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In Search Of The Alleys Of Old London

October 26, 2024
by the gentle author

Cover price is £35 but you can buy it from Spitalfields Life for £30

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The Gentle Author will be giving an illustrated lecture, showing David Hoffman’s photos and telling the stories behind them on Thursday 7th November  7:30pm at Wanstead Tap, 352 Winchelsea Rd, E7 0AQ

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I set out in the footsteps of Alan Stapleton seeking ‘London’s Alleys, Byways & Courts’ that he drew and published in a book in 1923, which I first encountered in the archive at Bishopsgate Institute.

It is a title that is an invitation to one as susceptible as myself to meander through the capital’s forgotten thoroughfares and my surprising discovery was how many of these have survived in recognisable form today.

Clearly a kindred spirit, Stapleton prefaces his work with the following quote from Dr Johnson (who lived in a square at the end of an alley) – ‘If you wish to have a notion of the magnitude of this great city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but survey its innumerable little lanes and courts.’

Jerusalem Passage, Clerkenwell

Jerusalem Passage, Clerkenwell

St John’s Passage, Clerkenwell

St John’s Passage, Clerkenwell

Passing Alley, Clerkenwell

Passing Alley, Clerkenwell

In Pear Tree Court, Clerkenwell

In Pear Tree Court, Clerkenwell

Faulkner’s Alley, Clerkenwell

Faulkner’s Alley, Clerkenwell

Red Lion Passage, Holborn

Red Lion Passage is now Lamb’s Conduit Passage, Holborn

Devereux Court, Strand

Devereux Court, Strand

Corner of Kingly St & Foubert’s Place, Soho

Corner of Kingly St & Foubert’s Place, Soho

Market St, Mayfair

Market St is now Shepherd Market, Mayfair

Crown Court, St James

Crown Court is now Crown Place, St James

Rupert Court, Soho

Rupert Court, Soho

Meard St, Soho

Meard St, Soho

Alan Stapleton’s images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute

You may also like to read about

Alan Stapleton’s Alleys, Byways & Courts

The Lost World of the Alleys

5 Responses leave one →
  1. Greg T permalink
    October 26, 2024

    Ely Passage/Place?

  2. Bernie permalink
    October 26, 2024

    That takes me back! The Conway Hall was one of my favourite venues because of the chamber music concerts held there. One of my teen-age haunts in the nineteen sixties!

  3. Mark permalink
    October 26, 2024

    Alley’s are menacing and full of dog shit.

    Also interesting, a new alley is like a tunnel to the unknown.

  4. saga permalink
    October 26, 2024

    Lovely, charming, precise drawings. These are treasures.

    As far as the actual places — they look dangerous. I would not want to walk there after dark especially.

  5. Marcia Howard permalink
    October 28, 2024

    Great contrasts, Drawings vs Photos. Thank you

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