London Fictions |
|
This article appears in the book London Fictions, edited by Andrew Whitehead and Jerry White - and published by Five Leaves.
You can order it direct from the publishers by clicking here. |
Tally Ho!An area of grazing farmland until 1536, when it was claimed as a royal park for the palace of Whitehall by Henry VIII, the name Soho is believed to have come from a hunting cry. It was later used as a rallying call by the Duke of Monmouth at the battle of Sedgemoor, half a century after the name was first used for this region of London. The Crown leased the area to a succession of Earls who planned to develop the land to imitate Bloomsbury, Mayfair and Marylebone. But Soho never became as fashionable, mainly due to the French immigrants who flooded the area for work.
For a while, Soho was known as ‘le petit France.’ By the mid-18th century, the aristocrats of Soho Square and Gerrard Street had moved away. By the mid-19th century, prostitutes, theatres and music halls had moved in, and by the early 20th century, the area was popular among writers, artists and intellectuals. J.K. Rowling’s French great-grandfather worked in the area as a waiter in the period before the pubs of Soho became filled with drunken poets and artists. Soho’s reputation as a place of debauchery and hedonism was cemented in their prose, poetry and song. |
Today, Soho has retained that slightly grubby image, even though the area has changed a great deal. Due mainly to its fame as a place of entertainment, it’s a magnet for the rich and poor, boasting nightclubs, public houses, a few scattered sex shops, late night coffee shops, and chain restaurants side by side with more expensive eateries. There are record shops, London’s main gay village, churches and even a Hare Krishna temple. Gerrard Street is now Chinatown. Soho has become home to the media industry. The British Board of Film Classification has its home in Soho Square – the setting in Dead Air of Nott’s radio station Capital Live! – and the media and post-production community has moved into the area, connecting the heart of London with Pinewood and Shepperton studios. It's this rich and vibrant industry that Iain Banks has brought to life in his novel, the unseen characters and inner workings of a world we take a passive part in, yet know little of, hear but rarely understand. This one square mile has become a world unto itself, so much so that the neighbouring area, on the opposite side of Oxford Street, is ‘affectionately’ called Noho. There is a deep love for the village and what it represents, past and present, artistic and commercial. Soho epitomises London’s diversity, and continues to fascinate both visitors and residents alike. - COURTTIA NEWLAND
|