproblem, always down the foot-ball." After revealing his trueidentity he was asked to playdrums because the drummerhad taken his job as singer. Thishe did for a while before beingsacked again. But he got back

into the band as lead singerbefore long.

They had to change thename because there wasalready a band called theInvaders. Madness was chosenas the new name, from the titleof a single by Prince Buster,which Suggs had heard play-ing in "a pool hall inTottenham Court Road" [sure-ly the amusement arcade atnumber 69].

One of the band's greatesthits "Baggy Trousers" wasabout a pair of garments hebought in Laurence Corner onthe corner of DrummondStreet and Hampstead Road,just north of Warren Street sta-tion.

After performing at theJubilee Party at BuckinghamPalace in 2012 he was intro-duced to the Queen and couldnot resist repeating TommyCooper's question to her ofdecades earlier. This was"Scuse me, ma'am, but are youstill into football?" She said,"Not particularly," and herepeated the reply: "Can I haveyour Cup Final tickets then?"Quick as a flash she said:"That's Tommy Cooper."

Madness inTottenhamCourt Road

Suggs, That Close (published by Quercus, £20). Reviewed by Mike Pentelow

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WHAT’S ON AROUND FITZROVIAEmail [email protected] by February 19 for the March 2013 issue, and put "Listings" in the subject box.

ART GALLERIES

THEATRE

LIVE MUSIC

CINEMA/FILM

LIVE COMEDY

PUB QUIZZES

EXHIBITIONS

TALKS

4 Windmill St (4windmillstreet.com): See web.Alison Jacques Gallery, 18Berners St(alisonjacquesgallery.com): MattJohnson, until Dec 21; Matter &Memory, Jan 16-Feb 15.Art First Projects, 21 EastcastleSt (artfirst.co.uk): Simon Morley,Feb 5-March 15.Coningsby Gallery/Debut Art,30 Tottenham St (coningsby-gallery.com): Jill George, Dec 2-7; Joe Wilson, Jan 13-25; StephanWalter, Jan 27-Feb 7; PatrickMorgan, Feb 17-March 1.Curwen Gallery, 34 Windmill St(curwengallery.com): GlynnBoyd Harte, Stanley Jones, Dec5-23; New Year, New Work, Jan8; Andrew Ingamells, Feb 4,Robin Richmond, March 5.England & Co, 90-92 GreatPortland St(englandgallery.com): ChrisKenny, until Dec 7; Artists of theColony Room, Dec 12-Jan 11.Gallery Different, 14 Percy St(gallerydifferent.co.uk): Sex,Drugs and..., until Jan 5.Gallery at 94, 94 Cleveland St(galleryat94.com): MuranoItalian Art.Gallery Libby Sellers, 41Berners St (libbysellers.com):Spaces in Between, until Dec 14;Drawn From, Jan 14.Getty Images Gallery, 46Eastcastle St (gettyimagesgallery.com): WinterSale, until January.Hanmi Gallery, 30 Maple St(hanmigallery.co.uk): InterimExhibition: Slice, Dec 7-14.Josh Lilley, 44 Riding House St(joshlilleygallery.com): PeterLinde Busk, until Jan 10.Laure Genillard, 2 HanwayPlace (lglondon.org): ExplodingUtopia, until Dec 21.Lazarides Gallery, 11 RathbonePlace (lazinc.com): JohnTsombikos (formerly known asBorf), until Dec 21.

Modern Art, 6 Fitzroy Square(modernart.net): Katy Moran,until Dec 20; Yngve Holen, Jan10-Feb 8; Mark Flood, Feb 20-March 22.National Print Gallery, 56Maple St(nationalprintgallery.com): Seeweb.Paradise Row, 74 Newman St(paradiserow.com): JohannArens, Shezad Dawood, Dec 13-Feb 1.Pilar Corrias, 54 Eastcastle St(pilarcorrias.com): It Means ItMeans! until Jan 11; SabineMoritz, Jan 24-Feb 22; TalaMadani, Feb 28-March 14.Rebecca Hossack Gallery (1), 2aConway St (r-h-g.co.uk): Silver25th Anniversary Exhibition,until Dec 24.Rebecca Hossack Gallery (2), 28Charlotte St (r-h-g.co.uk): DavidFarrer, until Dec 24; AlasdairWallace, Jan 9-Feb 1.Regina Gallery, 22 Eastcastle St(reginagallery.com): AlexeyKallima, Dec 10-Jan 31.Rook and Raven, 7 RathbonePlace (rookandraven.co.uk):Noma Bar, Cut The Conflict,until Dec 21.Rose Issa Projects, 82 GreatPortland St (roseissa.com):Hanieh Delecroix & KeyvanSaber, until Dec 20; MouradSalem, Jan 15-Feb 14.Rosenfeld Porcini, 37 RathboneSt (rosenfeldporcini.com):Emmanuel Barcilon, untilFebruary.Richard Saltoun, 111 GreatTitchfield St(richardsaltoun.com): RoelofLouw, until Dec 13; Transformer,Aspects of Travesty, Dec 13-Feb28.Store Street Gallery, 32 Store St(storestreetgallery.com): WinterExhibition, Dec 12-Jan 11.T J Boulting 59 Riding House St(tjboulting.com): Lion Man,Stephanie Quayle, until Dec 14.Woolff Gallery, 89 Charlotte St(woolffgallery.co.uk): ValeriaNascimento, until Jan 4.

The Albany, 240 Great PortlandSt (thealbanyw1w.co.uk):Ukuleles on Wednesdays.All Saints, Margaret St: Organrecital by Charles Andrews, Jan26.Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(cultura.embavenez-uk.org):Harp and Strings in London Dec6; Eva Thorarinsdottir (violin)and Ben Powell (piano), Dec 13;Grupo Alcabra (Venezuelan tra-ditional ensemble), Dec 14;Jet Lag, 125 Cleveland St:Jamming on Mondays 7pm,blues and boogie on Thursdays8pm.King & Queen, 1 Foley St : Folkonce a month on Fridays (visitweb mustradclub.co.uk).The 100 Club, 100 Oxford St(the100club.co.uk): NorthernSoul All-Nighter, Dec 7; ToddSharpville's Xmas BluesExtravaganza, Dec 12; Stompin'Christmas Special, Dec 16; BluesChristmas Party, Dec 17; SoulParty, Dec 18; Northern SoulXmas Party, Dec 19; SteveHogarth Christmas Show, Dec20; Pretty Things Mod Ball, Dec21.UCL Chamber Music Club(ucl.ac.uk/chamber-music):Concerts, Haldane Room, MainCampus, Gower St, Dec 5,5.30pm; North Cloisters, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St, Dec 10,6pm.

CAROL SERVICESAll Saints, Margaret St: Festivalof Nine Lessons and Carols withthe choir, followed by mincepies and mulled wine, Dec 16,6pm. Lunchtime Carol Service,also followed by mince pies andmulled wine, Dec 20, 12.30pm.

Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 GordonSt (thebloomsbury.com): TheNutcracker, Dec 6-8; Snow Play,Dec 10-23; Comedy Club 4 Kids,Santa Claus, Dec 15 and 22;Laugh Till it Hurts, Jan 22;Festival of the Spoken Nerd, Jan24-25; Science Show Off (UCLanarchic cabaret), Feb 5, 7.30pm.

Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(cultura.embavenez-uk.org):Boliwood (Venezuelan shortfilms festival), Dec 4-5; SingYour Song (Harry Belafonte),Dec 8, 11am; Diary ofBucaramanga (about SimonBolivar), Dec 17, 7pm.Green Man, 36 Riding House St:London Animation Club, firstTuesday of month.Odeon, 30 Tottenham Court Rd:Weekly film details fromwww.odeon.co.uk or 08712244007.SERTUC Film Club, CongressHouse, Great Russell St: [email protected] for futurescreenings.UCL J Z Young Theatre,Anatomy Building, Gower St:When Worlds Collide (1951), Jan21, 6.30pm. Free.

KARAOKE

College Arms, 18 Store St:Mondays at 8pm.Fitzroy Tavern, 16 Charlotte St:Wednesdays at 7.30pm in base-ment.Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place:Improvisation on Thursdays,8.30pm, and stand-up onSaturdays, 7.30pm upstairs.

The Albany, 240 Great PortlandSt: Every Tuesday.The Court, 108a TottenhamCourt Rd: Sundays 8pm, £100prize.One Tun, 58 Goodge St: EveryTuesday, 8pm.Prince of Wales Feathers, 8Warren St: Every Monday, 7pm.

WALKS

Sohemian Society, Wheatsheaf,25 Rathbone Place: RoguesGallery, by Peter Lewis, Dec 10,7.30pm, entry £4.UCL Darwin Theatre, GowerStreet, entrance in Malet Place(ucl.ac.uk/events): Lunch hourlectures very Tuesday andThursday, 1.15-1.55pm.UCL Art Museum, SouthCloisters, Wilkins Building,Gower St (ucl.ac.uk/museums):Egypt Awakened, Petrie PopsUp, Jan 21, 1pm.UCL, A V Hill Lecture Theatre,Medical Sciences, Gower St:Making Capitalism Fit forSociety, Colin Crouch, WillHutton and others, Jan 30,5.30pm.

Camden People's Theatre, 58-60Hampstead Rd (cptheatre.co.uk):She Was Probably Not a Robot(surreal comedy from EdinburghFringe), Dec 11-13; Tony & Mike,Dec 14-15; The Quant, Dec 16-18.Dominion Theatre, 269Tottenham Court Rd (domin-iontheatre.co.uk): We Will RockYou, ongoing.London Palladium, Argyll St(the-london-palladium.com):Barry Humphries' Farewell Tour,until Jan 5; I Can't Sing (X FactorMusical) from Feb 27.New Diorama Theatre, 15 TritonSt, opposite top of Fitzroy St(newdiorama.com): Gismo Love,Dec 3-21; Nativity inCreakebottom, Dec 23; Hamlet,Jan 4-Feb 22.

TCR Bar, 182 Tottenham CourtRd: Live mike for singers to livebacking band, Thurdays, 7pm.One Tun, 58 Goodge St: LastSaturday of month.

Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place:London Literary Pub Crawl,every Saturday, 5pm. BookonlineLondonLiteraryPubCrawl.comFitzrovia NeighbourhoodAssociation. Topical guidedwalk around Fitzrovia from1.30pm to 3.30pm on Saturday14 December. Freefitzroviafestival.org.uk

British Museum, Great RussellSt (britishmuseum.org): Shunga:sex and pleasure in Japanese art,until Jan 5; Perfect timing: theMostyn Tompion clock, until Feb2; Beyond El Dorado: power andgold in ancient Colombia, untilMarch 23; Wise men from theeast: Zoroastrian traditions inPersia, until Apr 27.Grant Museum of Zoology, 21University St (ucl.ac.uk/muse-ums/zoology): The Micrarium:A place for tiny things, from Feb7; Darwin or Bust, Feb 12-Apr 2;Valentines at the Grant, Feb 14,6.30-9pm; Killer Carnivores, Feb17-22.Royal Institute of BritishArchitects, Gallery One, 66Portland Place(architecture.com): MedalStudent Awards, until Jan 29;Emerging Architecture, until Jan22.UCL Art Museum, SouthCloisters, Wilkins Building,Gower St (ucl.ac.uk/museums):Black Bloomsbury (Slade artistsand models in history), until Dec13.UCL Main Library, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Flaxmanand his circle, until Dec 31.Wellcome Library, 183 EustonRd (wellcomecollection.org):Foreign Bodies, CommonGround, until Feb 9.

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La Palette Bastille by Glynn Boyd Harte, showing at the Curwen Gallery.The artist lived in Percy Street for many years.

BARRY HUMPHRIES: SeeLondon Palladium.

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