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Issue 142 Autumn 2016

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

Fuming

Oxford Street pedestrianisationthreatens to move congestionand pollution into side streets

Residents from Fitzrovia,Marylebone, Mayfair and Sohohave voiced concerns over Mayorof London Sadiq Khan’s plan topedestrianise Oxford Street.

Residents groups told LondonAssembly Transport Committeemembers in the summer thatpedestrianisation is not desirableand it is not practical to providealternative bus, taxi and deliveryvehicle routes without movingpollution and congestion into thesmaller streets either side ofOxford Street.

Representatives of residentstold Fitzrovia News that they wel-come the Mayor’s desire toreduce congestion and pollutionand want to work together torealise his aim to improve OxfordStreet, but without adding to thealready high levels of pollutionand congestion in nearby streets.They say the Mayor shouldreduce motor traffic in the neigh-bouring areas not just OxfordStreet.

Businesses in the West End,Transport for London, andWestminster City Council alsohold the view that traffic reduc-tion and not pedestrianisationshould be the aim, otherwise theproblem would just be shiftedfrom one street to neighbouringstreets

However, residents and busi-ness groups were surprised whenLondon deputy mayor for trans-port Val Shawcross announced inJuly that City Hall hopes to com-plete pedestrianisation by 2020.Pedestrianisation would be com-pleted in stages with the easternend of Oxford Street done first.

Residents and business groupsfear that buses and taxis could bediverted along Wigmore Street,Mortimer Street and GoodgeStreet.

Wendy Shillam of theFitzrovia West NeighbourhoodForum wrote to Val Shawcrosssaying that if pedestrianisation ofOxford Street results in a perma-nent diversion of taxis and bus

routes along neighbouring streets“it would be devastating”.

Jace Tyrell of the New WestEnd Company which representstraders in Oxford Street was cau-tious about the plans: “We lookforward to seeing and discussingdetailed proposals for OxfordStreet following Ms Shawcross’sstatements but feel very stronglythat any form of vehicle-freezones must lead to a genuinereduction of traffic, rather thanlarge scale re-routing downsmaller residential or commercialstreets.

“In addition, it must be

accompanied by a full economicassessment to measure the impacton businesses and the shoppersand workers that travel to theWest End every day via publictransport,” he said.

Campaigners for a traffic-freeOxford Street have welcomed theplans but Westminster CityCouncil told the West EndExtra that “the plans described bythe deputy mayor for full pedes-trianisation are currentlyunachievable without significantimpact on those who live, visit orrun a business in the area.”

Oxford Street is a major route

for buses and taxis but privatevehicles are already banned from7am to 7pm exceptSundays. Around 270 buses travelalong the street every hour and15,000 taxi passengers are pickedup, set down, or carried everyday.

Thousands of people livenorth and south of Oxford Streetand despite having the lowest caruse in the UK they experience thehighest levels of pollution.

A public consultation on theMayor’s plans to pedestrianiseOxford Street will be carried outlater this year.

Residents and business groups want traffic reduced not displaced

Around 270 buses travel along Oxford Street every hour and 15,000 taxi passengers are picked up, set down, or car-ried every day. Community and business groups fear the traffic could be displaced into side streets.

Flattering fitzfrom the 40spage 8

A taste ofIndian culturepage 5

Banksy, page 11

Issue 142 Autumn 2016Published 6 September 2016

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:John AxonAnn BasuSue BlundellJayne DavisSarah EickerJanet GauldClifford HarperCaroline MawerSunita SoliarClifford SlapperWendy ShillamWendy ShutlerChris TylerKipper Williams

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facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews2 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

Take action now to have your say on Oxford Street plans

By Caroline Mawer

Pedestrianising Oxford Streetmay sound like a great idea. TheMayor of London made it hismanifesto commitment and theplans are being drawn up. But itneeds to be a great idea for localresidents and businesses as wellas the global tourists the Mayoris apparently hoping to attract.

But we don’t want to havethe surrounding streets evenmore congested, polluted andless safe than they already are.

So we need to speak out —not to complain — but to saywhat we actually want.

The first consultation endedon 29 July, and especially if youmissed that, you need to makesure you don't miss your chanceto have a say. Keep reading forsome ideas about how youmight do that.

Pedestrianisation is plannedto start at the eastern end some-time in the middle of 2019 fromTottenham Court Road to

Oxford Circus. Then it’s thewestern section up towardsMarble Arch. Around MarbleArch itself is going to come last.

The bus traffic-jam alongOxford Street is apparentlygoing to be sorted out by a “par-adigm shift”: with “inter-changes, turn-backs and changesto the routes”; and by having aHopper ticket, so you can get onand off buses for one price.

Although it’s not at all clearwhere else they might go, theDeputy Mayor ValerieShawcross has said that it’s notabout “all the buses simply run-ning down Wigmore Street”.

There has been some discus-sion about disabled access.There are going to be two acces-sible Crossrail stations atTottenham Court Road andBond Street. But many lessmobile pedestrians won’t wantto (or can’t) walk, and carrytheir shopping, between these.

Thinking around this needsto be as radical as with the

buses. Just adding taxi-ranks in the

side streets, and having taxis cir-cling for a place in the ranks isgoing to further increase conges-tion as well as reducing roadsafety. Since the Mayor hasmuch less power over taxis, thisis a very significant issue.

Then there’s pollution. Wehave very high levels of pollu-tion locally. Well above the rec-ommended levels for health.Sadiq Kahn has been clear thatreducing pollution levels is apriority for him. Surely we wantmore than just a local fight-backagainst pollution increasingwhen buses and taxis are dis-placed from Oxford Street?

The paradigm shift needs toextend from transport to actual-ly reduce pollution across theWest End.

The London Assembly andthe Mayor must consider health,disability, road safety, and busi-ness needs.

Most importantly, they need

to actually listen to local resi-dents and business people —not just tell people that a consul-tation period has closed.Take action now:

email Valerie Shawcross(val.shawcross@london.gov.uk)and tweet @valshawcross

Email Sadiq Kahn (Mayor@london.gov.uk) tweet @SadiqKhanFor tweets use the hashtag:#oxfordstreet

Say if you want to be person-ally informed about any futureconsultations.

Describe your good ideas —you will have some! Say whatyou are specifically concernedabout: is it pollution, road safety,disability access, or businessworking?

Say what your special needsare: have you got children,breathing problems, reducedmobility, or a business to run?Ask for a reply. And if you don'tget one, let Fitzrovia News know!

Letter to Val Shawcross, deputy Mayor of London

Dear Val,

I represent Fitzrovia WestNeighbourhood Forum. Ourforum is a 200 strong group thatrepresents both residents andbusinesses in Fitzrovia. We areunited in order to create a neigh-bourhood plan for the area.

One crucial aspect of ourplan, triggered by strong publicsupport, is to improve the streetswhere we live and work. Thereis no public green space in ourarea, little sitting out space andhardly any pedestrian streets.We suffer from some of theworst pollution of any residen-tial area in Europe.

We are in the middle of writ-ing policies that will go publicthis autumn. So far public con-sultation has strongly prioritisedthe greening of streets, thereduction and calming of trafficand the improvement ofarrangements for pedestrians.

In particular we wish toenhance the Great TitchfieldStreet/Mortimer Street hub ofour area. This has become adynamic focus for local and spe-cialist shops, small businessesand provides the area’s vitality.But it is already stymied by thefact that Mortimer Street is a by-pass street for Oxford Street.

There are over 4000 peopleliving in very dense flats in thisarea. Our population is notdominated by West EndWealthy, but by ordinary people,

many of whom have lived in thearea for years, whose childrenattend the local schools and whowork in local businesses. Manypeople live in social housing, orhousing for the elderly. Theycannot choose to move out ofthe area if it becomes even moredevastated by traffic.

The announcement thatpedestrianisation in OxfordStreet shall go ahead leads us tofear the implications for ourarea, especially Mortimer Streetand Newman Street. While theCrossrail project has gone aheadwe have had several long termbus diversions through our area,along Mortimer and NewmanStreet. This has resulted in linesof jammed buses belching outexhaust.

If the pedestrianisation ofOxford Street results in a perma-nent diversion of taxis and busroutes along these streets itwould be devastating for thearea.

We support a reduction oftraffic in Oxford Street, and haveno objection to pedestrianisationper se. In fact, we too wish tolook at traffic calming schemesto support improvements toGreat Titchfield Street andMortimer Street, which is thesocial and economic hub of ourarea.

Unfortunately it is not justOxford Street that subjects thepopulation of Fitzrovia to lifethreatening pollution. Mortimer

Street and New CavendishStreet are highly polluted aswell. This pollution is exacer-bated in the centre of Londonbecause of the urban heat islandeffect, which can trap a bubbleof polluted air, stopping it dissi-pating, as it might do in greenerparts of the capital. I am surethat enlightened traffic engi-neers in the GLA have alreadyconsidered these limitations andare proposing alternatives. Forexample a bus hub at TottenhamCourt Road and a further hub atHyde Park Corner would bewell supported by our commu-nity.

We are especially concernedthat All Souls’ Primary School,our excellent local primaryschool, lies only yards from theMortimer Street/Newman Streetjunction. The prospect of divert-ing transport onto a minor roadand increasing pollution levelsso close to an area where chil-dren are taught, is not worthy ofthe new GLA administration.

The FitzWestNeighbourhood Forum is doingall it can to improve the environ-ment for our inner city residents,existing businesses and the hun-dreds of thousands of new visi-tors that will be attracted byCrossrail 1, Crossrail 2 and HS2which also arrives at ourdoorstep. We seek help from theGLA to achieve that result, nothindrance.

Please, can I have your

assurance that no scheme will beapproved which diverts publictransport and taxis through thestreets within our area?

Wendy Shillam, ChairmanFitzrovia West NeighbourhoodArea Forum Executive

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 — 3

Those researching into how the brain worksand affects behaviour, at Howland Street'snew centre, wish to give talks to the localcommunity.

Six leading scientists from all around theworld are working at the Sainsbury WellcomeCentre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at25 Howland Street. The full complement ofscientists is expected to reach 150 along with50 dedicated support staff.

"We are interested in giving talks in lay

The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre as seen from the corner ofHowland and Charlotte Streets (above), and the Colonnadefrom different directions (right top and bottom). Pictures byGrant Smith

terms on any topics people are interested inand the community wants to know about,"communications manager Alice Taylor-Geetold Fitzrovia News.

"Our research is into which part of thebrain affects which behaviour. Taxi drivers,for example, are stronger in that part of thebrain which works out how to get aroundfrom A to B.

"When people can no longer recogniseclose friends and relatives we need to find out

what happened to that part of the brain."If we understand how the brain ticks

it may help other researchers to under-stand about people with dementia, andthen maybe able to fix it."

The centre is also engaging the publicwith the world of neuroscience researchthrough art installations at street level.These highlight visual illusions and howthe brain processes signals.

There is also an area open to the publicwhere stunning neuroscience images areprojected.

And the colonnade running the lengthof the front of the building features 950white translucent polycarbonate pixelswhich look different when viewed fromone side or the other. From the east(Charlotte Street end) it shows the score ofBach's Musical Offering (1747): Ricercar a3 which is considered an extraordinaryexpression of the human mind and soreflects the creative capacity of the mind.

From the other end they show 11 sepa-rate winners of the Nobel Prize inPhysiology or Medicine affiliated withUniversity College London. The portraitsplay with illusion.

There is also an artist in residence for ayear. This is Wayne McGregor whoexplores through dance how the brainworks during different movements.

Inside is a white board the length ofthe building for researchers to draw on toshare their ideas with equations and such-like.

The whole building was designed byIan Ritchie Architects who visited labora-tories around the world, and designed itto encourage cross collaboration betweenscientists by allowing them to see whatothers are doing.

Brain boffins search for missing linkwith the local community

A popular street trader is resist-ing being forced out of business.Many know and have beenhelped by Bobby Long (pictured),aged 77, who has sold sweetsfrom his hut on the pavementoutside Goodge Street station for43 years.

Bobby said . “Both the man-ager of the station and the man-ager of the adjoining KFC shopare happy for me to continuetrading. I am always up to datewith the rent, I have given thou-sands of people help and direc-tions over the years.”

Yet in July he came backfrom holiday to find an enforce-ment order from CamdenCouncil pinned on his hut order-ing him to remove it within fourweeks.

At first he was told it wasbecause the hut was a few inch-es to big. So he planned to makethe adjustment and brand it asthe smallest sweetshop inLondon.

The Camden New Journal

reported Jonathan Simpson,Camden Council communitysafety chief, saying “The Councilcan no longer issue Mr Longwith a trading licence withoutthe permission of the freeholder.Since his licence lapsed in Marchwe are working on and advisingMr Long on the options avail-able to him.”

Bobby told Fitzrovia News "Ihave been told there is noappeal procedure which to me isa grave injustice.

"I have had lots of letters ofsupport. I don't make a fortunefrom the sweets, which are just£1 a bag, but my motivation ismixing with the community andhelping them.

"Last week I started loggingthe number of times I gavedirections to people who arelost. It was over 40 a day, manyfrom people coming out of thestation, others asking the way tothe British Museum and otherplaces.

"When the MiddlesexHospital was open in MortimerStreet I was always directingpatients to it, many of whomcame back to thank me aftertheir treatment and becamefriends. It was almost like per-forming a social service.

"I used to have a charity boxfor the local children's hospitalas well.

"I feel very much part of thecommunity and am devastatedat being treated in this way."

Local traders and the com-munity have supported the cam-paign to prevent the eviction,and hope a solution can befound so Bobby can continuetrading on the site even if with adifferent sized kiosk.

Bitter fight for sweet hut

Trianglesite plansput on holdThe controversial redevelop-ment of the triangular site atClipstone Street and ClevelandStreet has been put on holdwhile the owners and theirproperty developer partnershave a rethink on its future.

Last year Westminster coun-cil passed plans to completelydemolish and redevelop thecommercial site which was origi-nally built as part of the HolcroftCourt housing block in the mid-1960s.

Hoarding and scaffoldinghad surrounded the vacant sitesince the beginning of the yearand covered up the wall with aBanksy mural.

But work to demolish thebuilding never got very far andthe developers were alsomulling over a modified plan-ning application.

However, in August workersstarted to take down the hoard-ing.

Fitzrovia News understandsthat the approved plans todevelop the site will not begoing ahead and its future hasbeen put on hold.

As we went to press devel-opers Dukelease Properties hadnot made a public statement ontheir intentions.

Plans to redevelopTottenham Streetbuilding publishedCamden Council has publishedits own plans to redevelop thebuilding containing the FitzroviaNeighbourhood Centre on thecorner of Tottenham Street andGoodge Place.

The council which owns theGrade II listed building wants toconvert the basement into asmall flat, change the advicecentre on the ground floor intocommercial premises, and add amansard roof extension for morehousing.

If approved by Camden’sown planning department it willmean the FitzroviaNeighbourhood Association(FNA) will have to vacate thepremises. Currently the FNAwhich provides welfare andhousing advice, comments onplanning and licensing applica-tions and publishes FitzroviaNews, has no alternative accom-modation to deliver its services.

The FNA has operated fromthe building since 1975.

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facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews4 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

An asylum seeker twice arrestedby the Syrian government hasfound a save haven in Fitzrovia,

Martha Jean Baker, and herhusband Malcolm Katz, havegiven their spare room toAhmad (not his real name) whohas fled from Damascus afterhearing the government wantedto detain him again.

Martha helped set up agroup called Refugees at Home(www.refugeesathome.org)which connects refugees andasylum seekers with those witha spare room to accommodatethem.

In July she was told of theplight of Ahmad through thegroup, so contacted him andafter getting two references lethim have the room the next day.

This ended a year of uncer-tainty for Ahmad, who faced theprospect of long term incarcera-tion. He fled Syria by bus toLebanon, then to Turkey byplane. After getting nowherethere he left after three monthsthrough people traffickers in asmall unsafe rubber dinghy toGreece.

After buying a false Italianpassport he was able to get toGeneva, but the fraud wasuncovered so he went by train tothe Calais "jungle" camp.

He stayed there for two

months, then with another falsepassport got to Italy beforebeing arrested again, then goingto Paris for three months wherehe got an Austrian passport anda plane to Dublin.

From there he got a bus toBelfast, then another bus toLondon at the end of April.

He had only £40 andclaimed asylum but was offeredno accommodation. Luckily afriend he had met in Calais wasable to put him up for threemonths and eventually told himabout Refugees at Home.

"I found their website andemailed them," he said. "They

Ahmad relaxes with Martha Jean

Safe home found for refugee

replied within 30 minutes atmidnight. It was Martha. I wasso happy when she offered meaccommodation." She has sincehelped him register theiraddress with the Home Office,while the asylum granting-process goes on which couldtake about seven months.

"I am so happy to have foodand a bed and not have to sleepon the streets any more," saidAhmad.

He is a qualified dentist andis now studying English so thathe can take English dentistryexaminations to enable him topractise.

Planning appealsCamden Council will find out later this autumn if two decisions itmade to refuse permission for developments in Fitzrovia andBloomsbury will be overturned by government inspectors.

On 13 September a hearings will be held to decide whether thecouncil was right to refuse permission for UCLH Charity to redevel-op Arthur Stanley House a former hospital building in TottenhamStreet and create a mostly office development. Camden refused theapplication because it did not meet the objectives of the policy setout in the Fitzrovia Area Action Plan, part of the borough’s planningstrategy. The Charlotte Street Association and the FitzroviaNeighbourhood Association had argued that the site should be usedfor housing and will be speaking in support of the council at thehearing.

Then on 4 October a planning inspector will hear arguments forand against plans for the redevelopment of an underground car parkin Great Russell Street to create a windowless hotel. The bunkerhotel was strongly opposed by local residents and the BloomsburyAssociation will be speaking in support of Camden Council forrefusing the application.

Developers Criterion Capital are also considering submitting anew modified planning application for an underground hotel, amove seen by local residents as waging a war of attrition on twofronts.

New plans for former Strand Union workhouseA public exhibition will be held in September to show off new plansfor the redevelopment of the Middlesex Hospital Annex building at44 Cleveland Street.

The site which includes a Grade II listed Georgian and Victorianworkhouse is in the process of being sold by UCLH NHS Trust to itssister company UCLH Charity which is putting together a planningapplication to be submitted to Camden later this month.

The plans will include social rented and intermediate affordablehousing as well as homes for sale at market prices. Commercialpremises are also planned for the site as well as some public openspace.

Public exhibition: 2pm to 8pm Wednesday 7 September, atFitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1W 6DL.

Students search for genetically modified prizeA team of international studentsat the University of Westminsterhopes to take first prize in a syn-thetic biology competition to beheld this autumn in Boston inthe United States.

The team of thirteen studentsfrom Britain, Africa, Asia,Europe, and Latin America willcompete in the InternationalGenetically Engineered Machine(iGEM) Competition in October.

Based at the New CavendishStreet campus they told FitzroviaNews about the project:

“We are currently workingtowards genetically modifyingE.coli bacteria to synthesiseamino-levulinic acid (ALA),”says Abubaker Mohamed a stu-dent from Somalia.

“ALA had been specificallychosen as it has a diverse rangeof applications such as bioherbi-cides, biofuels and cancer treat-ment,” he said.

The team believe they cancreate a process to produce ALA— a non-protein amino acid —that is cheaper and produces ahigher yield than current meth-ods.

Dr Anatoliy Markiv, seniorlecturer in biomedical sciences atUoW, told Fitzrovia News that theBoston event is a great opportu-nity for the students to tacklereal world problems in a globalenvironment.

“The iGEM competition isabout sharing ideas, working asa team and having fun in unique

competition settings. Studentswho participate usually getengaged in real science projectsand go on to become scientistsin the future. Westminster havebeen involved in the iGEM since2011. Our team last year haswon a gold medal for the renew-able energy project and we areaiming to go for gold this yearas well.”

The students are excitedabout the competition and theteam leaders explained how theexperience can improve theircareers.

Amritpal Singh from Indiaand a graduate in BScBiochemistry, said:

“iGEM is one of the bestexperiences you could possiblyhave. You’re given the chance toindependently lead, researchand carry out a project that fasci-nates you. The giant jamboreewhich is held in Boston allowsus to present our research tothousands of academics, stu-dents and biotechnology compa-nies. Science is a highly collabo-rative field and making connec-tions with people you may workwith in the future, from academ-ics to our fellow peers is anamazing opportunity and some-thing that would not be possiblewithout the iGEM experience.”

Paulina Brajer from Polandand a graduate in BSc BiologicalSciences said:

“The iGEM competition is astudent led project where the

team is responsible for sponsor-ship to fund the project and out-reach to teach the wider commu-nity about synthetic biology.These aspects give students anexperience that gives an insightinto the real world of scienceand lets students acquire a vari-ety of skills. This is my secondyear participating in the compe-tition and the experience hasbeen rewarding and helped me

in many aspects as a student aswell as being offered an MSc.”

Camila Gaspar, a Brazilianand Spanish national and agraduate in BSc Biochemistry,says: “It has been an amazingexperience with endless learningcurves, and it’s preparing me forthe academic life as I know I willbe using those skills duringMRes and further to PhD.”

The students are supported

with funding from University ofWestminster and the QuintinHogg Trust to meet many of thecosts of the project, but they arealso crowdfunding to cover theremaining expenses. You can sponsor the students byvisiting gofundme.com/westminsterigem.Follow them on facebook.com/westminsterigem2016and twitter.com/westminsterigem.

University of Westminster iGEM team. Front Row: Tracey Tran, 19, Vietnamese/ British; Kamile Minkelyte, 20,Lithuanian; Hanna Sowar, 20, British; Sally Al-jurdi, 21, Lebanon/ British; Camila Gaspar, 22, Brazilian/ Spanish;Maria Puiu, 23, Romanian; Evelyne Abrazado, 23, Romanian. Back Row: Reza Sarwary, 21, Iranian; AbdikarimAhmed, 21, Somailan; Amritpal Singh, 21, Indian/ British; Paulina Brajer, 22, Poland; Reema Ali, 21, Bangladesh;Abubaker Mohamed, 20, Somalian. Photo: Ludovica Siniscalchi.

News in brief

Opening and closing ClosedFat Lorenzo’s Italian restaurant 5 Clipstone StreetMoba Asian café 53 Goodge StreetTsunami 93 Charlotte StreetStef’s Italian restaurant 3 Berners StreetNyunya Oriental cuisine 11 Warren StreetFlyer Alarm printers 11 Howland StreetCafé Rouge 264-266 Tottenham Court RoadCafé Rive Gauche 20-21 Warren Street

Opened

Honey & Spice delicatessen 52 Warren Street

Ahi Poke Hawaiian fish eatery café3 Percy StreetBoa Taiwanese cuisine 31 Windmill StreetFoley’s modern British cuisine 23 Foley StreetCoppa Club European cuisine9-10 Market Place

Honest Burgers 117 Tottenham Court RoadSamarkand Uzbeki restaurant33 Charlotte StreetYoobi sushi Market Place Great Castle Street

Peyton and Byrne bakery café 226 Great Portland StreetCalcutta Street Bengali cuisine29 Tottenham Street

Clipstone modern British cuisine5 Clipstone Street

MiHomes property agents 20A Gosfield StreetSimit Sarayi Turkish bakery 68 Oxford StreetBensons Beds209-210 Tottenham Court RoadFabled beauty products21 Tottenham Court RoadStrazzanti Sicillian deli 51A Cleveland StreetThe Eye Place opticians 5 Charlotte PlaceThe Great Thai restaurant 14 Riding House Street

Opening soonHoney & Smoke Middle Eastern grill 216 Great Portland StreetFive guys burgers 264-266 Tottenham Court RoadPatty and bun burgers 55 Goodge StreetAdam Simmonds opticians33 Great Portland Street

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 — 5

By CLIFFORD SLAPPERA cultural and culinary ambas-sador from the Indian subconti-nent has set up shop onTottenham Street. Her name isShrimoyee Chakraborty (pic-tured right) and her restaurant,Calcutta Street, is hosting livemusic and film screenings.

Shrimoyee (Shrim to herfriends) grew up in Calcutta,then went to study at Mumbai’sSophia College, followed by amove to the UK for a master’sdegree at Manchester’s BusinessSchool, before settling inLondon a couple of years ago.

In India she was a televisionpresenter, an economicsanalyser, and creator of a highlypopular food blog calledShrimoyee's Scrapbook.

She has already creatednumerous successful restaurantpop-ups throughout London,but this is her first permanentrestaurant. She aims to showpeople the delights and diversi-ty of true Indian cuisine beyondthe standard formula ofLondon's Indian restaurants.Her menu features street foodfrom Golpark, alongside heartystews and substantial dishesfrom her family’s home onGariahat Road.

Shrim is on a cultural mis-sion too, to educate Londonerson the art, literature, music andcinema of India. To this end, she

already has a music curator onboard, and there are plans for amural of David Bowie (1947-2016) alongside the Bengalipoet, painter and composer,Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).

The books on which each billis carried to the table are beauti-ful and colourful imprintsbrought from Bengal.

There will be film screeningsand bottomless brunches onSundays at Calcutta Street. Thewaiters and manager’s job titlesare the Indian terms for “littlebrother/sister” and “olderbrother”, respectively. Stafftraining has included being sentto watch great Indian films suchas those of Satyajit Ray.

Shrim has decorated therestaurant totally with Bengaliartworks by Jamini Roy andwith beautiful pieces broughtpersonally by her from herhome town of Calcutta, with a“chandelier” made by her fromhand-fans.

Oh Calcutta! Films and music on menu

She is keen to support theBengali workers who make suchthings for little pay, whose jobsare under threat. There is ahand-carved mahogany stool

which is over 200 years old,carved mirror frames and even,in the window, a wooden owl,which in Bengal is a symbol forgood luck.

Workers at takeaway deliveryfirm Deliveroo in dispute overpay held several days ofprotests in August outside itsoffices in Torrington Place.

Property developerDerwent London thinks itsrental income will be clippedas a result of the vote to leavethe European Union.

Media company Scrub,which specialises in supplyingpro-audio technology to post-production houses, has movedfrom Berwick Street in Soho tolarger premises on the cornerof Wells Street and MargaretStreet.

Central London Action onSexual Health (CLASH) hasmoved from Warwick Street inSoho to new premises inMortimer Street, Fitzrovia.

A ticket tout who claimedto be operating out of officesin Eastcastle Street has beenjailed after he took out numer-ous memberships at footballclubs using various aliasesand bulk buying tickets foreach fixture. One of his vic-tims paid £600 for four ticketsto see Watford v Aston Villa inApril 2016; tickets originallycosting £40 each.

Westminster Council hasgiven a premises licence toThe Middlesex HospitalChapel (aka Fitzrovia Chapel)to allow alcohol to be sold,and for the performance ofplays, films, live music, anddance. The council has alsogranted a licence for thechapel to be used for civilmarriages and civil partner-ships.

Punters who are missing adrink in Fitzrovia’s mostfamous watering hole willlikely be in for a pleasant sur-prise when the Fitzroy Tavernis expected to re-open after anextensive makeover by SamuelSmiths is completed thisautumn. Expect a return tosnugs, etched glass, biglanterns, mahogany finishings,and an extra floor for suppingale.

Camden Cyclists meet atPrimrose Hill CommunityAssociation, 29 HopkinsonsPlace, NW1 8TN from 7.30 to9.30pm on Monday 26September to discuss improve-ments for cycling.

Keep up to date with the latest

Fitzrovia Newsfacebook.com/FitzroviaNews

twitter.com/FitzroviaNews andnews.fitzrovia.org.UK

Cafe celebrates20 years onCharlotte StreetOn 22 September Italia Uno willcelebrate 20 years since it firstserved customers at 91 CharlotteStreet.

The Italian cafe run by FeliceBracco and his family is famousfor serving up freshly madesandwiches and for being ahome from home for Napolifootball fans.

Expect lots of Italian fun andof course football colours on dis-play all week.

6 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews

Charlotte Street

Word from the Streets

By CHARLOTTE STREET and her family

The original Dada artists of 1916will be turning in their graves.They were anti-war, anti-bour-geois, and indeed anti-art. Sowhat would they make of furni-ture branded in their name atUniform at Whitington Houseon the corner of Chenies Streetand Alfred Place. But the realkiller would be the dastardlyuse of a professional commercialartist to design a pictorial sign(above) on the ledge outside itspremises to proclaim: "This isnot a seating/rest area." I amglad to see this is largelyignored by tired folk queueingfor the Rada Studios next door.

Just round the corner is anequally pompous anti-socialsign. "Bikes chained to theserailings can cause obstructionand are a danger to pedestrians.Any bikes chained to these rail-ings will be removed. We acceptno liability for damage to thebicycle." This is in BloomsburyTerrace, Huntley Street. Canany pedestrians give us anexample of how they have beenendangered by a stationery bicy-cle securely chained to a railing?

Have a bashHow would you like to "whack abanker" and so wreak your revengeon the fat cats? If so go toSouthwold pier on the Suffolkcoast. It is one of the eccentricmachines designed by local artistTim Hunkin.

Older readers will spot the sim-ilarity with "bash the rat" whichTim ran in the Fitzrovia festivals ofthe 1970s when he lived at 28Charlotte Street. He also used tosaw people in half.

He has since become a televi-sion presenter popularising scien-tific themes. His other attractionson Southwold pier include "mynuke" which allows you to loadplutonium rods into your very ownnuclear reactor, "pet or meat"where you decide the fate of aninnocent lamb (which appealed toour cartoonist, Jayne Davis, seeabove), and a water clock whichchimes the half hour in "an amus-ingly rude manner." This is all inthe updated Bus Ride Britain book.

Dodgy second hand car dealerArthur Daley finally came intocontact with those of his profes-sion in Warren Street in anepisode of Minder on ITV4recently. His "dogsbodyguard"Terry McCann, played byDennis Waterman, was shownoutside Warren Street tube sta-tion (above) and then having apunch up with a car dealer,whose premises were on thecorner of Fitzroy Street, playedby Brian Cox before he wasfamous. The episode, entitled"In", was first broadcast in 1982(available on DVD, Series 3,Episode 13).

Minder on manor

Two broken guitar strings by Matt Carrol failed to stop his band, LitFM,going down a storm at the Phoenix pub in Cavendish Square. Watch outfor them in future. Matt and other members of the band work for theBricklayers Arms in Gresse Street where they also rehearse.

My sister Margaret was delighted to see and photograph this cat roamingin Tottenham Street, the first she had seen for years. In the 1970s there wereso many that they had their own column in Tower (predecessor of FitzroviaNews). So it was with shock she later saw a notice in Ogle Street announc-ing that a male sergeti cat with bengal skin, called Bobo, looking very simi-lar, had been missing since July 30. Anyone who sees him should telephone07814 871410.

DonovanDonovan celebrated his 70thbirthday recently with a show atthe London Palladium where hesang "Sunny Goodge Street." Hewrote and recorded this in 1965when he used to hang out inpubs such as the One Tun inGoodge Street itself, and theDuke of York round the cornerin Rathbone Street.

You can get an idea of thestate of his mind in those daysfrom the lyrics:On the firefly platform on sunnyGoodge StreetViolent hash-smoker shook a choco-late machineInvolved in an eating sceneSmashing into neon streets in theirstonednessSmearing their eyes on the crazycult goddessListenin' to sounds of Mingus mel-low fantastic.

A photograph in our last issue enquired if any children recognisedthemselves as Mick Jagger was interviewed by police outside 96Great Titchfield Street in August, 1966. The picture was rather tosmall for them to do that, so here is part of it enlarged. Does it jogany memories? If so get in touch. Our contact details are on page 2.

I do hope my derogatoryremarks about the new sign ofthe George at 55 Great PortlandStreet in the last issue was notbehind its subsequent closure.This is most regrettable as ithas a rich history dating backto at least 1809.

My friend Joe Matteyrecalled that one of the pub'scustomers was the Irish play-wright Brendan Behan. Whentold he had died the landlordreacted by saying: "He' stillbarred!"

Barred by George

Notice in upstairs bar of TheChampion in Wells Street:"Unattended children will begiven Espresso and a free kit-ten."

Pub humour

Retired professional dartsplayer Cliff Lazarenko hasappeared several times onrepeats of Bullseye on theChallenge television channelrecently. My brother Mortimerrecalls seeing him perform anexhibition match many moonsago in the Stag's Head at 102New Cavendish Street. Thenumber of points he scored onthe board was only exceededby the number of pints that hesank.

Darts legend

The photograph accompanying thearticle in our last issue about the1952 mail van robbery inEastcastle Street has solved amystery for me. I had often won-dered exactly where it took place. Asthe photograph showed the banditcar pulled out of Berners Place.

Mail robbery

Did you see Jagger in 1966?

Skiffle starSad to hear of the death of KarlDallas, the marxist christianmusical journalist and skifflegroup player, who lived formany years at 28 GordonMansions in Huntley Street.Born in 1931 he collected milkat the age of seven for the elect-ed Spanish republicans in theirfight against the military fas-cists. Later he joined the YoungCommunist League, and thenbecame a christian at All Souls,Langham Place, attracted by theliberation theology, withoutrenouncing his communism.

Celebrity watchCelebrity watch. Australian televi-sion chef, John Torode, sipping acoffee at Nero in Charlotte Street.Also seen wandering down LittlePortland Street was WillGompertz (yes that is his name),the BBC TV arts correspondent. Heused to be the boss of the TateGallery, but even he would agree heis no oil painting (but then againneither am I).

Lottery winnerA lottery millionaire is walkingour streets. A winning ticketwas sold at Castle News, at 35Eastcastle Street, as proudlyproclaimed by a certificate dis-played behind the counter.

Divorce partyWant to celebrate your divorcewith a party? If so the Vasisrestaurant at 56 Maple Streetadvertise their ability to caterfor this. Presumably the bride’sfamily on one side and thegroom’s on the other.

Dada Dastard

A free haircut and a pint of beerhas finally overcome my brotherPercy's aversion to attending bar-ber shops. The special offer wasfrom The King's Canary at 81Great Titchfield Street to markthe opening of the all night tubeservice on August 19.

The offer was from midnightuntil 5 o'clock in the morning,normally well past Percy's bed-time. There was a lot to shear awayas he had let his hair grow longever since his favourite barber, alsoin Great Titchfield Street, died 15years ago. The same barber, inci-dentally, that newscaster TrevorMcDonald used when ITN was inWells Street

Cartoon by Jayne Davis

Hair raising

The Incredible Broken String Band

Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016— 7facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews

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Radio character who produced Hendrix and ThatcherBy JOHN AXON

Many older readers will see the name BillBobb and allow themselves a nostalgicsmile, particularly former devotees ofTurkish restaurant Efe's in GreatTitchfield Street and the sadly dwindlingnumber of erstwhile regulars of GoodgeStreet's Northumberland Arms, now trad-ing as The Draft House. Bill Bebb, BBCmusic and later current affairs producerpassed away in April. Bill was a musician(guitarist who morphed into a banjo play-er during the great Trad scare of the latefifties) turned live music producer whoseunbeatable CV boasts such names as JimiHendrix, The Who, Cream, Status Quo,The Bee Gees...and Margaret Thatcher.More of her later.

The always debonair Bill was rightlyconsidered a legend in his own lunchtimeand quite often far beyond, a raconteurpar excellence who to the delight of loyalfriends and saloon bar acquaintances alike

was blessed with total recall of his 25years at the BBC. Bill knew everyone andwas happy to share his experiences andhis sheer joy in making a living from whatstarted as a hobby and became a lifetime'swork.

Typical of his stories was his, er, expe-rience with Jimi Hendrix. As a favour forold mate Chas Chandler, formerly of TheAnimals but then starting in Rock andRoll management, Bill agreed to book arecording session in Broadcasting Housethat would announce the arrival of theguitar superstar. As producer of the phe-nomenally successful Saturday Clubwhich pulled in a weekly audience ofnine million, Bill was required to record anumber of live sessions, as what wasknown as Needle Time (the playing ofcommercial record releases, which wassubject to restriction in an agreementbetween the BBC and the BritishPhonographic Institute).

Bill took a chance on the raw Seattlebased musician, unsigned to any labeland, incredibly, unrecorded at that time.The session duly took place but wasrecorded at such a fierce volume that itinterrupted a live recital from a stringquartet, so the first time Jimi Hendrix wasever heard in this country was in dishar-mony with Brahms on the old ThirdProgramme. Bill was delighted with thesession and he, Chandler and Hendrixcelebrated in a Margaret Street hostelrywhere they too invoked Brahms, andindeed Liszt.

After the 1967 formation of Radios 1to 4 Bill pitched his tent in Radio 2 land,continuing with live sessions but laterbecame senior producer on the JimmyYoung show, whose mixing of lightmusic, recipes and requests came toinclude politics. Hence the interviewswith Prime Minister Thatcher whichbecame media sensations as the seeming-

ly informal chats often had greater sub-stance than one might have expected. Billmanaged to be on the end of a handbag-ging when he offered the PM Perrierwater, live on air. "Have you no BRITISHsparkling water, Bill?" The banjo playerwas banjaxed.

Local firm goes globalCardboard, the local firm thatmakes promotional material forfilms, is going global.

Based in Percy Street it isnow expanding into theAustralian and American mar-kets. This is in addition to work-ing for those in Germany andother places.

"This is our fifth year inFitzrovia, and we are doing verywell with local studios," saidJason Casey. "Now we areexpanding into other countries.

"In Australia they have beenlooking for people who are lessformulaic and more creative,which is what we are. We havehad four jobs there in threemonths and have just got a fifthone.

"And we are on the verge ofa new deal in Los Angeles.

"So it is potentially a realgrowth area for us and isalready making a name for us inall parts of the world."

‘Au revoir’ toWarren StreetStaff (pictured right) at a cafe inWarren Street said farewell totheir customers for the last timein June. Slava, who took overthe Cafe Rive Gauche 31 yearsago, spoke with fondness abouther time in the neighbourhood.“It’s been a fantastic time in alovely area with lovely cus-tomers,” said Slava.

The owner of the buildinghas plans to redevelop.

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews8 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

Anna-Maria Thetford has managed the Darren BakerGallery 81 Charlotte Street since July 2015.

“I love working in Fitzrovia,” she said. “Out ofall the districts I’ve worked in Fitzrovia is myfavourite because it still has a community, there arestill independent businesses around and you cantravel the world by eating the many cuisines availablehere. I especially like some of the old pubs that retaintheir old world charm and atmosphere.”

Anna-Maria has worked in the art world for 19years. “The painting that first seduced me into artwas the portrait of Matisse by Derain at the TateGallery,” she explained.

“Backpacking around Europe for gap year beforestudies I visited all the major galleries in Europeancities when I came back I studied History of Art atuniversity for three years.

“Throughout my interesting career I’ve worked inmany galleries including the Harrods gallery whereMichael Jackson visited and nearly bought a large ele-phant. I also bumped into David and VictoriaBeckham literally

“Darren Baker Gallery is a contemporary artgallery, which welcomes both established and upcom-ing artists working in different fields. We welcomevisitors and browsers please feel free to pop in andsay hello.

“The gallery aims to break down the barrierbetween artist and viewer / collector by being acces-sible and unpretentious.

“This summer we held our summer bazaar whichfeatured celebratory summer cocktails, live artistdemonstrations, and special offers and discounts.We’re having an end of summer event on Thursday 8September from 6 to 8pm, which will feature a fewsurprises including a live artist demonstration fromMillena DeMille.”

Historic pubs are closing in the area at analarming rate.

Perhaps the most famous is The Georgeat 55 Great Portland Street, which datesback to at least 1809, and has been a regu-lar haunt for BBC folk for generations.

It has been sold by Greene King andbeen boarded up for a few weeks now andthe rumour is that it is going to be turnedinto a restaurant.

Another Greene King pub to be sold isthe George & Dragon at 151 Cleveland

All boarded up: The George on the corner of Great Portland Street and Mortimer Street.

Sign outside the Newman Arms inRathbone Street.

Street. It dates back to at least 1826and continued to be run as a pubfor a couple of months after the sale.But it now looks very closed todrinkers and the rumour is flats areplanned in its place.

The Newman Arms at 23Rathbone Street has a sign statingthat is closed for August for refur-bishment. This pub claims to havebeen there since 1730, which was alittle while before the street wasbuilt.

Changing times for historic pubs

Flattering fitz from the 40sI called in to the Revival Retro Boutique onWindmill Street to meet the business owner. While Iwas waiting to chat with Rowena, I was able to seeher in action dealing with a customer. I was pleas-antly surprised to see how she engaged with hercustomer in a genuine and friendly way. Sheadvised, suggested and helped the shopper choosejust the right item of clothing. Using her eye fordetail and knowledge of her range of stock she wasable to give her buyer just the right hints and ideasso the customer left with an item she was reallydelighted with.

Rowena Howie started her working life as atravel agent advising customers on Trans SiberianRailway journeys but her hobby, swing dancing,turned her life and career around.

Rowena found it difficult to source good qualityand stylish retro shoes and clothes. She was particu-larly frustrated when buying over the internet andwas frequently disappointed with the quality andsurprised at the poor fit of the garments in reality.

Rowena realised there was a gap in the market and startedher business from home in 2009. Her business began with aninitial credit card purchase of a small amount of stock that shesold to her dance friends. When she discovered her stylish retroclothes and shoes had a wider appeal than just that communitythe business began to grow. Two years later Rowena openedher first shop in Kingly Court off Carnaby Street then moved toher present shop in Fitzrovia in 2014.

“We sell new items sourced from around the world. Thething they have in common is they are inspired by the era ofmusic that I love to dance to, the 1920s to the 1950s. The styleharks back to the stylishness of a previous era, think of oldHollywood, glamorous parties and film premieres with screenlegends such as Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, KatherineHepburn. The clothes I sell are flattering and feminine, classicand elegant styles from a bygone era,” she says.

Many people who pass the shop think Revival Retro is an“as new” shop selling pre owned designer wear , but the itemsare neither true vintage nor authentic reproductions. All theclothes are new, available in a range of sizes and made formodern women’s bodies. The boutique offers designs that arenot widely available in the UK. Many are imported from USA.Rowena and her staff provide a really personal service. Shebelieves in reviving feminine tailoring, flattering cuts and wellplaced details, building a look from there.

“You don’t need a penchant for vintage to love our shop.Our selection of flattering dresses has a wide appeal irrespec-tive of having ‘vintage inspiration’ or being a ‘1940s design’.What matters in our store is being able to select from a range ofstyles and sophisticated looks. Our ability to cater for differentshapes and the fact that we stock an inclusive range of sizes isimpressive. Our dresses look amazing on curvy women.

“Revival Retro is first and foremost a bricks and mortarstore. An independent shop with passionate and committedstaff. We love what we do and the personal touch is veryimportant to us.

“In 2015 we won a Time Out Magazine Love London awardfor best shop. The nominations for 2016 have just opened andwe encourage everyone to come down to Windmill Street to tryus out and if you enjoy yourself please nominate/vote for us towin this year.”

Revival Retro has been selected as one of 100 small busi-nesses from across the UK to be celebrated by Small BusinessSaturday, a nationwide grassroots campaign to encourage con-sumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in theircommunities.

The Revival Retro Boutique, 30 Windmill Street, Fitzrovia,W1T 2JL. revival-retro.com

By Pete Whyatt

“I nearly sold an elephantto Michael Jackson”

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 — 9

When Henry Kissinger got an earful

By Jennifer Kavanagh

Did you know that Doris Lessing lived inHolbein Mansion, Langham Street from1958 - 62? She rented a flat from her pub-lisher, Howard Samuels, for £5 a week.

Doris Lessing (1919 – 2013) was oneof the foremost post-war British novelists,the author of some fifty novels, plays andvolumes of poetry and autobiography.She was the recipient of numerous literaryawards, culminating with the Nobel Prizefor Literature in 2007. She was also anactive campaigner against nuclear arms,and an opponent of apartheid which in

1956 led to her being banned from SouthAfrica and Rhodesia (where she had beenbrought up). She belonged for manyyears to the British Communist party,until the Soviet invasion of Hungary ledher to resign her membership.

In the second volume of her autobi-ography, Walking in the Shade (HarperCollins), she describes her LanghamStreet flat:

"The flat was tiny, six small rooms,and the building was hideous, with agrey bare cement staircase. On the fourthfloor you opened the door to a narrowcorridor, which bisected the flat. Oppositethe door was a minute kitchen, then thebathroom, with its hissing and clatteringgas geyser, and two other little rooms onthat side. On the street side was my tinybedroom, and a larger room, the livingroom. There was no way that flat couldbe made more than tolerable."

It was in this flat that she receivedHenry Kissinger, who was later tobecome National Security Advisor andSecretary of State for the Nixon and Fordgovernments. He wanted to meet mem-bers of the Campaign for NuclearDisarmament (CND) while he was inLondon, and in those years Lessing’s flatwas something of a headquarters for theinternationalist New Left. Their conversa-tion didn't get very far. When he beganpraising a new nuclear weapon preciseenough to kill only a targeted 100,000people and called it a “kitten bomb”,Lessing was shocked and said that "any-one who could use the word ‘kitten’ to

describe such a weapon of war showed alack of moral feeling and sensitivity andthat just about summed up everythingwhich was wrong with American foreignpolicy.”

It was also while she lived inLangham Street that she wrote TheGolden Notebook, widely regarded asher masterpiece. In both her life and hermagnificently rich and diverse work thepersonal and political were entwined. Afeminist and social activist, she wasattracted by Sufism and also wrote mostmovingly about mental breakdown. For awhole generation she described and

interpreted a time of shifting certainties.Doris Lessing was one of the most

important writers of the post-war period.So why is there no blue plaque onHolbein Mansions to record her stay?

Jennifer Kavanagh used to run a literaryagency from an office in Langham Street, andnow lives there. She is a Quaker, the creator ofthe board game, *Journey Home*, and theauthor of a number of books including onenovel, The Emancipation of B. Follow her on Twitter @jenniferkwriterwww.jenniferkavanagh.co.uk

Recycling clothes,shoes and textilesin Fitzrovia

There are two recycling bins in Fitzrovia that accept clothes shoes and textilesfor recycling, both are situated on the northern end of Cleveland Street. One isat the junction of Carburton Street at the northern tip of the triangle site. Thesecond is outside Howard House.

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The spy who had a smashingtime in more ways than one

The reckless and eccentricbehaviour of the Soviet spyGuy Burgess (1911-63) in

Fitzrovia and the surroundingarea is described in two newbiographies of him.

They are Stalin'sEnglishman, The Lives of GuyBurgess, by Andrew Lownie(Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99)and Guy Burgess, The Spy WhoKnew Everyone, by StewartPurvis and Jeff Hulbert(Biteback, £25).

Burgess, along with fellowspies Kim Philby and DonaldMaclean, was recruited in 1934by Soviet agent Arnold Deutsch,who was researching psycholo-gy at University College,London in Gower Street.

And the Russians instructedBurgess to join the university'sSchool of Slavonic Studies tobefriend fellow pupils whomight be MI6 officers.

Burgess got a job with theBBC at Broadcasting House inthe Talks Department in 1936,with a reference from his oldCambridge professor of historyG M Trevelyn, who said Burgesshad "passed through the com-munist measles that so many ofour clever young men gothrough, and is well out of it."

At first Burgess lived behindBroadcasting House at 4Duchess Street (on the north eastcorner with Portland Place),then nearby at 5 Bentinck Streetin Marylebone.

His job was to suggest andbook people to give radio talks.Among those he earmarkedincluded some communists,such as fellow spy AnthonyBlunt, and Francis Klingender,who ran the Artists InternationalAssociation centre at 84Charlotte Street. But also, at thesuggestion of the Russians, heinvited members of the Britishsecret service such as authorDavid Footman. They dined inthe Langham Hotel at 1 PortlandPlace in 1937 after Deutsch sug-gested they strike up a relation-ship (to ease Burgess later get-ting into MI5). But Deutsch didnot yet fully trust Burgess so gotanother of his agents, KittyHarris, to evesdrop on their con-versation. Footman duly gave atalk on Albania, A Fish and aMotorcar, which was broadcast acouple of months later.

Burgess liked to hold courtin Yarner's Coffee House at 1-2Langham Place, on the northeast corner of Mortimer Street. ABBC colleague, John Green,recalled: "We used to have themost exhilerating conversationsabout the pace of the world...

and sometime we were so latecoming back to our offices thatwe were ticked off." He alsoobserved: "Guy drew brilliantcartoons, which he showed usbefore passing them under thetable at the Talks meetings in theafternoon. Sir RichardMaconachie [head of depart-ment] would usually see andask for the paper to be passedup, and after a good naturedreproach, proceed with themeeting."

Green's overwhelming mem-ory of Burgess was of "a dirtyand dishevelled figure, an eccen-tric looking dirty don with filthyhabits who left chocolate lyingaround, which attracted rats."

During the evenings Burgesswould visit seedy nightclubs,such as the Moonglow Club inPercy Street, where he picked upblack American soldiers. He alsofrequented the White Tower at 1Percy Street where he could bedrunk and truculent. TheGargoyle Club at 69 Dean Streetwas another haunt, and he was amember of The Thursday Clubwhich met in Frascati's restau-rant at 19-45 Hanway Street.

Drunken behaviour was toearn him a severe reprimand inMay 1941. His office was atroom 316 in the Langham Hotel,opposite Broadcasting House.When he tried to enter it in theevening he found it locked, as

By MIKE PENTELOW

his secretary had mistakenlytaken home the key. A patrolofficer was called and said hewould endeavour to get a mas-ter key. Burgess told him to geton with it in an aggressive man-ner that raised the hackles of theofficer. "You cannot talk to melike that, I am not a dog!" hesaid before marching off.

When he returned Burgesshad smashed the door downwith a fire extinguisher, swamp-ing the carpet with liquid in theprocess.

He left the BBC to join theForeign Office news departmentin Senate House, Malet Street, in1944.

His BBC desk was takenover by William Hermondhalghwho found in it a bottle of ginand a book on flagellation. Heremembered him as grubby,slovenly and constantly chewinggarlic, while dressed in his OldEtonian tie, and wearing make-up if he'd had a particularly badnight.

Cartoonist Osbert Lancaster,who also worked with him,described him as "very intelli-gent until six in the evening.When he was in his cups, hemade no bones about workingfor the Russians."

Lord Arran observed himstopping a cab outside

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews10 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

Buckingham Palace "to symboli-cally urinate against a statue."And he would "enliven boringnews briefings by handingaround half naked pictures ofhis latest male conquest."

After a drunken brawl in anight club in 1949 Burgess waspushed down two flights ofstone stairs by his crony FredWarner. Burgess broke his elbow,cracked his skull, and dislocatedthree ribs. Instead of calling anambulance they took a taxi toFlat 3, 10 New Bond Street,where Burgess lived. Hegroaned all night and it wasonly in the morning theythought of phoning a doctorwho got him taken to MiddlesexHospital in Mortimer Street,where he spent ten days. He alsobefriended a doctor at this hos-pital.

In 1950 he was moved to theBritish Embassy in Washington,USA. At his farewell partybefore leaving he was advisedby one of the guests: "Don't betoo aggressively left wing, don'tget involved in race relations,and above all make sure therearen't any homosexual incidentswhich might cause trouble."

He famously replied with amischievous grin: "What youmean is I mustn't make a pass atPaul Robeson."

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.

Adam Harrison, Sabrina Francis, and Rishi Madlani

Contact 020 7974 3111 or adam.harrison@camden.gov.uk

sabrina.francis@camden.gov.uk rishi.madlani@camden.gov.uk

A short story bySUNITA SOLIAR

The Abbey of Thelema iscold. It stinks of cat piss.She wishes Raoul could see

it for what it is: a decrepit house,blistered and cracked, with nowindows and overgrown weedsat its entrance. But Raoul waits atthe altar, keenness jutting fromhis bony face, his deep-socketedeyes fixed on the cat thatCrowley holds out to him.

‘Please, Raoul,’ she says. ‘Let’sgo.’ There are the occult booksand Raoul muttering about BlackMass, his breath pungent withabsinthe, but she draws the line atdrinking cat’s blood. ‘It’s daft.That cat’s not possessed by any-thing. It wants a good meal and awash, that’s all.’

Crowley’s mouth tightens. Histoadstool-shaped hat is oncrooked, exposing his hairlesshead. She knows he is threatenedby the look in her dark, marmoseteyes. She is the only fast thing in aslow world, and she is tied fast toher husband.

‘Do not listen to the womanwhose mind is impaired,’Crowley says, the cat’s clawsscrapping against the bulge ofbelly under his cloak. ‘She is thesymbol of your weakness.’

‘I don’t have brain damage,’she says. ‘He made that up.Raoul, you know he made thatup.’ She tugs his arm. ‘Come on.’

Crowley keeps his eyes onRaoul. ‘You have great potential,’he says, keeping his voice lowand hypnotic. ‘Liberate this catfrom evil.’

Betty pulls harder on his arm.It is wiry and firm. ‘He thinks he’smagic itself. Can’t you see it’slies?’ His eyebrows, which alwaysseem to meet in the middle inphotographs, like a bird drawnwith two pen strokes, give himthe appearance of single focusthat does not include her.

She says, ‘Let’s go home. Let’sgo back to England. We’ll have apint at The Fitzroy. We’ll go danc-ing.’

Crowley sneers. She has seenhim look at her like that before.She was doing her Tiger Womantrick, crawling on all fours withglasses of whisky on her back,while Raoul and the others

The Great Beast

watched. She heard Crowley pourfilth into his ear. He called herbestial, smutty. Funny he didn’tmind the smut when it was hap-pening on the floor of The Abbey.He raises the cat, and Raoul’s eyesfollow his movements. Thesleeves of Crowley’s cloak fan outas he lifts the cat high above hishead. Betty’s own cloak is bright,with blocks of yellow and green.She helped Roger Fry design itand she wishes for the safety ofthe Omega Workshop, its floorcovered in bright, stray threads,the warm smell of wood, the big,abstract patterns. A world ofcolour that takes her even furtherback to Limehouse and the gaudyshawls and ostrich feathers ofworking girls, all the swagger andshow that is so much better thanthis dankness and blood. Shesnaps her fingers in front of hisface. ‘Look at it,’ she says. ‘It’s amangy alley cat. It’s starved.You’ll catch its diseases.’

Crowley swings the cat down,thrusting it into Raoul’s arms. ‘AsI pass this cat to you, I pass part

of myself. Accept the power thatis in you.’

Raoul grasps the writhing ani-mal; it scratches his face. Crowleyproduces a knife from inside hiscloak.

‘It’s all theatrics,’ Betty says.‘That’s all he is.’

Raoul raises the cat above hishead as Crowley did; then hebrings it down on the altar.

‘Stop it,’ she tells him. ‘Heisn’t magical. He’s a crackpot.’

Raoul takes the knife. The catscreeches. Blood pops and sput-ters. Raoul is covered in it.

‘Drink it,’ Crowley says.Betty runs out, out into the

night.

***She waits for him at their rent-

ed apartment. He will come homeeventually. He will see thatCrowley has no power, that he isa fraud. Maybe not today, but oneday. Then he will come back toher, she will have him again. Theywill return to England. Raoul willwrite poems again. They will behappy. They will.

The sun is coming up, weakand putrid, when she hears thefront door open. He drags his feetacross the stone floor. Blood iscrusty around his mouth. He issweating. She helps him into bed.She gives him water. ‘It will bealright,’ she says, and she believesthat stroking his head and press-ing cold flannels to his foreheadwill heal him. She has the powerto save him – it is in her gypsyblood. As his breathing becomesshallow, she whispers, ‘Pleasedon’t take him away. Please don’tlet that devil take him away fromme.’

When Raoul stops breathing,the sun is full and bright in thesky. The heat and his not breath-ing take the feeling out of her legsas she sits with them curled underher, the cloak bunched around herknees. When she gets up, her lipsare dry. They split as they pullapart. She gets a pistol from hersuitcase and returns to the Abbey.

Crowley lies on the floor, eyesopen and smiling, his cloak liftedto expose the coarse hairs on histhighs. She points the pistol athim and fires. She misses. Howdoes she miss? She is a good shot.She has had practice. He laughs.She fires again; the gun jams. No.He does not have the power tostop a bullet. He does not havethe power to ruin her. No. He isnot magical.

He gets to his feet and picksher up, carrying her like a rag-and-bone man’s hoard anddumps her outside. It cannot bethat he is removing her. She camehere to kill him. The door of theAbbey closes on her. She must gohome. She must tell people. No,he is not magic: he is evil.

All Saints Church

Margaret StreetOur diverse and inclusive parish is grounded in the

rich catholic tradition of Anglicanism. We offer a

place of peace and beauty in busy central London

(open daily from 7 to 7). We maintain fine liturgical

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Parish office: 020 7636 1788

Please tell us if you came to All Saints

after seeing this advertisement.

Illustration by Clifford Harper

‘She draws the line atdrinking cat’s blood’

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 — 11

Poetry cornerby Wendy Shutler

FAMILY VALUES

Arguments confuse, but I choose“Remain.”I don’t want us just to be a littlegrey island out at sea, shrouded inthe rain,the kid in the playground whowon’t join in.We should stand together with ourfellow Europeans, side by sideagainst those who would harm us.

I have this lovely station across theroad,a fairytale castle connecting us tothe wonderfully varied, historic andbeautiful continent of Europe,via a magical tunnel underneaththe sea.Venice, Florence, the Greek Islands,the Alps…who would not want to be a part ofthat?

Sovereignty, economy, but did youknow that weall descend from Charlemagne?We’re a family.

Broken now by a sadness of pencils,as loveless kisses in the wrong box say goodbye to a dream.

A Banksy mural (above) hasmoved within the area. It usedto be in the front window of theFreud Communications at 55Newman Street. But they havenow moved to 1 Stephen Streetwhere he can still be viewedfrom the street.

Banksy moves

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews12 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

Eric Coates: the popular composerwho proved his critics wrong

Born in Nottinghamshire in1886, Eric Coates had beenscribbling down melodies

since he was six years old. Bythe time he was 19, his dearestwish was to go and study at TheRoyal Academy of Music inLondon. But his father, a coun-try doctor, was determined thathis fifth and youngest childshould join a local bank. ‘I wasin despair,’ Eric records in hisautobiography, Suite in FourMovements. Eventually Coatessenior relented, and Eric wasenrolled at the RAM as a studentof viola and composition.

This marked the beginningof Coates’ long association withFitzrovia. Now on MaryleboneRoad, the RAM in those dayswas on Tenterden Street,Hanover Square, just south ofOxford Street, and its studentsused to socialise in the cheapcafes in the area.

Later, when Eric found workas a viola player in the orchestraof the Queen’s Hall, LanghamPlace, he joined the ranks of thescores of musicians who ate atPagani’s restaurant at 40-48Great Portland Street, and,rather more frequently, drank atThe George pub on the cornerwith Mortimer Street. This wasknown among exasperatedmusical directors as TheGluepot, because of the difficul-ty they had in extracting playersfrom its depths at the end ofrehearsal breaks.

Coates seems to have beenblessed with a keen awarenessof his own abilities, and how farthey extended. When FrederickCorder, his composition tutor atthe RAM, asked him to sketchout an idea for a symphony,Coates replied, ‘Oh I can’t dosymphonies.’ Light music waswhat he was good at, and so thetwo of them spent the rest of thetutorial discussing ArthurSullivan’s comic operas.

On the other hand, Coatescould be doggedly protective ofhis own music. Years later whenhe overheard one of the assis-tants at Chappell’s on BondStreet telling a customer thatCoates’ work wasn’t up tomuch, he protested to the direc-tor. The assistant was sackedand sales of Coates’ sheet musicbegan to climb.

And though he loved hear-ing his tunes being banged outon a pub piano, listening tothem being mauled by a bishopwas quite another matter. Oneday in the gents at OxfordCircus tube station he saw anelderly cleric in purple disap-pear into one of the stalls. Thena sound emerged which Coateseventually recognised as his

own Knightsbridge march.‘Excuse me, but this is how itshould go,’ he announced whenthe bishop resurfaced. And heproceeded to hum the tune.

Though his compositionswere beginning to be popular,Coates continued playing violaat the Queen’s Hall. Built in1893, this was Britain’s premierconcert venue, home tothe promenade concerts since1895. In 1912 Coates was pro-moted to principal violist, and inthis role he eventually clashedwith Sir Henry Wood, theQHO’s conductor. Wood, inci-dentally, was another musicianwho knew Fitzrovia well. Hewas born at 413a Oxford Street(now 59), grew up in rooms overhis father’s jewellery and pawn-broking business at 355 (now185) Oxford Street, and laterlived in a flat at 1 LanghamPlace.

One of Henry Wood’s pethates was the deputy system.Players would find someone totake their place if they got anengagement which clashed withone of their orchestra’srehearsals. When Wood bannedthe system, 40 members of theQHO walked out in protest andset up their own orchestra,which they named the LondonSymphony Orchestra.

QHO players still useddeputies if they thought theycould get away with it. Coatesonce accepted an invitation toconduct one of his own compo-sitions at the London Palladium,and found a substitute violaplayer to rehearse a tricky pieceby Richard Strauss with theQHO. But Wood chose this occa-sion to look over at the violas,and later that evening he gaveEric a sound ticking off. Coateswould dearly have loved to give

up the viola at this point, but hewas married by now and didn’tthink he could afford it.

‘Old Timber’ may also havebeen jealous of Coates. Eric’sson tells a story about a promconcert where the orchestra wasplaying his father’s ‘WoodNymphs’, with Coates as usualon the viola. ‘Encore! Encore!’the audience roared. Wood was-n’t conducting that day, but ashe disapproved of encoressomeone was sent off to ask hispermission. Meanwhile theorchestra played ‘WoodNymphs’ again. Wood couldn’tbe found anywhere. When therewere more calls for an encoreCoates himself went off withthe conductor to pound onWood’s office door. There wasdefinitely someone movingabout inside, but no reply came.So they went back and played‘Wood Nymphs’ for the thirdand last time.

The following summer, in1919, Coates received a letterfrom the manager of the QHO.‘Sir Henry Wood regrets toinform you that your serviceswill not be required for theforthcoming Promenade sea-son.’ This was a disaster forCoates. He and his wife Phylwere forced to leave their homeat Flat 3, Berners Mansions, 34-36 Berners Street, close to thecorner of Mortimer Street, andmove to a cheap bedsittingroom in Hampstead; and Phylwent back to her former workas an actress.

Things slowly improved. Inthe 1920s and 30s Coates’ workbecame increasingly successful,especially after he broughtsome American-style syncopa-tion into his pieces.

When the BBC transmittedhis ‘Knightsbridge’ march, the

last movement of his LondonSuite, at the beginning of theradio programme In TownTonight, they received 20,000letters in one week asking forthe composer’s name. More sig-nature tunes followed. ‘CallingAll Workers’  was used to intro-duce Music While You Work,and ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’,adopted in 1942 with added sea-gulls, still signals the start ofDesert Island Discs.

This last piece was famouslyinspired by a distant view ofBognor one balmy summer’sevening. One of Coates’ lastworks, the ‘Dam BustersMarch’, formed the overture forthe film The Dam Busters,released in 1955.

Much of Eric’s musicreflects the bustle and sounds ofLondon, and ‘Langham Place’and ‘Oxford Street’, from hisLondon Again Suite, testify tohis great love of the West End.The countryside is wonderfulfor dreaming, he tells us, butLondon is the place for work.

One day in the 1930s Ericand Phyl bumped into SirHenry Wood and his wife at theBournemouth Festival, and theyshook hands. ‘Are you still play-ing the viola, Mr.Coates?’ LadyWood asked. Coates replied thathe hadn’t touched the instru-ment since the day Sir Henrydid him the very great favour ofgiving him the sack. ‘I wouldnever have had the courage tobecome a full-time composerwithout his “help …”, LadyWood.’

Throughout his careerCoates was supported by hismuch loved wife Phyllis. Theyhad met in 1910 when Ericagreed to join a friend at a con-cert at the RAM. Hilarious, theythought, when they saw in the

programme that Miss PhyllisBlack was going to recite a cou-ple of poems by Alfred LordTennyson. But as soon as shewalked onto the stage Ericknew that she was the one. Forthe next few days he hauntedthe Academy, and at long lastgot an introduction to Phyllis.He took her out to tea, and aftera week he proposed. He was 25,while she was only 17.Naturally her parents objected,and they banned the couplefrom meeting. Overcoming allopposition, Eric and Phyl final-ly married in 1913. After thatthey were hardly ever apart,until Eric’s death in 1957.

In 1941 the Queen’s Hallwas destroyed by an incendiarybomb, and after the War theProms moved to the RoyalAlbert Hall. The site of the oldHall, bounded by LanghamPlace, Great Portland Street andRiding House Street (see a 1916map below). It is now occupiedby the St.George’s Hotel andHenry Wood House (wherethere is a plaque to it at itsLangham Place entrance).Unlike Henry Wood, Coatesmay not have mourned its pass-ing. He was never able to forgetthe humiliation of his dismissalfrom its orchestra. ‘Every time Iwalked past the place’, he tellsus, ‘I used to feel slightly sick.’

SUE BLUNDELL, author of the play The Man from the Sleepy Lagoon, describes the life ofthe man who was told ‘You’ll never earn a living writing tunes’

ERIC COATES

Sue Blundell (centre) with the cast of her play about Eric Coates, ‘The Man from the Sleepy Lagoon’, which wasperformed at The Ship on New Cavendish Street by David Acton who played Coates (front right) and the FitzFestmusicians led by Daniel Bates on June 8 of this year.

PICTURE PUZZLEANSWER: The building

with the J & J Goddard signon page 15 is at 68

Tottenham Court Road.

By the DINING DETECTIVE

BAO, 31 Windmill StreetNow: here’s a thing. If you havetime to queue (no booking) anddon’t mind a stool, (no chairswith backs), you’d definitelywant to know about BAO – ifyou haven’t heard of it already:it has branches elsewhere.

A Taiwanese restaurant withnot expensively priced food,some of which is truly delicious,has recently opened in our area.While you’re in the queue some-one brings you a menu and wewere lucky enough to be stand-ing next to someone whoworked in Bao and was cominghere on her day off! So we hadgood advice about what to order– and indeed you can also ordera beer in the queue while wait-ing. Your turn comes before toolong, and in you go. There,along with the chopsticks andthe serviettes, you will find apencil provided to mark yourorder on the menu which afriendly member of staff willexplain to you if it is your firstvisit.

A BAO is a steamed, filledTaiwanese bun, two of whichmy companion and I tried: BaoCod Black (Fried Cod, NgSauce, Hot Sauce £5) and BaoConfit (Pork Belly, CrispyShallots, Hot Sauce £4.50). Eachwere tasty and enjoyable. Thesewere served with various com-

panion dishes: Mopo Auberginerice bowl (£5 flavoursome andfilling), Pickled Cabbage (£2),Crispy Prawn Heads (£2, but theeyes stared at me accusingly sothat I couldn’t eat them), andFried Chicken Chop & HotSauce (£4.50). This was so deli-cious we ordered a second oneand I hope Bao wont be offend-ed if I describe them as the thrillof your first Kentucky FriedChicken when you were tenonly much tastier.

A small wine list with pleas-ant, mostly European, wines (atabout £5 a glass) and when Isent the first glass back as per-haps from a bottle having beenopen too long, I watched. In twominutes the barperson tasted it,opened a new, different red atonce, and gave me anotherglass, which tasted fine and costthe same. I call that service.

When we’d finished welooked out and saw a queue ofperhaps 30 on one of those notbrilliant summer nights we havehad, so we asked for the bill at

Author of socialist classic spent hischildhood in Fitzroy Street

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The author of what became asocialist bible, "The RaggedTrousered Philanthropists",

lived in Fitzroy Street from theage of five to nine.

As a painter and decoratorby trade he took the name ofRobert Tressell -after the trestlewhich is used in the buildingindustry.

His real name was RobertNoonan who was born in 1870and died in poverty in 1911,being buried in an unmarkedpauper's grave in Liverpool,three years before his novel waspublished.

In fact his surname at birthwas registered as Croker, afterhis 80-year-old father Samuel inDublin, but Robert always usedthe surname of his then unmar-ried mother, Mary.

After Croker died in 1875Mary married a Swiss cabinetmaker, Sebastian Zumbuhl, andthey then lived with youngRobert at 37 Fitzroy Street.

Sarah Eicker, who lives therenow, was alerted to this whenone of Noonan's descendantsknocked on her door, and toldher about it.

He had read it in the intro-duction by local historian StevePeak to a new edition of TheRagged TrouseredPhilanthropists published byHastings council (where Noonanwrote it between 1906 and 1910).Peak stated Robert's mothermarried Zumbahl sometimeafter Croker's death in 1875, andthat they then lived in FitzroyStreet until some time before1881.

By consulting marriagerecords and electoral rolls Sarahhas established that Robert'smother married Zumbahl inearly 1875 in Poplar, eastLondon, and the latter was aregistered voter in FitzroyStreet in 1878 (see extract above).And Fitzrovia News consultedSt Pancras ratebooks to estab-lish that they lived in FitzroyStreet from 1875 to 1879.

They then moved to 27Elmore Street off Essex Road,Islington, for some years. By1890 Robert, aged 20, was livingin Queen's Road, Everton inLiverpool, employed as a signwriter, and was jailed for sixmonths for stealing £50 worthof silver and kitchen equip-ment.

Soon after he was releasedhe emigrated to South Africa.There he joined a brigade of theUnited Irishmen to fight againstthe British in the Boer War.Then he and his daughterKathleen sailed back to Britainin 1902 and settled in Hastings,where much of the novel isbased.

Noonan had to work from6am until late at night for under3p an hour, and experienced atfirst hand how cut-throat com-petition in the industry causedpoverty and misery for thoseworking in it.

One of those whose liveshave been changed by readinghis book is Ricky Tomlinson,jailed for two years for picket-ing during the building work-

ers' strike of 1972, when he wasa plasterer. There had been nocomplaints by the police whocongratulated them on theirbehaviour on the day of thepicketing. Months later, howev-er, after pressure from the gov-ernment he and others wereaccused of intimidation butcharged under an obscure 1875conspiracy law which had alower burden of proof and nomaximum sentence. He is stilltrying to get the convictionsoverturned.

While in Leicester prison hewas given the book by theprison governor who was an ex-bricklayer. This changed Ricky'spolitics from flirting with theNational Front to joining ArthurScargill's Socialist Labour Party.

After leaving prison Rickygot into acting with the help offilm director Ken Loach, whoseoffice was at 46 Charlotte Street.He cast him in films such asRiff-Raff, and Raining Stones.Ricky played Bobby Grant inthe Channel 4 soap Brooksidefrom its start in 1982 for sixyears. He is now best known asJim in the television comedy,the Royle Family.

Born in 1939 he was raisedin the Everton area whereNoonan had lived as a youthhalf a century earlier.

Others to have lived at 37Fitzroy Street include play-wright Bernard Shaw from 1880to 1882, and Scientologyfounder L Ron Hubbard from1956.

Taiwanese well worth queueing foronce. A service charge of 12.5%was added: still the bill was lessthan £60 for two and you couldhave a much cheaper meal ifyou don’t drink (although theydo also serve interesting-look-ing cocktails). When we addeda little more, the wait-personcame back and told us servicehad already been added. “Forthe pleasure of your extra serv-ice,” we said (it was to the onewho had to taste the bad wine).

Give it a go, you won’t besorry, and you’re pretty sure togo back again!

Robert Tressell is pictured on the cover of this latest edition of his classicnovel. It can be ordered online for £2.99 plus £2.50 postage on:http://www.famouslyhastings.com/search/?query=Ragged+Trousered

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facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews14 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

By ANN BASU

During the Blitz the people ofFitzrovia, like otherLondoners, occupied the

Tube stations to use as bomb shel-ters. Although the authorities triedto ban it at first the public quicklyforced them to back down andaccept what was in effect a people’soccupation.

During the intermittentLondon bombings of 1917 peo-ple had sheltered in theUnderground; so it was expect-ed that Londoners would headto the Tube when war broke outagain in 1939. As Mike Horneexplains in The Northern Line:"This time round the govern-ment feared that a ‘deep sheltermentality’ would develop, withpeople refusing to come out. Atthe outset of the war the use ofUnderground stations as shel-ters was therefore banned."

However Londoners, ratherthan accepting the official linethat the Tube should remainsolely a transport network toensure movement around thecity, insisted that it should pro-vide refuge in time of urgentneed.

The government ditheredover the question of deep levelshelters before the war and formany months did nothing toprovide them. Some MPspressed very strongly for gov-ernment action to protect thepopulation, as did the LiberalMegan Lloyd George, DavidLloyd George’s daughter andthe first female Welsh MP. Butothers, such as Conservative MP

Sir Ralph Glyn, opposed theprovision of deep shelters intube stations as potential hin-drances to the flow of traffic. SirRalph, speaking in a CivilDefence debate on April 5, 1939,was concerned that the debatetoo much favoured the generalpublic: "There is a great dangerthat people will get an impres-sion … that we are paying toomuch attention to the protectionof individuals here, and not giv-ing sufficient attention to whatreally matters most—our offen-

sive and defensive power."Sir Ralph also believed in

looking ahead at future uses forsuch shelters: "You must deviseshelters which will bring insome sort of commercial returnin time of peace, such as carparks."

But when the bombingsbegan in August 1940 the peo-ple simply decided that theyand their families felt safest inthe Underground and, helpedby political activists, occupiedthe tube stations ignoring anyattempts to stop them.Tottenham Court Road, GoodgeStreet and Warren Street wereall occupied and became heavi-ly used.

Ted Bramley of theCommunist Party, in the pam-phlet Bombers Over Londondated October 12, 1940,declared: "Three times theauthorities said that the Tubesmust not be used as shelters.But the people went to theTubes. At many stations policeand officials barred their way,gates were closed; but atWarren Street, Goodge Street,Highgate, etc., gates, police andofficials were swept aside andevery inch of stairs, corridorsand platforms taken by the peo-ple."

The people’s will wasacknowledged in Parliament.By October 1940 tube shelteringwas starting to be organised tomake the best use of availablespaces.

Once stations were beingused by thousands of peoplenight after night, it became des-perately urgent that facilitiesshould be provided. Hundredsof recumbent people were being

squashed against each otherwithout any bedding to providea minimum of comfort; theyeven lay on the rails in the dis-used stations. These extremeconditions were greatly wors-ened by the absence of sanitaryfacilities; the smell must havebeen almost unbearable.

By January 1941 the work toequip the tube stations was wellunder way, with three-tier bunkbeds provided. The Minister ofHealth, Malcolm MacDonald,described the improvements:sanitation was provided, venti-lation and heating was lookedat, overcrowding was reducedby encouraging people into less-used shelters, and first-aid postsoperated in the larger shelters,with a sick-bay, a medical officerand a nurse in cases wherepatients had to be isolated.

Local resident Max Minkoffhad vivid memories of shelter-ing on the platform in WarrenStreet tube station, recalled on aJewish Museum audio (No 319)that his family were allocatedbunks in the station by organis-ers: “We had to go to the under-ground in the evening to get ourbunks, we had to go seveno’clock, six o’clock, whatever itwas, straight after work.” Max’sfather stayed at home with oneof Max’s brothers, sleeping inthe basement under a table.

The tube trains carried onoperating in Warren Street whilethe platforms were occupied.There was conflict over spacedespite the best efforts of themarshals.

My mother, RebeccaCoshever, then a girl of 14 wholived in Howland Street, remem-bered arguments breaking out

with her family’s regular plat-form neighbour, a Germanwoman, over infringementscaused by the woman’s manybelongings overflowing intotheir own little patch.

The Tube sheltered manythousands of Londoners eachnight during the bombing, whilecontinuing to circulate peoplearound the city. Eight new deepshelters, sheltering up to 8,000people each, were eventuallyconstructed under tube stationsincluding Goodge Street; butthey weren’t opened to the pub-lic until 1944.

Many people, of course stillhad to rely on Anderson sheltersin back gardens, indoorMorrison shelters or other typesof surface or basement shelter;the Tube played a vital role inthe West End but it was far fromable to protect everyone.

The Tube shelters became apart of wartime mythology,drawn by Henry Moore andlocked into generations’ memo-ries. Domestic life, at least forsome Londoners, took rootbelow the street surface.

And for communities inFitzrovia the underground shel-ters were a vital refuge: thelocality, abutting major railwaylines, was heavily bombed bothin 1940-1941 and in the doodle-bug era of V2 bombings in 1944(the destruction included thebombing of Maples, the big fur-niture store in Tottenham CourtRoad, and much of HowlandStreet, where my mother’s fami-ly had lived). For many inFitzrovia the Tube became aworld in itself; a world thatordinary people had claimedand helped to shape.

Shelter in tube stations fromblitz had to be fought for

ILLUSTRATION BY CLIFFORD HARPER

Looking back through our archives See also archive.fitzrovia.org.uk

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40 years ago

He who pays the piper calls the tune‘The Piano

Man’ No 6

by

CLIFFORD

SLAPPER

80 years ago

Two cinemas and a theatreclosed down in Tottenham CourtRoad as a result of the GortEstate redevelopment, allbetween Percy Street andStephen Street.

The Berkeley, under variousnames, had been at number 30since 1913, and La Continentale,also under different names, atnumber 36, since 1912.

The Open Space Theatre atnumber 32 had not been therelong but was hoping to reopenin Euston Road with the backingof Lord Delfont.

A new cinema, the OtherCinema, was about to open at 25Tottenham Street in the base-ment of the Scala Building, onthe site of the old Scala theatre.

Two cinemas and atheatre close

Picture puzzle

The opening night was to beOctober 15 with a film calledWinstanley, which was about theLevellers in Cromwellian times.This was to be followed by aseason of films about outlawsand social bandits, such as NedKelly and Robin Hood. Ticketswere £1, or 80p for students.

Meanwhile the YMCA hostelin Fitzroy Square closed, while anew one opened in Great RussellStreet off Tottenham CourtRoad. The rents at the new one,however, were so high that therewere less than ten permanentresidents and only 110 tempo-rary guests out of the capacity of880.

The rents were £18 a weekfor a single room, and £26 for asmall double one. This com-pared to £9 a week for studentsin Middlesex Hospital andUniversity College Hospitalhomes.

The new YMCA buildingcost £15 million and took seven

From Tower, June/July 1976:

Felicia Browne holds a child, 1936.

As a pianist in every kind ofvenue from the roughest of pubsto the most exclusive clubs inthe land, I have enjoyed an acuteinsight into the class divisionwhich runs through society.Entertaining those enjoying theirleisure time, I have seen anunguarded side of people castadrift from their desks but stillobsessed with the power ofmoney, whether through itsabundance or its absence.

I had a residency at theSoufflé restaurant in centralLondon’s Intercontinental Hotelin the 1990s. The agent, sadly nolonger with us now, visited onenight in full but conspicuousdisguise, to check on my per-formance. He called the next dayto say that although everythingelse was in order, he had noticedfrom a distance that my sockswere dark blue rather thanblack.

Meanwhile, a very pleasantregular customer from the

Middle East asked if I wouldaccompany him afterwards toshow him something of the localnightlife. I took him to a clubcalled Xenon which had livemusic. He handed me a £50 note(the 1990 equivalent of £112.50in 2016) and asked if I wouldmind getting him a glass of winefrom the bar. I agreed, despitefeeling it was a bit cheeky ofhim to send me on this errand.That is, until I returned andproffered the £48 change, only tofind him insisting that I keep it;which he did for each of theother rounds. And all thisdespite my blue socks.

A year later I was playing atthe Pitcher & Piano off TrafalgarSquare, a stomping ground forbesuited wage-slaves mas-querading as monied captains ofindustry. One drunken yob in atie was not keen for me to leavethe piano after my three-hourset, and stuck a £50 note in myface to tempt me to play “onemore song”. I declined, so hethen dramatically held up thedirty old portrait of her majestyand tore it in half down the mid-dle. He made a great fuss ofhanding me half whilst shoving

the other half into the top pocketof his Topman suit. “You playone more song for us, and theother half is yours, mate!”

Whilst I was pondering mynext move, another identikit citywhizz kid on the lash stepped inand asked me what his friendwas up to. It turned out thiskind of antic was a common partof the first young man’s reper-toire of pretences of opulence.His friend started begging me toreturn the other half of the £50note to them so that it could beselotaped to its twin in hisfriend’s top pocket. “He’salways doing this sort of thing!We share a flat and we’re behindwith the rent! Please?”

People’s attitudes to moneyare sometimes baffling. At thatsame venue customers wouldoften ask what I was paid, as if

by being an entertainer I hadsigned up for complete trans-parency in all my affairs. Iexperimented by alternating myanswer between “£70 a night”and “£700 a night”, both ofwhich were readily believed (thetruth was somewhere betweenthe two). The piano I playedthere was electronic and had alittle red light which rapidlyflashed on and off as I played.Once, to relieve the boredom, Ireplied that I was paid 10p foreach note I played and that thelight was counting the notesplayed. My questioner appeareddelighted by this insight: “Oh!So that’s why you play so manynotes!”

On another occasion I wasrunning late so got a mini-cab into work. I asked the driver to getthere as fast as possible, as I waslate for playing. He was worriedon my behalf, but I reassuredhim by saying that I was paidper song played, and that onarrival I would just play thesongs twice as fast to fit them allin. Again, he happily believedme. All in good fun, dear reader,and I can assure you that I havebecome far more truthful sincethose days.

Cartoon by Chris Tyler

How well do you knowFitzrovia? J & J Goddard manu-factured and sold pianos at thisbuilding in the area from 1851 to1964 The sign is still there. Doyou know where it is?

No prizes, but for the answerlook under the DiningDectective picture on page 13.

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016 — 15

years to build and had original-ly been planned as a luxuryhotel. After financial difficultiesarose the plan was changed to ahostel in order to qualify for a£7 million grant from theDepartment of theEnvironment, and a £2 millionloan from Camden Council.

A local art student was killedfighting against Franco's fascistsin the Spanish Civil War onAugust 25, 1936.

She was Felicia MaryBrowne, born in 1904, a painterand sculptor who had beentaught at the Slade School ofFine Art from 1920 to 1928,where she was awarded theCertificate in Drawing.

Then she went to Berlin tolearn metal working and stonemasonry where she witnessedthe rise of the Nazis.

Back in London she joinedthe Artists InternationalAssociation, the centre of whichwas at 84 Charlotte Street, andthe Communist Party. She thentravelled in Russia, Hungary,and Czechoslovakia sketchingpeasants. In early 1936 sheworked as a dishwasher in a teashop, to raise funds for theparty, and recruited fellowworkers into the trade union.

In July of that year she andher friend, the left-wing photog-rapher Edith Bone, went on adriving holiday through Franceand Spain.

In Spain they were therewhen the civil war started andFelicia joined a Communist mili-tia on August 3.

She was killed in action onAugust 25, riddled with bulletswhile rescuing a wounded col-league in a failed attempt todynamite a Fascist munitionstrain in Aragon. This made herthe first British volunteer to diein the conflict.

A small exhibition of herwork, and letters from the front,was at Tate Britain until the endof August this year.

Artist killed fighting fascism

A poignant photograph byErica Davies (left) showed chil-dren barred from Fitzroy SquareGardens wistfully watchinganother child playing inside.

There was a feature about aninternational cricketer who wasthen living in Cleveland Streetand working for MiddlesexHospital in Mortimer Street. Hewas John Pulle (right) whoseinternational career with SriLanka (when it was calledCeylon) lasted from 1928 to1945. He was the opening bat,and could also bowl and keepwicket. Among his illustrious

opponents was the greatDonald Bradman of Australia.

WHAT’S ON AROUND FITZROVIAEmail news@fitzrovia.org.uk by November 19 for the December 2016 issue, and put “Listings” in the subject box.

ART GALLERIES

THEATRE

LIVE MUSIC

CINEMA/FILM

PUB QUIZZES

EXHIBITIONSTALKSAll Saints Church, 7 MargaretSt: Charles Andrews organrecital, Sept 18, 7.15 pm (follow-ing Evensong).The Albany, 240 Great PortlandSt (thealbanyw1w.co.uk):Ukeleles on Wednesdays, 8pm.King & Queen, 1 Foley St : Folkmusic: Jim Bainbridge, plusMartin Clarke, Sept 16. JimmyCrowley, Oct 28. Mike Hebbertand Andrew Frank, Dec 9.Scaledown alternative live enter-tainments last Friday of themonth (theorchestrapit.com).Sevilla Mia Spanish Bar, 22Hanway St (basement): WorldFusion, Tue, 9.30pm; Swing 'n'Blues, Wed, 9.30pm; SpanishRumba, Thur-Sat, 10.30pm.Simmons, 28 Maple St: Livemusic every Wednesdayevening.UCL Haldane Room, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Chambermusic opening concert, Oct 6,5.30-6.30pm. Shakespeare, Oct17, 5.30-6.30pm. Oxford andCambridge Musical Club, Oct26, 7-9.30pm. Schubert, Nov 4,1.10-1.55pm. Ensembles, Nov 17,5.30-6.30pm. UCLU MusicSociety, Nov 25, 1.10-1.55pm.Guest harpsichord recital, Dec 1,5.30-6.30pm.UCL Main Quad, Gower St:Concert, Dec 6, 1-8pm.The 100 Club, 100 Oxford St(the100club.co.uk): Punk Special,40th Anniversary, featuringSpizznergi, Sept 20. A 40thAnniversary Tribute to the PunkFestival 1976, Sept 23-24. DrFeelgood, Nov 11-12.

Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way(cultura.embavenez-uk.org):London Socialist Film Co-opscreen films at 11am on the sec-ond Sunday of each month.

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.

Petrie Film Club, UCL PetrieMuseum, Malet Place:The Assassination Bureau, Sept22, 6-9pm. War Horse, Oct 25, 5-7.30pm. I Claudius, Nov 117, 6-8.30pm. Dishonoured, Nov 23, 6-9pm. (Prebook atevents.petrie@ucl.ac.uk or 0207679 4138).

Regent Street Cinema, 309Regent St: For daily programmevisit regentstreetcinema.com/programme. Matinee classicsevery Wednesday at 2pm, forover 55s, £1.75.

UCL Art Museum, WilkinsBuilding, South Cloisters, GowerSt:Remainder, Nov 8, 6.30-8.30pm.

Bloomsbury Theatre Studio, 15Gordon St (thebloomsbury.com):Laugh Till It Hurts, Sept 14.Bright Club (UCL researcherspresent comedy), Sept 22, Oct22, Nov 23. Edwina Hayes (plusspecial guest Joan Coffey),December 3.Camden People's Theatre, 58-60Hampstead Rd(cptheatre.co.uk): Blush (fivestories about revenge pornogra-phy), Sept 20-24. The AbsoluteTruth About AbsolutelyEverything (a crisis of masculin-ity performed by females), Sept22-Oct 8. The Brides ofBluebeard, Sept 24-25. Pussy,Sept 25. Cream Pie, Sept 28-29.Pube, Oct 7-8. Holy Presents(Christmas comedy), Dec 6-17.Dominion Theatre, 269Tottenham Court Rd (dominiontheatre.com): TheBodyguard, starring BeverleyKnight, until January 7, 2017.London Palladium, Argyll Stpalladium.londontheatres.co.uk:Cinderella, starring PaulO'Grady, Julian Clary, AmandaHolden, Nigel Havers, CountArthur Strong, from Dec 10 forfive weeks

The Court, 108a TottenhamCourt Rd: Every Sunday, 8pm.Prince of Wales Feathers, 8Warren St: Every Monday, 7pm.

WALKS

All Saints Parish Room, 7Margaret St: John Lewis &Waitrose Arts and Crafts ClubExhibition, Sept 13-25.British Museum, Great RussellSt (britishmuseum.org): Free:Courting to contract: love andmarriage in Iran, until Nov 20.Money matters, until Oct 9. Payfor: Sunken cities: Egypt's lostworlds, until Nov 27. SouthAfrica: the art of a nation, fromOct 27.Getty Images Gallery,Eastcastle St: Soho Past in pho-tographs, Sept 22-Nov 19.UCL Art Museum, WilkinsBuilding, South Cloisters,Gower St: Vault, work frommost promising talent of SladeSchool of Art, Sept 26-Dec 16. UCL Grant Museum ofZoology, 21 University St:Natural creativity: sex and trick-ery, Oct 19-Dec 23.UCL Main Library, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Fair playand foul: connecting wihShakespeare at UCL, until Dec15.UCL Octagon Gallery, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Cabinets ofconsequence (works of UCLgeographers, neurosscientists,archeologists, zoologists), untilNov 11.Wellcome Library, 183 EustonRd (wellcomecollection.org):States of Mind: Tracing theedges of consciousness, untilOct 16. Bedlam: The asylum andbeyond, Sept 15-Jan 15.RawMinds Wanderland (cre-ative cues to how minds wan-der), Oct 20-30. Permanent exhi-bitions: Medicine Now, andMedicine Man.

Curwen Gallery, 34 WindmillSt: Bowie Inspired, a talk byartist Richard Walker aboutDavied Bowie, Sept 15, 7pm.Artist's Talk, by Richard Walkeron his work, Sept 21, 7pm.

Sohemian Society, Wheatsheaf,25 Rathbone Place:

UCL Art Museum, WilkinsBuilding, South Cloisters, GowerSt: Live drawing with LisaGornic, Oct 11, 1-2pm. Newacquisitions in conversation: LilyJohnson, Oct 20, 1-2pm. DrMartin Lang on militancy in artand society, Nov 10, 1-2pm.Enemy of the Starts in perform-ance, Nov 11, 1-2pm.

UCL Darwin Lecture Theatre,Malet Place (events@ucl.ac.uk):Tuesdays and Thursdays (1.15-1.55pm) during term time.Performing matter: greatest hitsand new findings, Oct 11. Doessocial science tell the truth? Oct13. Barking up the right tree:how do we understand whatwords mean? Oct 18. Shake, rat-tle and roll: communicatinglethal risks, Oct 20. The lifelongbenefits of reading for pleasure,Oct 25. Navigating the brain:software programming for surgi-cal planning, Oct 27.

Hospitality and hostility: therole of established refugees in acrisis, Nov 1. Paying the penalty:the sporting prison, Nov 3. TheUS presidential election: a postmortem, Nov 15. How Putinreacts, Nov 17. Cancer evolutionthrough space and time, Nov 22.Imagine a world with no slums,Nov 24. The Arctic on the fasttrack of change, Nov 29.Migrants and healthcare, Dec 1.

Evening lecture: AnnualGrant Lecture on nature conser-vation, Nov 17, 6.30-9pm.

UCL, Gustave Tuck LectureTheatre, Wilkins Building,Gower St: Neale Lecture 2016,Prof David Carpenter on MagnaCarta, Nov 3, 6-8pm.

UCL Institute of AdvancedStudies, South Wing, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Figures ofsolitude and resilience, LectureRoom G11, Nov 29, 6-8.30pm.

UCL Petrie Museum, MaletPlace(ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie):Archeology and espionage (deci-phering codes), Sept 29, Oct 13,Nov 17, Nov 24, 1.15-1.45pm.Petrie's War: World War 1 atHome and in Egypt, Sept 29, 6-8pm. Psychology of spying, Oct6, 6-8pm. Dead to Me, Oct 21,27, 28, 1.15-1.45pm. Adventure into the unknown,Dec 1, 6-9pm.

London Literary Pub Crawl,every Saturday, 5pm. Start at theWheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com.London Walks (walks.com) £10,Over 65 £8: Beatles MagicalMystery Tour, Tottenham CourtRd station, every Sunday 11am,and every Thursday, 11am,Wednesdays 2pm. Rock'n'RollLondon, Tottenham Court Rdstation, Every Wednesday, 7pm,every Friday, 2pm.

UCL Grant Museum ofZoology, 21 University St:Explore Zoology, Sept 17, Oct 15,Nov 12, Dec 3, 1-4pm. Creaturecreations, create art inspired byanimals, Sept 24, Oct 8, Nov 26,1.30-4.30pm. Dead, life drawing(draw dead animals), Oct 11,6.30-9pm. Marvellous mammals(handle specimens), Oct 25-28, 1-4pm. Halloween ghoulish ani-mal facts, Oct 29, 6.30-9pm.Animal showoff, Dec 1, 6.30-9pm.UCL North Lodge, WilkinsBuilding, Gower St: Slade PrintFair, Oct 21-22.UCL Petrie Museum, MaletPlace: Spy speak (crackingcodes), Oct 25-28, 1-4pm. Artmacabre: Mata Hari andLawrence of Arabia, Oct 20, 6-8.30pm. Scary tales forHalloween, Oct 29, 6-8.30pm.UCL Main Campus, Gower St:Festival of Geology, Nov 5,10.30-4.30.

OTHER EVENTS

facebook.com/FitzroviaNews :: twitter.com/FitzroviaNews16 — Fitzrovia News issue 142 Autumn 2016

Featured exhibitions. A fulllist of all galleries is on ourwebsite

LIVE COMEDYThe Albany, 240 Great PortlandSt: Mondays at 8pm.Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place:Improvisation on Thursdays,8.30pm, and stand-up onSaturdays, 7.30pm upstairs.

Curwen Gallery, 34 WindmillSt (curwengallery.co.uk):Camberwell Beauty, RichardWalker, Sept 7-30.Lazarides Gallery, 11 RathbonePlace (lazinc.com): NinaPandolfo: Beyond Meninas,until Oct 8.Pilar Corrias, 54 Eastcastle St(pilarcorrias.com): Tala Madani:Shitty Disco, Oct 5-Nov 12.

Pink Posing Patti by RichardWalker at Curwen Gallery

Dragon by Nancy Wood at StoreStreet Gallery.

Very Like A Whale by SylvainLefebre at Rebecca Hossack Gallery2.

Rebecca Hossack Gallery (2), 28Charlotte St (r-h-g.co.uk):Sylvain Lefebre: Very like aWhale, until Oct 1. RossBonfanti, Oct 5-29.Rosenfeld Porcini, 37 RathboneSt (rosenfeldporcini.com): LeviVan Veluw, Oct 6-Nov 26.

Store Street Gallery, 32 Store St(storestreetgallery.com): NancyWood, Oct 19-23.Woolff Gallery, 89 Charlotte St(woolffgallery.co.uk): KeithHaynes, until Sept 30.