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Fleet Street and the Strand
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Fleet Street 1896:
The very centre of the newspaper enterprise of England can be marked on the London map very near the middle of Fleet Street – or on the spot shown in this view. Within half a mile from this point some of the greatest newspapers in the world work and think for millions of readers.
Good, honest, hard work is done in and about Fleet Street and goes forth to the whole English-speaking race. Fleet Street might also be called the nursing mother of English literature. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Raleigh, Dryden, Johnson, Goldsmith, there names brilliant even in brilliant times, are closely associated with this famous street.
A tavern street, as well as a literary centre, Fleet Street was and is. The newest national newspaper and the older style tavern still jostle each other now as they did a century or more ago.
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Fleet Street today: Britain’s newspapers moved out of Fleet Street long ago, but its legend lives on and the UK press is still sometimes collectively known as 'Fleet Street'.
Very little of the buildings in the Circa 1896 image still survive. In fact, it was quite hard to find the location where the late Victorian photographer had stood; I had to use the buildings near Ludgate Circus as my guiding point and work my way back.
A number of the old ‘taverns’ still continue to pour pints, but to city types these days, rather than sub editors, writers and hacks.
One structure of great worth built since the Victorian era is the sleek and shining black art deco building that once housed the Daily Express. It still has the power to turn my eye every time I pass it.
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The Strand circa 1896: This famous thoroughfare stretches from Temple Bar to Trafalgar Square and was so named because it skirted the bank of the river, which is, however, now concealed by buildings.
From early morning to past midnight the Strand is more frequent than any other London street. As all the world knows, it is the locality of the principal theatres, the law courts, the Inland Revenue Department, and not a few important newspaper offices, and many of the best shops.
Entering the Strand from the east and passing the law courts and the site of Temple Bar, one comes to the church of St Clement Danes in the centre of the Strand, which was erected in 1688 from the designs by Wren.
The tower, 115 feet in height, was added by Gibbs in 1719. The building is fine of its kind, but not extensive and it stands, as it were, in the centre of the roadway of the Strand, in line with the houses that form the southern side of Hollywell Street.
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The Strand today: Getting this shot was difficult. If I had stood exactly where my late Victorian counterpart had been, then I would have been mown over by the traffic. While not spectacular, I like St Clement Danes, if only because it was such an strange place – one of London's busiest thoroughfares – to build a church.
Overall the Strand still has cachet with visitors from around the world and this is reflected in its character – hotels, theatres and bright light drinking holes still abound. On the right of the shot from today, one can also see how international cuisine – in this case a Thai restaurant – has become interwoven in the fabric of life. Whisper it, so as not to let the French hear, but London's restaurants both high end and medium end are far superior to anything to be found in Paris.
The traffic coming down the Strand can be horrendous, with jams stretching its entire width. The problem is then exacerbated by roadworks that finish at one point only to spring up at another spot.
One of the greatest hotels of the modern age – the Savoy – is on the Strand. Established in the late Victorian era, the great, the good and the filthy rich have all at one time or another been seen at the Savoy. Today it is being renovated. Its attached theatre was made famous in the late nineteenth Century by Gilbert and Sullivan. The Aldwych Theatre and the Lyceum are also on the Strand and both were globally famed in the late Victorian era.
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The West Strand circa 1896: From early morning to past midnight the Strand is more frequent than any other London street. As the world knows, it is the locality of principal theatres, the law courts, the Inland Revenue Department, and not a few important newspaper offices and many of the best shops.
The above view shows the extreme western part of the famous thoroughfare, just opposite Charing Cross station, part of which is seen immediately on the right.
On the left has seen the West Strand Telegraph office, one of the busiest in all London and he's operators could tell many romantic story.
The general aspect of this particular part of London is animated in the extreme. In the evening, the footpath on the right just outside Charing Cross station is occupied by a more or less regular road of energetic new tenders and somehow, standing here, one feels that one is in touch with the whole civilised world. Traffic is prodigious for all the ‘buses stop here and ' butterfly' cabmen drive slowly past in the hope of picking up a fare at this busy spot.
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The West Strand today:
This part of the Strand is still one of London’s busiest places, with Charing Cross station the catalyst for this. Today, however, the ‘wall of red’ – the Londoner’s term for a jam of buses – is a frequent occurrence at the spot. Love them or loathe them, the number of buses in London has never been greater.
From a casual glance almost every other vehicle is a workingman’s van or a black cab. Meanwhile, notice how in people of Circa 1896 casually stand in the road as the traffic trots past. Only those tired of life would do this today.
The building in which the telegraph office stood remains and is relatively unchanged. Of course telegraphs – what has been described as the Victorian World Wide Web – is now a long-lost form of communication, like Morse code or pneumatic mailing tubes (although the Houses of Parliament still uses them!) Today the building houses a 'Jigsaw' shop, which is a higher end clothing store.
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Charing Cross Station circa 1896: At Charing Cross we have two railway stations within a stone's throw of each other. One of these is the west end terminus of the South Eastern Railway, and the other is a station on the Metropolitan district Railway. The former was built about the year 1863 and, with the vast building forming the booking office and Charing Cross hotel, it covers a very large space at ground.
In the centre of the enclosure facing the Strand and in front of the hotel and entrance to the railway station there is a handsome and elaborate cross in the decorated Gothic style on 13th and 14th centuries erected in 1863. It is built on or near the spot where on, if tradition be correct, formerly stood the cross erected by Edward I in memory of his wife Eleanor. 'Wherever’, it is said, ' Elenor's corpse rested on its transit from Grantham to Westminster Abbey, Edward erected across in memory of her.'
The ornate monumental cross shown in the above view is about 70 feet high and cost between £1,700 and £1,800.
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Charing Cross Station today:One of the most obvious differences between the ‘then and now’ shots is the absence of the monumental cross in the photo that I took. It’s still there, but under a mass of scaffolding as restorers begin the painstaking word of wiping away almost a century and a half of soot, smog and grime.
Charing Cross remains a busy station, with commuters favouring it for its prime location in the heart of London. Its amenities are limited, however, due to its lack of size – probably one fifth of Waterloo Station’s space.
The building itself is little changed on the outside – although the gothic-style roof has gone, probably to make way for an extra floor. The ‘American Exchange’ on the right hand side is now the site of an Evening Standard newspaper sales pitch. You can also see in this shot the good old Routemaster bus that has been operating in London for decades, although now only on a very few routes. These buses are cramped, rickety, probably considered unsafe by the health and safety lobby. However, they are much loved by the British and are as iconic as red letter boxes and red telephone booths.
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