Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Meard St, Soho W1

I love Soho in general but I particularly love the relatively untouched Georgian facade and street-scapes that are still quite prevalent (I have previously written about Broadwick St).  It's unbelievable to think that in the early 70s the majority of Soho was earmarked for demolition and redevelopment (read about it here) - the recent Crossrail activities are a bitter taste of what could have been much larger scale destruction of one of London's most interesting neighbourhoods.  In terms of Georgian Soho, Meard St (yes - like anyone else with a smattering of French, it makes me snigger, despite the different spelling) is one of the best examples.  Running between Dean St and Wardour St, Meard St is an absolute gem.  Famous more recently as the address of Soho
dandy Sebastian Horsley, Meard St began its life in the early 18th century and much of it was built by John Meard Junior and his father (and as such was originally called Meard's Street).  I have always hankered to live in one of the flat fronted, wooden-shuttered Georgian terraces but these days you probably need a cool £2m+ (maybe I should start putting ads on the blog....).  So in your wanderings around Soho, make sure you take a stroll down Meard St - as well as a great east to west shortcut it's a truly lovely reminder of the Soho of old.
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2 comments:

  1. Adelai12 February 2012 at 23:54

    Great street - we took your advice and wandered down there on Friday on a visit to London. Was of course a freezing cold day, but was great to see into some of those little houses as they had their lights on approaching evening. All the walls were wood panelled! Amazing. Thanks for the tip. We followed it with a coffee in the amazing Bar Italia which I guess you know about?

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  2. LondonRob13 February 2012 at 15:01

    Hi Adelai - so glad you took a wander down Meard St, isn't it cool? You should check out Dean St & Broadwick St as well. Bar Italia has great atmosphere and is one of those Soho institutions that I hope will always be there but I'll be honest, the last coffee I had there was pretty average. I do remember when that was the only place to get a decent coffee though - so I maintain the necessary respect!

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