Fans of London鈥檚 Soho fear for its future
Print Edition
A wine bar in place of a sex shop, luxury apartments where a cabaret once stood 鈥 fans of London鈥檚 once glorious, seedy Soho district fear that it will soon be regenerated beyond recognition.
鈥淲e really would like to know that this cherished golden mile is not going to resemble something that looks like Singapore airport,鈥 said Tim Arnold, a musician who has founded the 鈥淪ave Soho鈥 campaign.
Soho. Just four letters describe a mythical place that for generations has been a hub of counter-culture, somewhere for musicians, actors, gay people, night owls and anyone else who fancied it to live, work and play.
Karl Marx fomented his revolution here; The Who and legions of other rock groups were discovered here.
For more than 100 years, the rich came here to 鈥渟lum it,鈥 while the bored came because there was always something going on.
But now, it is hard to keep track of the cabaret bars, music venues and sex clubs that have closed, from Madame Jojo鈥檚 to the 12 Bar Club to Pink Pussycat, driven out by soaring rents as developers move in.
鈥淚 do believe that Soho will lose its soul,鈥 said Kathy Martin, who runs the Enigma Ball events for transgender people.
On Walkers Court, described by novelist Howard Jacobson as a 鈥渟uppurating alleyway of sexual half-promises,鈥 there is only one 鈥渁dult鈥 bookshop left 鈥 and probably not for long.
Even a former police station has been turned into flats, while the arrival of a new underground train line through the capital has spread the disruptive effect beyond Soho鈥檚 immediate borders.
Denmark Street, an alley once home to music publishers, guitar shops and performance spaces and where Led Zeppelin鈥檚 Robert Plant still goes to buy his strings, is making way for a newly modernised Tottenham Court Road station.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sad, we need to keep Soho sexy,鈥 said Sara, one of the last sex workers who still operate in flats here.
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