Category Archives: Curiosities

Walking Every Street in Soho

Written on April 2, 2013 9:29 am by in Curiosities, Food & Drink, Guided Walks, History, Maps, Memorials, Music, Photography, Street Art

I have been walking around Soho for many years and thought that I must have walked every street, I didn’t realise until very recently just how difficult it would be to know for sure that I had.

Crossrail has obliterated some streets, others have been built over, one is almost filled by a Chinese restaurant, another oddly named street is still there (just about) but goes unmarked.

No single map I know of contains every street, court, mews etc.. Depending upon personal interpretation there are at least 119 thoroughfares left but no more than 130. The only way to see them all is to walk the streets. For a couple of months I did this armed with a clipboard, a variety of maps and a vigilant eye.

What I can be certain of now is that I have indeed walked every street in Soho, the well known, the new, the obscure and the dubious.

In a truly nerdish way I  analysed the results of my labours. I share with you here a chart showing the breakdown of names of every Soho thoroughfare:

Every Street In Soho - Pie Chart

Every Street In Soho

I have also started taking groups of walkers on a day long tour to enable them to say that they too have “walked every street in Soho”.

Last week I was joined by an intrepid group of London enthusiasts. We started at 10am and walked through snow and wind until 6pm, stopping only for coffee, drinks and lunch. At the end of the day we toasted our achievement with cocktails and every participant was presented with a unique souvenir.

It was such a good day that I’ll be repeating this event again in July, if you would like to join me you can find more details here or you can book tickets using this form.

If you would like to be among the first to hear of other new walks I’ve got planned please subscribe to my irregular newsletter using the link at the top of this page.

The author of this blog is a fully qualified and insured City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours and private tours in London.

All Public Walking Tours are bookable here via Eventbrite.

I also offer Private Tours, Private Events and provide Consultancy Services for media and education professionals in London. You can read Reviews of  Walks and see some recent projects here. Please feel free to contact me about any of these services.

If you liked this post, or found it useful, please share it.
Email Forward to a friend
4 Comments - Leave a comment!

The Old Electricity Showrooms Shoreditch

Written on January 10, 2013 2:26 pm by in Curiosities, History

The Electricity Showrooms in Shoreditch is now a bar but it was once part of a far-sighted Borough Council initiative.

The Electricity Showrooms Today

The Electricity Showrooms Shoreditch Today

Eighty years ago it looked very similar, the new bar has even kept most of the original signage.

Electricity Showrooms Shoreditch - 1933

Electricity Showrooms Shoreditch – 1933

The Electricity Showrooms, in Hoxton Street, were opened by Shoreditch Borough Council in 1929 and yes, they sold and demonstrated all sorts of domestic electrical items here. But the showrooms were also an important part of a far more ambitious and egalitarian civic plan, to bring the benefits of electricity to all.

For it was here that local residents could sign up for the council’s innovative “Rental Wiring Scheme” which was launched in 1926. The aim of the scheme was to:

Make it possible for every householder in the Council’s area of supply to have electricity for lighting purposes. Under the scheme the consumer does not incur any expense whatever for the necessary wiring and fittings. A first-class installation, complete with lamps and shades is fixed in each house by the Department’s own staff, and where there are several tenants, separate slot meters are fixed for each tenant, if desired. The installations are kept in good order by the Electricity Department.

For this service consumers paid 1 1/2 d above the normal rate for electricity. The scheme was a huge success, by 1933, nearly 14,000 installations had been completed.

Of course today a local council wouldn’t be involved in supplying electricity to residents, let alone wiring their houses and allowing them to choose their own lampshades. But Shoreditch Borough Council and its predecessor local authority, the Vestry of St Leonard’s, took particular pride in their electrical innovation.

In 1897 Shoreditch was the first borough in England, if not the world, to build an electrical generator powered by burning rubbish. It was named The Dust Destructor.

The Dust Destructor Shoreditch 1902

The Dust Destructor Shoreditch 1902

The original green power station stood in Coronet Street, the building is still there today and marked by a plaque. The borough was also one of the first to light and lay electrical mains in almost every street.

Until its 1965 amalgamation into the London Borough of Hackney, even Shoreditch Borough Council’s motto reflected its pride in civic technological innovation.

More Light, More Power - Shoreditch Borough Council's Motto

More Light, More Power – Shoreditch Borough Council’s Motto

If you are interested in Shoreditch’s past and future and you would like to make a positive difference to the area, why not come to the Changify Shoreditch 2 event on January 25th & 26th? See the link for full details of this event.

The author of this blog is a fully qualified and insured City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours and private tours in London.

All Public Walking Tours are bookable here via Eventbrite.

I also offer Private Tours, Private Events and provide Consultancy Services for media and education professionals in London. You can read Reviews of  Walks and see some recent projects here. Please feel free to contact me about any of these services.

If you liked this post, or found it useful, please share it.
Email Forward to a friend
1 Comment - Leave a comment!

Do Something Unusual this Christmas in London

Written on November 23, 2012 12:39 pm by in Curiosities, Guided Walks

There is still an opportunity to join me and an intrepid group of walkers as we explore a deserted London at dawn on Christmas Day.

Piccadilly Circus on Christmas Morning

Christmas in London – Piccadilly Circus on Christmas Morning

Our tour starts at 6am. Together we will walk through the eerily deserted streets, past some of London’s most iconic sites. We will almost certainly be the only people in Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden, Oxford Street and Regent Street will be empty and traffic free. I wrote a blog post about Christmas Day in London and that might give you a flavour of what to expect.

If you have never seen London empty, this is really the only opportunity to do so all year. It is a really magical tour for both locals and visitors. All of my other tours on Christmas Day have completely sold out but there are a very limited number of places left on the 2012 6am tour, bookings via Eventbrite.

Private Bookings

In the run up to Christmas I am leading a variety of bespoke walks and events for office and private parties, if you still need to organise something why not get in touch?

Public Walks

I am leading just three more of public walks in 2012, they are my most popular ones. There are still limited spaces on all three, click on the dates for more details and bookings.

Public Talks

As part of a series of talks I am also leading a “Virtual Tour of Oddities of Strand” at The Step in Wood Green on  Thursday 6th December.

All of my walks, talks and events are available to buy as gifts and any of them can be specially tailored for private groups. If you are interested, please drop me a line and we can chat through the options walks@peterberthoud.co.uk .

If you liked this post, or found it useful, please share it.
Email Forward to a friend
1 Comment - Leave a comment!
« Older Posts