Walk: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll but I Like It!

Last Saturday, fourth in a row of five days of Meetup, I had to be up early-ish for Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies - this walk was It's Only Rock 'n' Roll but I Like It! Unfortunately, the event pages seem to be set up differently now, not allowing people to sign up without paying through PayPal, and incurring the fee. He's having to take people's names offline..this wasn't his intention, and I'm not sure what has happened, but someone should check the Meetup settings, because it doesn't happen for all groups.

The buses, mercifully, seem to be running properly again. That morning's travel entertainment was provided courtesy of a small child, who remarked to her mother (or whomever) that the gentleman nearby reminded her of her grandad.. the gentleman in question pretended to be offended at the suggestion he was so old.. All quiet apart from that, apart from the usual change of driver - which didn't even make me late.

Wow, it was nostalgic, walking up Tottenham Court Road to meet the group - a large one, which was nice (with almost everybody booking off Meetup, it was impossible to see the attendance in advance), and some faces I hadn't seen in an age. And as the walk continued back down the same way again, we were retracing the route I used to take to the office, when I lived around here! At the bottom of the road, Laurence reminded us that the Dominion Theatre used to be a concert venue:

..And doesn't Centrepoint look striking..?

Or course, it's a recent build - like so much around here - and the area has changed a lot: as we discussed, at a stop outside Soho Place:

Plenty of talk about venues that had closed down - but no music talk around central London would be complete without a stop in Denmark Street, whose music history goes back years - not just a place to buy musical instruments, it's also been home to recording studios:

..and is still a centre of music to this day:

In this photo - a plaque noting that this street is known as the "British Tin Pan Alley". Right above a Flat Iron, which was the beginning of the end of my love affair with them..

Moving on, we stopped on Charing Cross Road to view the old premises of St. Martin's College, which has seen its share of rock n roll history, students entering the music world:

We stopped outside the Phoenix Theatre. As I was telling people, it was right out the back door of my office, when I used to work here - my, but I miss working here:

Ah, and swinging around by what used to be our office building.. not only has the cinema next door closed down, but it seems the office building itself is being remodelled! The cinema, of course, had a previous life as a concert venue:

I remember this sign. ;-)

We'd have to pay a trip to Ronnie Scott's, where one of the group informed us she used to work:

Some signs of the music industry are still evident:

Compton's is a famous LGBTQ+ venue:

More musical plaques:

Our walk finally ended in the colour and bustle of Chinatown:

Many of the artists mentioned were, honestly, before my time, but it's no wonder the walk attracted such a crowd - they were real enthusiasts, practically taking over on occasion! And it was lovely to be able to associate these streets with so many things you wouldn't automatically bring to mind - they're dripping with history, but they hide it well.

Off then to The Lamb and Flag, Covent Garden, where our long table at the wall was waiting - and luckily, they'd also reserved the smaller table beside it, because there were enough coming for lunch to warrant it! And we had the loveliest, chattiest, longest lunch - the most sociable event I've been to in quite a while.. Another terrific day, with a great guide and a great group. Look forward to more.. 

Check out the next event in the next post.. I'm writing it separately.