Thursday, 27 December, 2018
There are two enduring memories of going to the west end at Christmas as a child and teenager. The beautiful windows, especially at Selfridges, and the magic of Liberty at Christmas. I’d have saved some money and off I’d go. I remember nothing of the window displays now other than they were beautiful, and so many of them. I’d always feel I could go window shopping on Oxford Street and not care if I bought a thing. The looking was even better than buying – since it was unlimited. Then Liberty always felt like a hidden treasure. Even today I know people who aren’t sure where it is or say they haven’t seen it.
This year I hadn’t made it down to the west end, ‘up west’ as they say. I made a plan to get there before the lights were turned off and I knew I couldn’t see it all in one trip. So I planned two. Part one would take me from Covent Garden to Chinatown, Soho, Regent Street, and Oxford Street. Part two would take me to Piccadilly, Bond Street, then New Bond Street, and up to Selfridges. Even then I wouldn’t see it all. No Trafalgar Square, no Marylebone…but that’s OK.
I don’t think I went to Covent Garden when I was younger. If I did, I don’t remember it. At any rate, it would have been a wholesale market and not that interesting to me. Now I know it really well and, although I put it low on my list because of the crowds of tourists, there are some things I do like about it and some shops you can’t find anywhere else – it is where the most concentrated collection of shoe shops is, so yes I do go sometimes. This time it was about the shops and the lights and the little inside courtyards I wanted to see.
Around Covent Garden there’s theatre land. London tends to have a lot of smaller theatres, yet every one seems to have an actor or three who’s a household and Hollywood name. You’ll see British theatre royalty in London.
We walked from Covent Garden to Chinatown next, This Chinatown didn’t exist when I was a child – it wasn’t here until the 70s. The main streets of today’s Chinatown are Gerrard Street and Wardour Street, and it sits on its own real estate like a separate little town. Wikipedia tells me there are now over 80 restaurants. and we had a lacklustre Vietnamese meal, leading Krish to proclaim that he’s had it with Vietnamese restaurants in London from now on. We’ll see! As an aside, damn Instagram with its beautiful food photos. The meals rarely match the promise of the pictures and I should learn.
We took a quick look at Regent Street but, as beautiful as it was with its huge hovering angels, it’s last year’s lights and time is ticking, so I took a photo and moved on.
When I was a teenager, the biggest treat was to come to Carnaby Street. It didn’t look like much in those days but this was the home of affordable fashion in the Swinging Sixties. I’d save my money and come along to find a bargain and I always did. One year I saved a bunch and put it in my pocket. I found something fabulous on a rack in a small store but, when I went to pay, my pockets were empty. Pickpocketed! Or maybe clumsily spilled out! I was heartbroken and learned a lesson – no, I didn’t! I still put my money carelessly into a pocket. I can’t go there now without remembering this and clutching my bag a little closer.
Today it’s a pedestrian area with crowds of people and no independent stores. Cute but disappointing. However, at Christmas the lights here are the most compelling of all of London. They are numerous and vividly coloured and it’s a shame my camera turns everything to white light so I’ve found commercial photos here that does it justice. This year it’s a tribute to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
For me, the main attraction is Liberty. It looks like it could have been there for hundreds of years, with its eclectic Tudor design, but it’s actually not even a hundred years old. It was built in 1924, and was constructed with the timbers of two ships — the HMS Hindustan and HMS Impregnable. Inside there are small galleries of shops with a central well, overlooked from the balconies of the floors above. At night you can’t see the building so well and for some reason this year the usual glorious floral and greenery display is missing, but it’s still lovely, even on this brief visit.
This year, the decorations are somewhat subdued but with a giant hot balloon hanging from the ceiling in the main gallery. As a teen, I’d come into this gallery and look through the iconic silk printed scarves and dream of owning one one day. And now I have one, a small square given to me by my best friend, Barbra many years and a lifetime go.
I’ll come back on a quieter day and take more photos. It’s worth its own blog.
My last stop was Oxford Street,. It has changed a lot since I was a child and enjoyed every minute of my walks there. Today it’s full of franchises and cheap souvenir and clothing stores, a place I go reluctantly and leave quickly. Nostalgia isn’t really enough any more.
We found the 55 bus to Hackney and climbed upstairs. From there the crowds were more evident. I was glad to not be among them and was on the wrong side to capture the scope of it but this sight of McDonald’s was enough!
And so home..!