You want best seats we have them (sic)

I spotted a skinny shop threshold in front of 45 Aldwych;

The thin strip abuts an unbranded basement lightwell and, when this was a ticket shop, it was possibly against a step or counter that ran along the whole frontage. 

This mosaic ghostsign for Keith Prowse tickets, perfectly sited for the adjacent theatres, looks to be mid-1920s to me, although I think a bit of punctuation between 'seats' and 'we' wouldn't have gone amiss!

I had, until now, assumed that KP was a one man concern, but no – the company was founded in 1830 by two musical instrument makers, namely Mr Keith, who had also been selling tickets for events via a messenger service, and Mr Prowse, the comma between their names, as shown in this 1939 directory listing, having since disappeared (as per the mosaic!). 

The directory shows the company merely as musical instrument makers even though they had been selling tickets and publishing music for decades by this time. It's also worth noting the variety of different shops along this stretch of Aldwych at that time, including a chemist, an optician, some solicitors, a picture framer and another ticket agency. Today, the Waldorf Hotel has engulfed most of these small shops.

Back in the early1980s, Keith Prowse was London's premiere ticket agency. I often used their prominent shop at the junction of Monmouth Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, at that time opposite Grodzisnki's the baker, at the end of Neal Street. Ah happy days. There's a bakery there today but you won't be able to buy a pasty, a lardy cake or a belgian bun. When I moved to a new job near Hatton Garden, I was pleased to find another Grod's outlet on Leather Lane. 

It's a wrap! Marvellous metal in Greville Street by Groupwork + Amin Taha

I was wandering along Leather Lane becoming a bit despondent, thinking how this previously vibrant street market had completley lost its proper 'anything and everything you need' vibe as it was when I worked in the area in the early 1980s. I mused that it was still possible to buy a wide range of products here until the early 2000s. Then Covid-19 hit our street markets hard* and these days all you are likely to find here is street food, although I'd counter that buying a meal in a box that you need to sit down and eat with cutlery on a flat surface doesn't constitute street food. For instance, there are no stalls selling, bacon butties, bite-sized snacks, pretzels or pasties, never mind fried locusts on sticks. Anyway... I digress.

Memories of Leather Lane market got me thinking about the places and businesses that were in the Hatton Garden area in the early 1980s when I used to work for a small advertising agency in Bleeding Hart Yard – a name that almost people thought I'd made up – no need to swear love! I can't recall anyone back then talking about the bloody legend of the spurned lady which I only ever saw on a panel outside the wine bar in the corner of the yard. Today you can find a fuller explanation of that legend written on the windows of the pub at the corner of BHYard and Greville Street, as shown in pic above which is is a screen grab from Google dated 2020. It certainly wasn't a pub in the 1980s or else I'd have used it! A friend tells me it was a café back then, but I don't recall that. 

These days I am more interested in the building on the left side of that pic which, being a few years ago, shows a sample of what was to happen here, attached to the corner as a test piece. 

Here's what it looks like now... Well, it's marvellous. Amin Taha, the man who gave us these delights in Clerkenwell Green and Upper Street, has done it again!  

From a distance it looks like brick/stone. But on closer inspection, you'll see it's a mesh surround that allows light through to the main construction. So clever. Venture into BHYd to see how the details continue around the building. I'll leave it at that. Go see for yourself, or find out more here. 

I used to work in the building that's partially visible in the first picture, although these windows were part of my boss's office (I recall looking at lovely sunsets from here) – my drawing board/desk was on the room on the other side of the building, facing east.

*Markets – In 2011 I wrote about how London street markets were gradually diminishing. The big supermarkets offering a one-stop-shop, trollies and car parking, have been a major factor here, and I hear that youngsters are not keen to continue a stall-holding businesses when their costermonger parents retire. It's a shame. A someone who grew up in Romford with its huge bustling market, selling everything from apples and pears to records and puppies, I have fondness for stall-based shopping. 

More manholes with woodblock infills, hiding in plain view on London's main roads

This collection of manhole covers with remnants of wood blocks within them are specifically grouped together because they are all on streets I know well, so it's surprising it's taken me decades to notice them until now (September 2023). 

First, here is an excellent example in Holloway Road, ten minutes' walk from my home. I often lead guided tours here pointing out all the hints of late Victorian history when the street was often referred to as The Oxford Street of the North. Yet, although I often mention trams and old forms of transport, I hadn't actually spotted this fabulous example of wood blocks in the middle of the road. It can be found between The Coronet/Waitrose and Holloway tube station, slap bang in the middle of the road. Basically, I have been walking past it about three times a week for thirty years (doh!):

It's the second Holloway one I have discovered (see first entry in here) and, convinced that there surely must be more in the vicinity, I am now often to be seen scouring the road like a demented idiot who has lost something.  

Next, to Kentish Town... a short walk from Holloway and an area I also thought I knew well as regards little details etc, yet, although I'd found one wood-filled manhole cover by a yellow line in the southern end of this street, it turns out that there is another one, almost opposite Islip Street. This had eluded me until someone messaged me about it:

Then to Pentonville Road... outside Joseph Grimaldi Park I found another one having glimpsed it from the top deck of a number 73 bus, as this is what I do from buses now; I play a new game I have invented: Manholehunter. On the day I went to photograph it, the street was extremely trafficated* so I had to stop the slow-moving cars to be able to stand over it and get a decent shot. The driver of one car looked at me very quizzically then parked round the corner to come back and see what I was so interested in. He chatted for a while, and I told him to look up Jane's London but I haven't heard from him since. Perhaps he's reading this now. I hope so! Due to the traffic that day I am here accompanying my photo with a street view pic from Google streetview (the name of the road isn't actually painted on the Tarmac!):

Update March 2026:  no surprise to discover that it's since been covered in tarmac:

And so to Clerkenwell Rd... I wrote before about a fine example at the end of Leather Lane. Well, I'm sorry to report that since that stretch of road was resurfaced, the manhole has completely gone. But, on the bright side, I found another one a little further east, almost at the junction of Hatton Garden, by the zebra crossing. At first glance it looks like it's all tarmac-filled. But that's not the case – the tarmac has eroded around the edges, and little glimpses of wood can be seen, although that might not be immediately evident here:

And finally (for now!), this next one is just south of Angel Islington, on the west side of St John Street by the pedestrian crossing, just before the junction with Rosebery Ave and Sadlers Wells:

See you with more of these soon, no doubt.

For the full list of all my sightings thus far, please click here. Do let me know if you find any more. 

*Trafficated – a word a that my mate Mick used/invented by accident back in the 1990s – I have been implementing it ever since. 

Clogs, brushes and cycle accessories – two ghostsigns clinging on to what's left of Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, EC2

So much is changing around Shoreditch these days. Low rise Georgian, Victorian and early C20th buildings are fast being demolished to be replaced with high rise glass blocks. I went to check on what's happening at the top end of Norton Folgate, a part of Bishopsgate that I'd understood had been saved from development. It used to be an interesting architectural patchwork as you can see here.

As my pic here shows, part of this terrace that abuts Folgate Street has [sort of] been saved but only those properties with red brick façades remain (some are covered in netting); the rest of these structures will be completely rebuilt albeit not as tall as the blocks that are going up to the left hand side which forms the beginning of Shoreditch High Street where once stood one of my favourite interwar buildings, a castellated showroom façade covered in beige faience tiles; Niclar House*.

Rather jaded by this, I went for a wander around the nearby streets to see what else has changed during this past year, specifically interested to see if two old hand-painted advertisements were still in situ in Holywell Lane. I'm glad to report that they are indeed still there but clinging on for dear life, so to speak.

The two signs face each other across the now defunct Victorian railway line that has been replaced by the new section of rails for the Overground Line further along the street. It's really weird how these old buildings are somehow still hanging on in there surrounded by an undulating sea of tall glass.

The east-facing advertistement on the bottom right (above) is barely legible, and would need access to that upper level where the train carriages are to get a better view of the wording in the whole sign. Tetramesh has a better shot of it here. I originally thought I could see "MEX" in there at the middle right and wondered if this was a link to rubber from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Indeed, Milton Manufacturing Co cycle accessories was at this end of the street in 1915. Or it might be a ref to The East London Rubber Company or Rotax Motor Accessories who were both nearby in 1939.

But I have since had another, better, idea which also links to two-wheeled vehicles – I now think it's 'MAX' as in Max Steiner cycle accessories who were located at 35 Curtain Road, on the other side of the Gt Eastern St junction, for at least the period 1915-1939. More info on Max Steiner and the Pelissier brand here which includes some press ads. More can be found within Grace's Guide. I am pretty sure that, armed with the info in these ads, some of the wording on this wall sign can be deciphered. 

The sign on the side of No.55 is much clearer. It reads 'MAKERS OF. CLOGS. DRAIN & SWEEPS. MACHINES.' – this photo shows it more clearly in the 1980s. Having assessed the late Victorian directories, I think this is a sign for two or more products or companies available in this street.

At the very top front centre of No.55 there is a clear date mark: GT 1893. This surely must be George Tyrie, brushmaker. He could well have made the railsweeps; brushes that were often fitted to the protuding section at the front of steam trains to sweep away the leaves and other debris. Or it could refer to brushes and brooms used by railway workers who cleaned the rails manually. A dirty job.

And this links in with another company in the street, because at the same time, in the late 1890s, on the other side of the road at No.12, George Stevens is listed as a washing clog maker. It's possible that he was related to, the son of, Thomas Stevens who was listed at No.39 in 1832 (this might be the same property and the road might have been re-numbered, but I haven't checked). Thomas was one of two French clog makers in this street, the other being George Martin at No.44, before the railway line and before the building on which the sign was painted when clogs had evidently evolved to become boots. These heavy duty items of footwear had canvas leg coverings, sometimes up to thigh height, tightened and kept in place by leather straps and buckles. They protected clothes and the wearer from splashes, see right (a page in a Gamages catalogue). 

Ideas and info welcome – please use the comments section or contact me via social media @janeslondon

*Find out more – Niclar House features on London's Lamented Art Deco, my online talk via Zoom about some demolished interwar buildings and the structures that have replaced them. Click here for info. It used to form part of my Art Deco Spitalfields guided walk. Sigh.

Would you believe it? Wood block surfaces still visible on London streets

A few months back I was involved in an email exchange about the patch of wood blocks adjacent to Bunhill Row Cemetery, just off Artillery Row, specifically, and perhaps coincidentally (ironically?), in Chequer Street. Back in ye olde Victorian times this street ran alongside Star Works, the De La Rue postage stamp manufactory, though I don't know if this company was related to Danny. 

This little road is a patchwork of setts and cobbles and looks to have been repaired, extended or updated with various kinds of blocks. It’s probably more likely, due to the pristine condition of this area, that these were laid more recently, perhaps using blocks that were found in the vicinity and some clever person had the idea to make a feature of them. 

In addition to this patch of wood, there are also granite setts and vitreous setts, the latter being a by-product of the gas industry and said to be identifiable by their bluish glaze. Note also a couple of interesting man hole cover plates along here. It’s like a road surface nerd’s dream!

Ah, but this isn't the only patch of wood paving in the metropolis – I have happened upon quite a few other places that show hints of this eco-friendly-but-hard-to-maintain wooden surface. I've found enough to start a specific collection on my desktop and here I am sharing some of them with you... 

At 90-92 Pentonville Road N1, on the corner of Penton Street, there is evidence of a whole paved private courtyard that is currently used for car parking. Patches of wood can be seen peeking out from under the receding Tarmac. 

Research shows that this was once the display forecourt outside the ground floor showroom of R. W. Wilkins & Son, marble, granite and stone merchants, monumental masons, sculptors, table-top manufacturers, shopfitters, and interior decorators in marble and tiles. This had originally been constructed as three Georgian houses with deep front gardens, mirroring those across the road, and was converted into one premises in the 1860s by Henry Webb Wilkins, probably RWW's father. The rectangular blocks appear to be the same shape and size as the ones at Chequer Street. 

Many good remnants of wood block can also be found nestling within the segments of some old manhole and utility covers. Fir instance, just east of here, near the border of Islington and Hackney (when this was Finsbury and Shoreditch, respectively) there are examples in Mora Street on the southern side of City Road:

 

 

And on the other side of City Rd in Shepherdess Walk on the northern side. My pics were taken on a rainy day but, believe me, there's wood under them there puddles:

There's another example not far from there in New North Road, at the end of Wharf Road by the Royal Mail depot, and another on Clerkenwell Rd at the end of Leather Lane (centre pic below)**. Plus a couple in West Square, Lambeth, a well-to-do 1790s development of private houses, one of which is shown below right:

In the middle of Grays Inn Road at the junction of Acton Street by the zebra crossings, there is a superb example, as shown below, top left, with the streetscape below it. And there are two more good examples in Islington High Street as shown below, middle and right – one set within the pavement near Pizza Express (middle pics), another in the road at the rear of the former electricity transformer station and tram depot (top right). A third one, by the southern door to that building, at the corner of Duncan Street, sort of facing The York pub, has been recently covered in Tarmac (bottom right).  

Update: The Grays Inn Road pic shown above was taken in 2021. This cover plate was subsequently covered in Tarmac, but in April 2024 I noticed that the surface has worn away to reveal how the pieces of woodblock within the segments are now much smaller. Hmmm, how very strange. I wonder if someone tried to remove the wood blocks and then replaced them after they'd discovered that the chunks did not come out complete. See right.

I'd really love to experience the sound of horses walking on a wood-blocked street. The super-informative Roads Were Not Built For Cars shows us that Bartholomew the cartographer, produced road surface maps of London where streets coloured yellow denoted wood, green indicated sheet asphalt, blue was setts, and pink for macadam (a pre-cursor to Tarmac). The rationale that wood blocks offered the benefit of a quieter environment explains their implementation in residental streets such as West Square and in the old hospital zone around City Road.

The same 'quiet' effect would also apply at this next location – the rear of City Hall, on Belvedere Road, built as the London County Council's head offices in 1911 and, hence, a really busy municipal street. 

Here, long wooden oblongs, arranged in a grid format, have been uncovered for many years. Whenever I am in the Waterloo area I often go to check they are still visible. The random piece of flat metal is, I suppose, an attempt at protection.

Update July 2021: due to the wet weather, the woodblocks in Artillery Row are framed in grass. I think it’s lovely.

Update August 2023: I have set up the London A-Z Directory of Woodblocks. If you can add to the list, please leave a comment under this blog post or email me at jane@janeslondon.com

**Update re the Leather Lane manhole – the man hole cover within the road junction at the end of Leather Lane has now gone due to recent resurfacing of Clerkenwell Road. However, another manhole cover outside No.83, set in the pavement by the lamp post has tiny bits of wood block visible around the edges. 

Puzzled by a London Puzzle at Christmas

Last week, on Christmas Day afternoon, I cleared the table, poured the wine, and got to work on a PuzzleMap jigsaw of London that I'd found whilst rummaging at a charity sale last summer.
I am happy to report that all the pieces were in the box but, oh boy did I find some other things amiss.

The completed puzzle – 1000 pieces, 19"x27"

Having looked online at reviews for this item people say they really enjoyed doing the puzzle but found the image on the box lid hard to follow because it shows additional map at the left and right sides.
Well, never mind that, dear WordSearchers, you should be more concerned with the inaccuracy of the place- and road-names and the confusion as to why so many insignificant streets, parks and locations have been identified as worthy for inclusion yet other, more important places, have been omitted, and where are the tube station signs for Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Chancery Lane and Hyde Park Corner? Ditto Marylebone and Fenchurch Street rail stations? Did they just fall off the map?!

A crash (one of many) at the junction of Lyall Street and Chester Row.  South Kensington tube stain has been renamed (who knew?) and there optional spellings for the Jameses. In the fourth pic four street names include extra/repeated letters: Roseberry St (+r), Skinnner St (+n), Centrral St (+r) and St. Johns St (+s).

Barnard Park is depicted as a very important district in North London, almost as big as Islington, and Barnsbury Rd has been mis-named Barnsbury St, a silly error because there is a Barnsbury Street further north which runs east-west. In central London alternative spellings are given for the gallery and the body of water that separates the parks, and South Carriage Drive has been mis-named as Carriage Rd. The third pic shows Leather St and Halton Gdn which everyone knows should be Leather Lane and Hatton Garden. Note also in that pic that Stanland Street, a quiet back street, has been selected for inclusion. Ditto Jockey's Fields (which needs no possessive). The last pic shows examples of names without Rd/St/Av endings; Marshalsea (Rd) and Tabard (St) – I could have included plenty more pics of those; Bressenden (Gdns), Grt Percy (St), Appold (St), Wood (St), Vauxhall (St), Lombard (St)...

More errors include (with the correct spelling in brackets), Townshed Rd (Townshend), Edgeware Station (Edgware), Stanland St (Sandland) Plender Rd should be St and, probably my favourite, Long Acre St (delete St).
You probably think I have studied the whole thing like a pedantic sub-editor with a fine-tooth comb – Nope! – I just noticed these things as I was doing it. It wasn't until I'd spotted about ten, when I had barely completed half of the puzzle, that I started jotting them down and then taking photos – this explains the changes in picture quality depending on available light at the time. I have spotted errors mainly in the central and north-east areas because I am not so knowledgeable about the south and south-west, so there must be lots more I don't know about.
I wonder, how did all these silly errors slip though the net? It is fairly evident to me that it wasn't checked before it was printed. Existing maps such as the A-Z can't just be scanned and copied; there are copyright issues and so this had to be redrawn from scratch and, I suggest, in a hurry. Perhaps some of the mis-spellings might actually be mis-hearings with one person shouting the street names to another who typed them onto the map. Or, perhaps it was created as a task on The Apprentice?!!

The blurb on the box, and online, reads: 

• Learn the layouts of famous cities piece by piece as you assemble our PuzzleMaps with friends and family. 
• Perhaps you are planning a trip and want to orient yourself before you go, or perhaps you want to remind yourself of favorite corners and neighborhoods you have explored on foot.  
• The perfect gift for the person planning a first trip or the world traveler who knows a world class city from the ground up. 
• Made from high quality laminated paper board
• PuzzleMaps will challenge the best puzzlers, inspire curious minds interested in far off places and delight world travelers.
• PuzzleMaps are made from post-consumer recycled material

Is it me, or does last bullet seem to contradict the fourth?
You may have noticed the American spellings here and on the map itself such as Av as the abbreviation for Avenue – we Brits prefer to use Ave. Design Ideas Limited, the company that produced this puzzle, is indeed American and, according to the box, is based in Springfield*, Illinois. But they must have internet access over there and they must have access to maps of London. It's inexcusable. Though quite amusing too.
I am going to leave the finished puzzle on my table for a while yet – it sort of pleases me in a supercilious "I know better" way. Perhaps I'll write to Design Ideas and suggest that it could form the basis if another type of puzzle all on its own; a sort of cartographic spot-the-diffence as part of a range called MapMistakes or StreetSearch...?!

*Incidentally, Springfield is not just home of the Simpsons, it's [something like] one of the most common town names in the U.S. – probably why Matt Groening chose to use it. 

Treasure House, 19–21 Hatton Garden

This is one of those 'how did I never see this before now?" moments...
Hatton Garden has for many centuries been London's "Jewellery Quarter" – the place to buy and/or trade in gold, silver, precious gems and diamonds.
In the early 1980s I used to work just around the corner within a grubby inner courtyard off Greville Street called Bleeding Heart Yard (before anyone knew where that was) and at lunchtime I'd find bargains in Leather Lane market (when there was a much greater variety of goods for sale) or I'd just go for a wander about and go back to work with something tasty from Grodzinki's Bakery.
So how come I had never noticed the panels above 19-21 Hatton Garden until last month?! Jeez! I even used to drink often in the Mitre which is accessed through an alley a few doors along from this building!

Treasure House (1906) has Art Nouveau styling on the doors with panels above depicting the story of gold from its ore to being a wearable item, though they don't appear to be in a chronological order and all the figures are muscular and godlike and hence shown naked whether mining or just admiring their own reflection. Perhaps having spent all the money on gold they can't afford clothes?!
I have tried looking for the name of the company who was originally here but so far not found anything, though I did find some info Ornamental Passions here. If you do know more, please do let me know

Whitecross Street Party

Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st July.
Two days of creative stuff – art, music, stalls, entertainment, plus lots of lovely food and drink. I will be trading there on the Saturday.
It'll be like the last three years, but a bit different. See these pics from last year' and more info here (check out some corking spelling mistakes in the 'About' paragraph, including two within a four-word sentence: "Now in it's forth year". Also "creative's" and "en mass". All very non-conformist!)

Whitecross Street has been a market street for centuries, though in the past few years the regular street market had been fading/diminishing, much in the same way as other similar markets in Leather Lane, Strutton Ground, The Cut, Chalton Street and even Hoxton and Chapel Street Markets. There has been a big drive all of these areas to get shoppers back onto the streets by introducing Farmers' or craft market days. Whitecross Street has been doing reasonably well of late with its variety of food stalls. My only problem when buying yummy hot street food from there is where am I supposed to sit and eat it if I don't have a desk to scuttle back to? There is no park or street furniture in the vicinity.
The top row of the set of images below is how Whitecross Street looked a year ago, including a shot of a whitewashed building where some lettering can be seen seeping through the paint. This includes a pre-war telephone number, Clerkenwell 4716. I expect that by now this whole terrace has been demolished.
The other two rows show a few interesting details on the nearby streets.

Brass Monkeys

Blimey, it's taters innit guv.
Shopping in Leather Lane Market earlier this week I didn't envy the stallholders standing outside all day in the biting cold freezing their whatsits off.
London is still blessed with a great choice of markets; farmers, craft, flower, fruit, veg, fish, general, antiques and more. Some are within indoor arcades, some are outdoor and covered, but many are street markets open to the elements.
Some details from along those streets are pictured below.

Top: Walthamstow High St, Exmouth Mkt, North End Road, Strutton Ground
Middle: Portobello Rd, Whitecross St, Chapel Mkt, Leather Lane
Bottom: Broadway Mkt, Berwick St, Whitechapel High St, Lower Marsh

Elizabeth II is now the second longest serving UK monarch

As I mentioned the other week, Liz has just reached a milestone.

She'll have to stick it out another 52 months or so to take Victoria's title.

Top row: Black Prince Road, Vauxhall Walk, Brewer Street, Gt Titchfield Street.

Middle row: Mortlake Road, Dalston, Leather Lane, Marylebone High St.

Bottom row: Oxford Street, Crouch End, Essex Road, Theobalds Road.

Hairdressers and barbers

I was just about to put together this collection of interesting, ornate, old and decaying hairdressers' shops signs when someone emailed me about a series of events being put on by LIFT (The London International Festival of Theatre).

One of the items on the programme this year is Haircuts by Children. So if you fancy letting a 9 year old give you a free haircut then check out the site and pop along sometime between this Saturday 10th June and next Sat 18th.

Other LIFT events include 'Nevermore', a theatre production about the "Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe", 'Oxygen', a reworking of the Ten Commandments and 'We Built this City' where children can build a city from cardboard boxes (thinks, how can I make myself look like a 12 year old...?).

Anyway, check the LIFT site for the full list of events.

Top row: Dean Street, South Moulton Street, Balls Pond Road, Muswell Hill Broadway, Scotland Green.

Middle row: Newington Green, Caledonian Road, Chatsworth Road, Berwck Street, Leather Lane.

Bottom row: Holloway Road, Kings Cross Road, Pentonville Road, Seven Sisters Road (Fins Pk), Aberdeen Place.

All of the above, as far as I know, are all still in situ. But this one, on Royal College Street, uncovered whilst renovation, has vanished. Shame.

And perhaps I should have included this one!