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A Soho Walk

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Michael StrachanIncludes new fun challenges and scoresheet linksSOHO

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Copyright © heritagewalks.london 2015 75 West Street, Harrow on the Hill, London HA1 3EL info@ipointr.london.co.uk First published in the UK in 2016 for heritagewalks.london Text and images copyright © Michael Strachan Michael Strachan has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. (The cover illustration shows Shaftesbury Avenue and Theatreland).

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A Soho Walk

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INTRODUCTION Walk through this exciting village area of London’s West End during the day and you will sense a history of shop-keepers, craftspeople, artisans and cosmopolitan street markets. At night you can walk the same streets and ex-perience a past—and present—of theatres, cinemas, pubs, clubs, restaurants and much, much more... Soho was farmland until 1536, when Henry VIII made it into a royal park for the Palace of Whitehall. It was still largely rural in 1582, when Elizabeth I passed a law for-bidding the building of any houses within 3 miles (5km) of the City. However, by the 17th century many houses had been built here illegally. This sense of being slightly outside the norm became the hallmark of Soho. Although there were plans towards the end of the 17th century to make the area as grand and fashionable as neighbouring Bloomsbury and Mayfair, Soho never at-tained those heights. In the late 1700s, French Protestant Huguenots moved in, thus forming a multicultural pat-tern that has been repeated over the centuries. In the 1920's and 30's, large numbers of Cypriots settled in the area and these and other nationalities opened what were then seen as ‘exotic’ shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. Colorful Soho todayShaftesbury Avenue 1949 Soho Square 18th century

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This cosmopolitan, slightly neglected atmosphere is an essential part of the character of Soho. Long established as the capital’s centre for entertainment, it is filled with theatres, cinemas, night clubs and music venues. The harsher criminal worlds of the 19th-century ‘rooker-ies’ and the gangs of the early 20th century have gone and the area has shed its seedy image and become well known for its restaurants, pubs, bars and fashion shops catering for all tastes. There are also private clubs, for dining, drinking and entertainment, that are often visited by famous TV and movie stars. Soho is a major focus for London’s gay community and the streets are thronged with visitors and workers (mostly from the nearby film, music and media industries) and pleasure-seekers all experiencing the ‘buzz’ of this most exciting part of London. To hear this Introduction please click this icon To find out more about ‘What3Words’ please click this information icon If you would like to donate an amount which will help us cover our costs and continue to work on new publications please scan pr tap the QR link below:!

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Planning Your Walk 1. If possible, walk with a friend. 2. Tell someone where you are going. 3. Take care w he n wa lk in g at n ig ht . 4. Wear sensible clothes and footwear. 5. Always take a bottle of water to avoid de-hydration. 6. Don't try to do too much in one visit. 7. Check the opening times of all Museums and Galleries online. 8. Take your camera or camera phone with batteries fully charged. 9. If you are printing out this do staple these!pages!together!. 10. Don’t forget to download your free Quiz and Plaque scoresheets by using the URL links on the next page… Start from Piccadilly Underground station. (Piccadilly & Bakerloo lines). End at Oxford Circus Undergroundstation. (Central, Victoria & Bakerloo lines). Use the Transport for London (TFL) planner to plan your journey. 2.57 km 1.6 miles 1-2 hrs

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To make your walk more interesting… …we have created an on-line, interactive map which you can find by clicking the link below, or by scanning the green QR code opposite. This will only work if you are reading this guide on a smart device like an iPad: Plot-a-Route map We have also added some fun challenges - the first is a picture quiz. So you need to look out for interesting ob-jects such as ‘street furniture’, statues and architectural features shown in the I-Spy Challenge scoresheet. Click the link below, or scan the pink QR code opposite, to access a download for this scoresheet. It can then be printed or saved: I-Spy Challenge The second challenge is to ‘bag’ all the plaques along this walk. These are listed on a ‘Pastwalkers’ scoresheet along with their ‘what3words’ loca-tions. (Click the information icon op-posite for more about how ‘What3Words’ works). The plaque scores are based on age and quality rather than the importance of the person or event commemorated. Download by clicking on the link below, or by scanning the blue QR code opposite: Plaque Challenge Tick them off when you find them

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Piccadilly Circus From Piccadilly Circus station take Exit 4 (Trocadero & Shaftesbury Avenue) up to Piccadilly Circus… This area was known in 1626 as Pickadilly Hall, after the house belonging to one Robert Baker, a tailor famous for selling piccadillies or collars. By 1692 it was known as Portugal Street in honour of Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese queen consort of King Charles II of England, but had finally become Picca-dilly by 1743. The circus was created in 1819, at the junction w i t h R e g e n t Street (to your right), to the plans o f the famous archi-tect John Nash on the site of a h o u s e a n d garden belong-ing to a Lady Hutton. Lying at the very centre of Theatreland, the circus junc-tion has always been a very popular and busy traffic inter-change since it was constructed. The first electric advert-isements appeared on buildings here in 1910 and, from 1923, electric billboards were set up on the facade of the London Pavilion (part of the Trocadero). Piccadilly Circus in the early 20th centuryTap or Scan

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The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain (with the statue pop-ularly known as Eros) was erected in the circus in 1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. (Another plaque exists for this philanthrop-ist at his school in Harrow and is included in our Harrow Walk). Walk along Coventry Street to look at the Prince of Wales Theatre to view Lord Delfont’s plaque, then re-trace your steps back to Great Wind-mill Street… Just as you enter Great Windmill Street look for the road sign and be-neath it you will see the next plaque… This commemorates the site of the London Pavilion - currently a shopping arcade and part of the Trocadero Centre. Shaftesbury Avenue was built through part of the site, and a new London Pavilion Theatre opened on 30 November 1885 with a popular revue. The Pavilion was the first 'music hall deluxe', with marble-topped tables for dining in the auditorium. Turn right into Great Windmill Street and cross Shaftesbury Avenue… Shaftesbury Avenue, named after the 7th Earl, was built between 1877 and 1886 as part of a measure to clear out the St. Giles’ rookery. At this time London was a thriving city, but rapid expansion encouraged the growth of crime close to many prosperous areas where the narrow alleys, Bernard, Lord Delfont

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streets and courts formed evil-smelling, densely-populated, slums known as rook-eries. The architect, George Vulliamy, and the engineer, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, intended Shaftesbury Avenue to provide a north-south traffic artery through the over-crowded districts of St. Giles and Soho. It is considered to be the heart of London's West End theatre district, and is also the beginning of the London Chinatown. Great Windmill Street is believed to derive its name from a windmill that was marked here on a plan dated 1585 and placed on land owned by ‘Widow Go-lightly’. The windmill was built by Thomas Wilson, a local brewer. On your right are the redbrick remains of a house dating from 1766. In the 1880s the house was gutted to make room for the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. From around 1930 to 1950, this was a colourful and vi-brant area of Soho. The Windmill Theatre stands on the corner. In its heyday, this nude revue theatre saw the first Sir Joseph Bazalgette

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performances of some of Britain’s finest comedians and entertainers, such as Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers. At number 39, The Nosh Bar served tradi-tional Jewish food from 1944 until it closed for business in 2010. Its patrons were the local actors, boxers, barrow-boys, musicians and spivs, and the food was served with typical Jewish attitude. (The plaque which once was displayed nearby has disappeared and has not been included in the scoresheet even though we have a photograph of it.) Click here to view Nosh Bar plaque… Dr William Hunter (1718 - 1783) the famous physician and anatomical collector built a house here incorporating a very popular museum. The site is marked with a blue plaque overlooking an unusual collection of red London phone boxes. Above what is now ‘Jack Solomon’s Bar & Club’ there is a plaque celebrating a re-cord-breaking film run in the Moulin cine-ma which used to be here. The star of this and many other porn films was Mary Mil-lington once described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seven-ties”. In her later years she faced depres-sion and pressure from frequent police raids on her sex shop. Dr William Hunter

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After a downward spiral of drug addiction, shoplifting and debt, she died at home of an overdose of medications and vodka. She was just 33. In recent years her life and reputation have been placed in the context of her struggle against the repressive sex laws of that period. Turn into Archer Street on your right… This short street runs at the rear of both the Lyric and the Apollo theatres. The Apollo was the first to be built in the Edwardian period. It opened in 1901 after King Edward VII's reign began. Turn left along Rupert Street - then cross over into Winnett Street… At the end of Winnett Street you will come to War-dour Street and see the church of St Anne facing you… For a 20-year period after the Second World War, War-dour Street was right at the heart of Soho’s strip clubs bars and sex shops. Today it is the location of many up-market shops, restaurants and bars. The church of St Anne’s Soho was consecrated in 1686 by Bishop Compton and dedicated to Saint Anne because Compton had been tutor to Princess Anne before she became Queen. Christopher Wren was possibly the Mary Millington

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architect and it was built in what was then the open countryside of Soho Fields. The church was destroyed in the Blitz of 1940 apart from the tower and it was eventually rebuilt in 1990–1991 as a result of the Greater London Council's decision to keep Soho as a residential area after years of pressure from the arts world, local residents and the Soho Society. St Anne’s churchyard is worth a visit. Here is a memorial to Theodore of Corsica (1694-1756), a German adventurer who made himself briefly King of Corsica in the mid-18th century. When his grandiose schemes fell apart, he came to England to seek support but was forced to declare himself bankrupt and made over his 'kingdom' to his creditors. If you entered the churchyard, exit, turn right then right again into Old Compton Street and walk along this bustling street… Originally known as Compton Street, the thoroughfare, like its neighbour Dean Street, was named by the builder Richard Frith as a compliment to Henry Compton (1632–1713), Dean of the Chapel Royal and the Bishop of London. The name first appears in the 1679 Parish ratebooks. The Bishop might be a littler surprised at how this street has changed over the years! St Anne’s Soho by James McNeill WhistlerBishop Compton

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Here and throughout Soho, you can still see fine ex-amples or remnants of the terraces of early Georgian houses built by Frith and his contemporaries. Some have three or four storeys, others only two, but with their flat fronts, sash windows, decorations over the doorways and windows, they are prominent. This vibrant area is the centre of London's gay community with its bars, cafés and restaurants including the famous Admiral Duncan pub. The street is closed to vehicular traffic for the Soho Pride festival one weekend each year in late summer. Old Compton Street has some of the most popular and iconic shops, restaurants and cafes of Soho. It also re-sembles a Paris street, a legacy, perhaps, of Soho’s French Huguenot connections that go back several cen-turies. At number 59 the 2i’s Coffee Bar opened its doors to many of the early British Rock n’ Roll artists such as Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard. A Westminster green plaque commemorates this famous landmark. Close by, are two of the best known pubs and drinking places in the area. As you get to Dean Street you will see to your right The French House, a pub at various times called the York Minster. During the Second World War, it was a focal point for the gallant Free French forces, and was visited by General Charles de Gaulle. After the fall of France during the Second World War, the General es-caped to London where he formed the Free French Forces. His famous speech rallying the French people, "À tous les Français", is said to have been written in the pub.

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Thereafter it had a French landlord and sold more wine and spirits than beer, leading to a tradition of serving beer only in half-pints. Divert a little further in Dean Street to number 51 and you’ll see a traditional British corner pub – ‘The Golden Lion’. Licensed in 1728, this small 1930s building retains some of its original Younger's decor including some or-nate plasterwork on the ceiling and cornices. Noel Cow-ard used to be a regular in the pub and, in the 1980s, mass-murderer Dennis Nilsen picked up victims here. (Close by is the entrance to Chinatown – to be covered in a future walk) so do keep a lookout for this and other new walks by following our heritagewalks.london Tumblr blog. Return to Dean Street and look across the road for Frith Street…

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Frith Street dates from the early 1680’s and was probably named for the builder Richard Frith. It also appears in some re-cords from the time as Thrift Street. Number 22, now the Bar Italia, is where John Logie Baird first demonstrated his mechanical television system to members of the Royal Institute. This event is celeb-rated by another plaque at first floor level. At number 21 Wolfgang Amadeus Moz-art stayed with his sister Anne Marie and his father Leopold in 1764—5. As part of a Grand European Tour Leopold brought his two young prodigies to London and they became a sensation, especially when Wolfgang Amadeus was asked to exhibit his composing and playing skills by the audiences. A plaque marks his stay here. The Mozart FamilyJohn Logie Baird (1917)Baird in 1926 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill"

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Ronnie Scott’s jazz club occupies number 47 and has been an innovative and popular music venue since mov-ing here from nearby Gerrard Street in 1965. There are many other notable pubs, clubs and restaurants along this road. Above the door of Dr. John Snow's second London house at number 54 there is a blue plaque, commem-orating his illustrious career. He was a founder of modern epidemiology for his work in identify-ing the source of a cholera outbreak in 1854, clearly contradicting the prevailing miasma theory. Although overlooked at the time, his study would later be recognised as evidence for the germ theory of disease, which was established in the years after his death. Three of the finest houses in Frith Street are the location of Hazlitt's Hotel. The houses date from 1718. Note their fine doorways, railings and, typical of Georgian houses, the windows are smaller at the top. This building displays a handsome plaque to the famous essayist William Hazlitt who died here. At the top of Frith Street you will enter Soho Square. Take the road to your right… The Soho Square neighbourhood is still the most prestigious and expensive address for London’s media organisations. John SnowWilliam HazlittWm Hazlitt

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The origins of the name Soho Square are confusing as it is thought to have originally been named King’s Square after Charles II or its developer, Gregory King. There are also references to it being called Monmouth Square be-cause one of Charles’s sons, the Duke of Monmouth lived in a house here. What is known is that the building of the square com-menced in 1681. Some of the finest and biggest town houses of London were erected here. Numbers 10 are 15 are the original buildings. Other houses have since been modified, renovated or replaced in a sensitive way. As you enter Soho Square turn briefly left… …where number 32 displays a plaque erected to the memory of a famous eighteenth century botanist - Joseph Banks and two other famous botanists. Turn back and cross over Frith Street and walk on to Greek Street… Note the imposing building on the corner of Greek Street. The House of Charity, now known as the House of St. Barnabas-in-Soho, was established in 1846 for the relief of the destitute and the houseless poor in London. St Patrick’s was the first Catholic church built in England after the re-formation (1792). The French Protestant Church of 1550 is the only remainingHuguenot church in London, the first of which was founded under a charter issued by Edward VI (1547-1553).

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At number 20 you’ll see a plaque commemorating Ar-thur Onslow who was a long-serving Speaker of the House of Commons in the seventeenth century. Onslow's speakership was distinguished by his great integrity in a corrupt and jobbing age. His great achievement as Speaker was to assert the independence, authority, and impartiality of that post. Mary Seacole, (shown here), was a heroine of the Crimean War. She lived at number 14 Soho Square and a blue plaque celebrates her devotion to the British troops fighting alongside the French in Crimea. At the top of the square opposite Soho Street turn into the gardens… At the centre of the garden, there is a dis-tinctive half-timbered gardener's hut and a 1681 statue of Charles II by the Danish sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber. During the summer, the square hosts open-air free con-certs and on most sunny days is filled with office workers taking a lunch break. On leaving the gardens, exit west along Carlisle Street… Carlisle Street takes its name from a mansion built in the 1680’s and occupied by the Countess of Carlisle. The name was first noted in the 1785 ratebooks (compiled for local taxes), but it had previously been known variously as Marybone Street, Merry Andrew Street, Denmark Street and King’s Square Street. Mary Seacole

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At the end, cross Dean Street into the last part of Carlisle Street where the famous satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’ has its offices… Founded in 1961, it has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. It’s widely recognised for its prominent criticism and lampooning of public figures. It is also known for its in-depth investigative journalism into under-reported scandals and cover-ups. Number 6 displays a blue plaque in memory of John Christopher Smith - a friend and treasurer to the noted com-poser George Frederic Handel. Walk back to Dean Street, turn right and continue… Karl Marx lived on this street between 1851 and 1856, often in abject poverty and supported by friends, above what is now the popular restaurant Quo Vadis. His residence at number 28 is marked by a blue plaque. Joseph Rogers lived at number 33 and was a champion of reforms in the Poor Law. Beginning with a medical practice in London in 1844, he became a medical officer at St Anne's, Soho, in 1855, during an outbreak of cholera. The next year he was appointed medical Reproduced by kind permission of PRIVATE EYE magazine www.private-eye.co.uk

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officer to the infamous Strand workhouse. It was in this dreadful place that Rogers carried out his celebrated reforms in practice, against the determined opposition of the infamous workhouse master, George Catch, and the so-called Guardians of the workhouse. Eventually Rogers had Catch removed, on the grounds that he had delayed calling a doctor for a woman in pain giving birth, to save money. At Meard Street (on the right-hand side), turn right and enter the narrow passageway… This is a lovely old, angled street, now largely pedestrianised, with some inter-esting original Georgian houses. It is named after John Meard, a carpenter who developed it in the 1720s and 1730s from two sep-arate courts. The street name plaque is often photo-graphed for the pun with the French word ‘merde’. Note the plaque dedicated to Thomas Hearne a renowned water-colourist who lived at number 6. At the end of Meard Street turn right into Wardour Street… Until the 1600s, much of this area was hunting and arable land. Huntsmen on the chase cried out “So-ho” – per-haps a form of “tally-ho” – giving the area its name. Later in the century, a group of individual building tradesmen laid out thoroughfares across Soho and built houses on them. On one of the streets running north–south, British Thomas Hearne

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Treasury official Sir Archibald Wardour had several houses built on his land. By 1740, the street had been named after him. Wardour Street became a centre for furniture makers, antique dealers, musicians and book publishers. Today it is the focus for advertising, film and media companies. Many of the buildings are recently built or developed, and are often residential on the upper floors. Soho still has a significant residential population. Look out for the Westminster Council blue plaque at 90 Wardour Street celebrating the life of the legendary rock drummer, Keith Moon of ‘The Who’, performers here at the Marquee Club in the 1960s. Continue up to 163 Wardour Street… …where there is a blue plaque celebrating the life of the famous furniture designer Thomas Sheraton. Born at Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Sheraton had little education and worked at first as a journey-man cabinetmaker. He went to London about 1790 and is said to have "supported himself, a wife, and two children by his exer-tions as an author.” Sheraton's most important publication, The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, was issued in 49 separate parts between 1791 and 1794. His ideas repres-ented an advance on the neo-classic designs of Robert Adam and George Hepplewhite,

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being more elegant in the square shaped chair backs and mirror frames. Turn back to enter Broadwick Street turn left up to where this street opens up… On your immediate left is the Blue Posts where you’ll see a green Westminster plaque celebrat-ing the life of Jessie Matthews (see opposite). Born into a huge, poor family here in Soho, she became a big star of British stage and film in the late 1920s and 1930s. Although her career never quite relaunched after the second world war, she made a comeback when she replaced the lead actress in the radio soap opera "Mrs Dale's Diary" in the 1960s - a flagship BBC ra-dio production. Berwick Street market is open here during the week throughout the working day. There has been a market

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here since the 1700s but it is currently still under threat from development in the area. Across to your left is the John Snow pub which has a plaque and memorabilia celebrating the life and work of this pioneer epidemiologist. In 1854 there was an outbreak of cholera in this area of London. Dr John Snow traced the out-break to a public water pump nearby and disabled it, thus ending the outbreak. Be-fore this time, the disease was widely thought to be air-borne; Snow's findings showed it to be water-borne. A replica of the pump stands outside this pub. A house on the corner of Broadwick and Marshall Streets was the birthplace and childhood home of William Blake whose poetry and art are an important part of British national heritage. Continue across the wider part of Broadwick Street to view the row of houses on the northern side… One of these, number 54, displays a blue plaque com-memorating Charles Bridgeman, a noted Eighteenth century English landscape gardener. These houses re-semble Blake’s house which was sadly demolished. Retrace your steps and turn left into Poland Street and walk north… In the late 1600s, the ‘King of Poland‘ — an inn named the after the renowned leader John Sobieski who de- f e a t e d t h e Turks at the

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Battle of Vienna in 1683 — stood on this site and gave the street its name. Houses were first built here in the early 1700s, but only a few originals remain, sandwiched between office and warehouse build- ings dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. At 15 Poland Street there is a blue plaque to the memory of one of Britain’s greatest poets, Percy Bysshe Shelly. The video below records one of his poems: Cross Noel Street into Poland Street … On the right-hand side you will see The King’s Arms pub. It claims to be the oldest gay bar in Soho…. It also displays an unusual blue plaque commemorating the rebirth of the Order of Druids! Re-trace your steps and turn right into Great Marl-borough Street…

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Look for the stone plaque commemorating the stay of the famous nineteenth century Hungarian pianist, Ferenc Liszt. He was perhaps the outstanding pianist of his time. He was a bold innovator in composition, a brilliant con-ductor, an influential teacher and a writer on music. In 1865, towards the end of his eventful and romantic life the Pope admitted Liszt into Holy Orders and he spent his last years between Rome, Weimar, Budapest and Bayreuth, where he died in 1886. The street is named after John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), a famous English soldier and statesman. One of his descendants was Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), politician, states-man and author, and another was Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (1961-1997), wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Construction of the street, with many fash-ionable houses, started in the early 1700s but most of the present buildings date from the late 1800s and 1900s. They now house the head-quarters of international companies as well as major department stores. At numbers 19 - 21 there is a hotel that was once a Magistrate’s Court. Here cases were heard involving Oscar Wilde, Christine Keeler and Lord Profumo, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Francis Bacon. John, Duke of MarlboroughFerenc Liszt

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At Argyll Street, turn right and walk up towards Ox-ford Street… As you turn look across the road to see the famous London department store Liberty, famed for its appearance and style. Worth a quick visit! Argyll Street dates from circa 1735/36 and is named after John Campbell 2nd Duke of Argyll. The building on the corner has an interesting black marble façade and Ancient Egyptian-style decorations around the windows, doorways and balustrade. Look out for a plaque recording the stay, in a house on this street, of Germaine Necker, commonly known as Madame de Staël. There is also a recent plaque nearby to the memory of Brian Ep-stein who managed the Beatles. The 2,286-seater London Palladium has a distinctly Ancient Greek look. Designed by architect Frank Matcham, this Grade II listed building opened in 1910 behind the facade of Argyll House, the home of the Duke of Argyll in the early 1700s. The site had previously been called the Corinthian Bazaar and Exhibition Rooms (the name was taken from the Corinthian columns forming part of the classical front to Argyll Street) which featured an aviary. It then became the National Skating Palace John MatchamJohn SnowGermaine Necker

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with an indoor rink before finally becoming a variety theatre. When it opened, it had its own telephone system allowing the occupants of the boxes to call one another. It also featured a revolving stage that enabled lavish shows to be produced. Inside the main foyer of the Palladium there are two blue plaques. The first com-memorates Lew Grade, a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. In 1912, when Grade was five years old, his Jewish family escaped the pogroms by emigrating from Odessa, via Berlin to Lon-don and resettled in Shoreditch on Brick Lane in the East End of London. Grade was knighted in 1969 and created a life peer as Baron Grade, of Elstree in the County of Hertfordshire, in 22 1976. He chose Elstree as his territorial designation because his company’s studios were based there. The second commemorates Frankie Vaughan, one of Britain’s most popular singers who performed here many times. He also made several films, including one with Marilyn Monroe – Let's Make Love in 1960. (These plaques can only be viewed with permission). The Palladium presented many Royal Vari-ety Performances and in 1963 John Lennon caused a stir with his legendary Lew GradeFrankie Vaughan

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words “For our last number I’d like to ask for your help. Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewellery”. Two more plaques can be found on this part of the walk. The first is dedicated to Washington Irving, an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplo-mat of the early 19th century. He is best known for "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The second plaque is dedicated to Maj. General William Roy, the founder of the Ordnance Survey, who lived here. At Oxford Street, turn left and walk towards one of the Oxford Circus Station entrances, where this walk finishes

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