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Soho has long been the West End at its least respectable and most lively, and now it’s the only part of central London that really comes close to keeping the same hours as New York. Long considered to be shifty and disreputable – it was once the West End’s red-light district – this small well-defined area south of Oxford Street, east of Regent Street, west of the Charing Cross Road and north of Shaftesbury Avenue has more character (and characters) per square yard than all those big names put together. That’s mainly because people still actually live here and are proud of the place. Shopfronts, restaurants, doorways, alleys and, most important of all, other people, are the sights of Soho, all packed so close together that somewhere somehow here you can reasonably expect to find your heart’s desire. The area divides into ‘high’ and ‘low’ Soho along Wardour St, the home of the British film industry. Soho Square in the east and Golden Square in the west provide the only breathing spaces in a maze of old streets filled by day with the frantic buzz of the media, advertising and fashion industries. In the east, Old Compton Street and Rupert Street have become the heart of the capital’s gay scene. In the west, Carnaby St and Kingly St have been reborn as epicentres of street fashion, recapturing something of the spirit that made them famous in the 1960s. Anyone and everyone looking for a long night out storms into high and low on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sights
Soho Square and the House of St Barnabas
House of St Barnabas, T 020-7437 1894. M Tottenham Court Rd.
Soho Square was formerly the site of Monmouth House, the home of Charles II’s bastard son James Scott, who rebelled unsuccessfully against James II, uttering the hunting cry of ‘So-Ho!’ as he went into battle. Now a weather-beaten statue of his father stands in front of a mock Tudor toolshed and the gardens are a favourite summer lunchtime snackspot for local office workers and resting cycle couriers. On the corner of the square where it meets Greek Street, the House of St Barnabas is a beautiful Georgian building that’s been a hostel for single homeless women since 1851. Free tours of the remarkable interior, including a Victorian neo-Gothic chapel, are usually given on the first day of every month.
High Soho
Tottenham Court Rd or Leicester Sq.
Running south down to Shaftesbury Avenue from Soho Square, Greek Street, Frith Street and the length of Dean Street one block further west – Karl Marx lived at no 28 – are the heart of High Soho. Even though each is crowded with highly individual shops, restaurants and bars, these three streets and the alleyways between them are so similar in atmosphere and appearance that they can easily baffle the inexperienced Soho partygoer. Just before reaching Shaftesbury Avenue they all cross Old Compton Street, the area’s unofficial high street and main artery of the gay scene, where Verlaine and Rimbaud lodged briefly after the fall of the Paris Commune. A recent attempt to pedestrianize this main drag failed due to problems policing the late-night hordes. The junction with Greek Street and Moor Street is one of the most characteristic and animated spots in the area.
Low Soho
M Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus.
Brewer Street continues the line of Old Compton Street westwards. Nipping through seedy little Walker’s Court on the right here brings you into Berwick Street, home to the West End’s one and only pukka fruit ’n’ veg market. Look out for the some exceptional cheeses and fine herbs. The west side of Soho is generally more money-minded than boho high Soho but has just as many associations with some great names: William Blake was born in Marshall Street, Canaletto had a studio in Beak Street and Shelley lived on Poland Street. Nearer Regent Street, around Carnaby Street, the area becomes more fashion-conscious, especially along Newburgh Street. Carnaby Street itself, a by-word for anything groovy in the 1960s, has begun to reclaim some of the cachet that it let slip in the 1980s. The recent redevelopment of Kingly Court, with its clubs, restaurants and one-off designer outlets gives some idea of the direction the place is headed.
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