Swedish Strip

Swedish Strip, 24 Brewer Street, Soho, City of Westminster, London W1, 2002 • Not a pine emporium but a peep show, now a dying genre in Soho. By 2017 it […]

V&P Fox Master Locksmiths

V&P Fox Master Locksmiths, 91a St Martin’s Lane, City of Westminster, London WC2, 2015 • Tiny trad locksmith (est 1969) in big grand entrance.  

Biman

Biman, 49 Counduit Street, City of Westminster, London W1, 2016 • A Mayfair airline office that’s still there, with classic 1960s-style sign – they’ve even got the regulation model plane.

Aysel & Aysel Souvenirs, St Anne’s Church

Aysel & Aysel Souvenirs, St Anne’s Church, 67 Shaftesbury Avenue, […]

26 Bedfordbury (Peter’s Gents Hairdressers)

26 Bedfordbury (Peter’s Gents Hairdressers), 26 Bedfordbury, City of Westminster, […]

Global London College (Ryman)

Global London College (Ryman), 149 Fleet Street, City of London, EC4, 2015 • Maybe it’s a play on GLC (Greater London Council), a body which was abolished in 1986. This […]

Pret A Manger (Fleet Street)

Pret A Manger (Fleet Street), 143 Fleet Street, City of London, London EC4, 2015 • An executed Caledonian queen gazes down on hasty diners – for this building is Mary Queen […]

Crowson & Sons Ltd

Crowson & Sons Ltd, 17-23 Farringdon Road, City of London, London EC1, 2004 • Nice mid-century building (note tiny replacement ‘s’ on ‘Sons’) selling fancy cheeses no more; it was knocked down […]

Evans & Witt

Evans & Witt, 58 Long Lane, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • Purveyor of stationery supplies to the meat trade. Still there, along with conjoined neighbour Smithfield Cafe, featured yesterday.

Smithfield Cafe

Smithfield Cafe, 59 Long Lane, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • 24-hour pit-stop for Smithfield’s traders and, more recently, hipsters. I think it’s still there, though the area is changing swiftly. […]

Catering Meats (Smithfield)

Catering Meats (Smithfield), 308 London Central Markets, Smithfield, Charterhouse Street, London EC1, City of London, 2004 • A more utilitarian but no less period Smithfied frontage than yesterday’s. This one’s […]

Edmund Martin Ltd

Edmund Martin Ltd, 3 Lindsey Street, Smithfield, City of London, EC1, 2004 • Sigh, you don’t see many tripe dressers around these days. It’s now a giant hole in the […]

M. Landaw

M. Landaw, 5 Eagle Place, City of Westminster, London SW1, 2003 & 2014 (bottom) • Stylish alleyway newsagent looking straight out of Vienna. Not only has it disappeared, the entire […]

Sir Robert Peel, Krystals Express

Sir Robert Peel, Krystals Express, 178 Bishopsgate, City of London, London EC2, 2004 • Something of an oddity – commemorative 1930s tiling on a circa 1900 pub named after the prime […]

Shoe Repairs (London EC2)

Shoe Repairs, 28 Liverpool Street, City of London, London EC2, 2005 • Exuberant swirly 1970s-style logo for this generically-titled kiosk, now probably disappeared from the smartened-up Liverpool Street Station area.

Casella

Casella, 8 Salisbury Court, City of London, London EC4, 2004 • Italian caff with classic glass numbers. Still there in 2012, but the left-hand 8 had been covered with a “modern” one.

Wimpy Bar (Soho)

Wimpy, Soho, City of Westminster, London W1, 1983 • Gloomy-looking punters, from the days when there were still more Wimpy Bars than McDonalds.

Y2K

Y2K, 33 Liverpool Street, City of London, London EC2, 2006 • A video library for the new millennium – how wrong can you get.