Derelict London

[Dexter St. Clair]

I heard an item on Radio 4's Today programme on teh launch of a book called Derelict London. I'm sure details will appear later on the programme's website.

Here's the author's site

Derelict London

This is part of what he's fighting against.

[Lucky Poet]

Ah, excellent! I stumbled upon that site a couple of years back, forgot to bookmark it, and had completely forgotten about it since. Some of the photos are fantastic, especially the abandoned transport bits.

[floweredpig]

I have a DVD called The London Nobody Knows which is an hour long documentry tour round some of Londons forgotten areas and sights.
It was made in 1967 and is presented by James Mason.I would think all HG memebers would love it,most of the parts of London he shows you are gone now including an alley where Jack the Ripper murdered Martha Tabram.
There are usually copies on EBay.

[Toby Dammit]

Wow, hadn't seen the Derelict London site before, thanks for that!

most of the parts of London he shows you are gone now

What I find more surprising about the movie is how much of it still survives. Clearly the film makers expected that Manzies eel pie and mash shop in Chapel Market (indeed the whole Market itself), the so called "Wren House", the Sally Army homeless hostel in Camden and the utterly derelict Fournier Street would all soon vanish. Instead they are all still here.

The "Wren House" is right in the heart of the tourist complex of Tate Modern, the reconstructed Globe Theatre and the wobbely bridge, Chapel Market is flourishing and Fournier Street is one of the most desirable addresses on the edge of the city with it's rows of perfectly restored 18th century buildings.

It is a quirky film too, with it's rather lenghty montage of mini skirted dolly birds wandering up and down Carnaby Street (surely the "London everybody knows") and even more bizarre, the egg smashers on Tower Bridge Warf. Now there's an industry which if it ever actually existed is long gone.

[floweredpig]

I checked on Amazon this morning and it's available for under a tenner.
Minder repeats on ITV4 are always good for a bit of London background scenery,they seem to have been filmed around Notting Hill area when it was still a bit run down and "full of local colour" as opposed to full of Deli's selling 40 different types of Olive and people with children called Hugo and Cosmo.
As you live there Toby correct me if i am wrong.

[Toby Dammit]

As you live there Toby correct me if i am wrong.

I'm afraid I haven't seen an episode of MINDER for years, so I can't say. Sticking with Waterman though, THE SWEENEY is packed with old London locations, some now gone or gentrified. The series was made by Euston Film's of course, confusing name as they were based in perennially unfashionable Hammersmith. The vast majority of the exteriors were filmed near their office on Colet Court, including the famous opening sequence in Colet Gardens. The distinctive and rather ugly tower block on that street (still standing) can be seen in the background of episode after episode, indeed you can play a bit of a silly game going through the entier series of "spot the Colet Gardens tower".

[floweredpig]

Having trawled the internet series one and two of Minder were filmed in Hammersmith,Shepherds Bush, West Kensington and Notting Hill.
They were also made by Euston Films and brodcast between October 1979 and December 1980.It wasnt a big sucess initially and was to be dropped until the decision was made to enhance Arthurs' role and the comic element which isnt as prevelant in the first two series which are a bit grittier and all the better for it.
Another good London site,which i believe is tagged elsewhere,is http://www.classiccafes.co.uk.
We have got Boni's though!

[gap74]

The London Nobody Knows is still very much in print, and a fascinatingly odd curio.

Sadly, the derelict theatre near the start is gone now, but as someone born of a time when Buckie drinkers are demonised, it's interesting to see the real hard stuff here with a bunch of fellas guzzling meths straight from the bottle.

The DVD comes with an altogether different but equally odd short musical romance, Les Bicyclettes De Belsize - about a young man with a penchant for mustard yellow clothing who lives on a roof and rides around on his bike fantasising about billboard models....

Also of interest are two upcoming releases from no less than the BFI:

London in the Raw (1964) and its follow-up, Primitive London (1965). Details are here and here.