Leicester Square

[somersetchris]

I did think that Wardour St did go south of Shaftesbury Avenue, but as it is over ten years since I was a courier I was not 100% and went by the map. So I should have said it is the block ringed by Whitcomb St, Lisle St, Leicester St and Swiss Court according to the map.

[funkydory]

Originally Posted by somersetchris

I did think that Wardour St did go south of Shaftesbury Avenue, but as it is over ten years since I was a courier I was not 100% and went by the map. So I should have said it is the block ringed by Whitcomb St, Lisle St, Leicester St and Swiss Court according to the map.

Have detailed maps of Central London from the 1960's and Wardour Street did go south of Shftesbury Avenue to the junction of New Coventry Street

[somersetchris]

Anyway, I hope that we have managed to clarify for others the location.

[chrissyb]

I get it now - I only lived in the smoke for 14 years - not enough time to understand Leicester Sq!

[JDRS]

Walking past this the other night it was great to see all the historic buildings together that surround this site. It looked like the ideal location for a city square but thinking about it some more I think an opaque building with plenty of adequate space around it at its base will look good too. Let's hope the proposal impresses us all because it would be such a waste of an incredibly important plot otherwise.

[fitz44]

Originally Posted by funkydory

Have detailed maps of Central London from the 1960's and Wardour Street did go south of Shftesbury Avenue to the junction of New Coventry Street

Lol it still does!



The site (in red) is bordered by Wardour St, Lisle St, Leicester St and New Coventry St (pedestrianised) I would always view Google Maps (and similar) with a degree of caution, they are often slightly out.

[Lostboy]

old buildings are becoming increasingly rare in London, the remainders deathmasks, the smaller ones neglected into eyesores. The fabric of the city is being replaced by the square, flat topped glass and concrete box. One day London's going to look like Beijing or Moscow, the greatest hits restored, the rest bland and money grabbingly utilitarian, the optimum formula of minimum spend + maximum gain.

I agree, no wonder London is the ugliest of major European Capitals, you treat your heritage as if it was a paedophile uncle, not a loving grandmother.

[potto]

how very old skool of you

[Lostboy]

London is ugly compared to virtually all other European Capitals, that is undeniable.

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by potto

how very old skool of you

But it is true ; London generally is an ugly city and it is indeed the ugliest of European Capitals.Visit Lisbon Madrid Paris Rome Berlin etc and see for yourself!

[Lostboy]

The thing that makes me sad is it need not have been that way, London had so much potential and it has squandered it all.

[El_Greco]

What makes me sad is that we are still destroying our heritage.

[Lostboy]

That's partly what I meant, in the seventies it was fine Victorian and Edwardian Buildings for concrete boxes, in this decade it is for glass boxes. London is becoming architecturally souless.

[Lostboy]

London is not a beautiful city, but to call it ugly is very simplistic. There are still many beautiful districts in London, Mayfair, Marylebone, South Kensington, Hampstead etc.

That's true and I love Hampstead but that's no excuse to destroy the few remaining aesthetic areas of the Centre of London.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

But it is true ; London generally is an ugly city and it is indeed the ugliest of European Capitals.Visit Lisbon Madrid Paris Rome Berlin etc and see for yourself!

London is not a beautiful city, but to call it ugly is very simplistic. There are still many beautiful districts in London, Mayfair, Marylebone, South Kensington, Hampstead etc. Also, go outside of Paris' and Madrid's city centres and you will see many ugly suburbs. In fact, London has some of the most beautiful suburbs of all the major European cities.

And Berlin????? While it seems like a very modern dynamic city, 75% of it was razed in the war and most of it was constructed betwen the 60s and the 80s, so you could hardly call it beautiful. Their modern buildings do put London's in the shade though.

[Manuel]

London is ugly indeed but we dont usually visit London to see some rigid anal retentive straight avenues with piazzas built by a handfull of bourgeois.

We visit London to see a city built by the world.

[Snowy]

.........anyway, I don't really think of London as a "European" city as such. In many ways London has more in common with cities such as New York, Tokyo and Sydney - none of which are particularly beautiful cities - than it does Paris, Madrid and Prague and this isn't a recent thing either. Pre-war, much of central London (e.g. the City, Covent Garden and Soho) was filled with simple brick buildings and warehouses, built for industry, not for beauty.

No-one ever goes on about how ugly New York is, they ignore the many ugly boxy towers that they threw up in the 60s and instead focus on the beautiful old skyscrapers and those iconic old apartment blocks with the fire escapes. London is far more beautiful than New York (even though their skyline is clearly miles better) and yet people still bang on about "ugly old London".

You see we are actually really lucky, to live in a city with the dynamism of New York or Tokyo, which in my opinion doesn't exist anywhere else in Europe, except perhaps Moscow, to have that REALLY big-city feel, but also to have the beautiful old Victoriana which still exists in much of the West End and inner London suburbs AND still have a 1000 year-old castle and an 800 year-old Abbey too.

[Manuel]

Madrid should not be on the list of the bold and beautiful. Madrid is ugly as is London.

Agree with you SnowyBoy, London should not even been considered European. It has lost the flavour and gain a global tone.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by Manuel

Agree with you SnowyBoy, London should not even been considered European. It has lost the flavour and gain a global tone.

ExactlY!!! And as far as global cities go, it may well be the MOST beautiful.

[Snowy]

................even if it has the worst skyline!