An ex work colleague who was maybe one of the best draughtsman I worked with left the business to set up a fruit and vegetable stall. I didn't know where he worked until he was interviewed on a London TV programme filming from Berwick street market.
Without wishing to kick off a new thread, does anyone remember Covent Garden as it appeared in that rather unpleasant Hitchcock movie 'Frenzy'? Or in older British films like 'Hue And Cry' or 'The Intruder'?
Also, has anyone ever bought a tie from a lady called Jane Ireland? I think she has a stall or something in that neck of the woods.
The Covent Garden of Frenzy was right at the end of an era as the market moved to Vauxhall very soon after. That footage is now some of the last from there at the time.
Elms show was good for trivia about various parts of London. The feature where a chap(Lederman?) took a bus journey from start to finish and gave a report on his impressions was good.
Elms had a couple of voices. His posh voice for his architect and arty pals and his corblimey voice for Dave from Dagenham who phoned in.
Last edited by Kingston1an (2021-10-29 03:56:57)
The old Formica caffs are sorely missed. Not coffee bars for poseurs, but places where you can get builders tea. I rushed around to visit a lot of them before they closed. Not just in Soho.
The New Piccadilly was fantastic. Cheap nosh. Waiters dressed like something out of ‘Thunderbirds’ and ‘The Archers’ on the wireless in the evening. It was never taken up by trendies like the Bethnal Green cafe Pellicci.
http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/topten.html
At least the River Cafe by Putney Bridge Tube station is still in business.
I remember Danny Baker taking the piss out of Elms and his changing accents. Danny also pulled him up on music listened to in the 1970s
My four year old grandson is currently having his first visit to London. I envy him. I well remember my first visit, in 1967, being taken to Carnaby Street, dressed in my quilted anorak and bobble hat, looking like a goy Woody Allen. I know, I've seen the black and white snaps. We'd have gone in the old man's VW Beetle, parked on a meter in a side street. I loved the Tube best of all. Loved all those movie posters as you went up or down the escalator.
Later, much later, when I was about twenty one, I used to go to a great little Italian caff somewhere near the GPO Tower. You got two courses (set menu) for next to nothing: a pasta dish and a slice of cake.
I love unpretentious caffs. Often run by Cypriots, doing egg, sausage and chips. Long may they be with us.
Danny Baker was entertaining. Though I did not care for the two regulars/hangers on on his show, one of whom - Amy Lame -became a nighttime London czar - for all the good that did.
I used to read Danny Baker's stuff in - 'Sounds', was it? - around 1977. Also that idiot Bushell. Burchill and Parsons were at the NME.
Looking back, that period, 1976-80 was bloody awful. Plenty going on but also too much aggro. A lot of people got hurt. I was relieved to be able to withdraw, smoke my French cigarettes and begin to try to misunderstand existentialism.
@Kingsto1an, wasn't there an old fashioned cafe at Kingston Railway Station ? I'm pretty sure I used to have a frothy coffee or two there many years ago.
Danny Baker wrote for the NME having started at Sniffin' Glue. Gary Bushell was at Sounds and, I would agree, a complete wanker. Buying Sounds and NME every week became a ritual. It was Thursday morning wasn't it?
That's right. Thursday morning. Straight round to the local newsagent. I'd only just finished doing the paper round for them in '75.
Possibly a cafe at Kingston station but not one I ever used.
Lots of cafes in Fife Road but not old fashioned Formica caffs.
This one was definitely old fashioned, glass cup & saucer, this was long before these awful Starbuck Costa places took root.
Had to wait for a table in Maison Bertaux this afternoon. One of the proprietor ladies treated mum in law like royalty.
Those same ladies are good sports according to our Gibson.
Jane Ireland is still going strong in Streatham Hill. Good for her.
Was in here yesterday. Almond crossaint and great coffee. Tania complimented my Vetra bleu de travail suit, striped Kamakura Vintage Ivy shirt, navy knit tie and Sebago beefroll loafers. As well she might. I did look dreamy...
Sounds a very desirable rig-out, TRS, if I may say so without appearing sicko-fantick.
I adore the name 'Tania', although the only one I know fairly well works in our local post office and has a good deal of starch in her knickers.