This is somebody´s grandma now!

Jimbro66

ICBM said:

Well... after a ridiculous amount of completely unproductive detective work on Google Earth I have identified where this picture was taken! It's actually a quite distinctive location - the street ends at a T-junction (visible in the skirt-up shot) at the north(ish) end judging by the shadows, and there's a large building at an oblique angle to the left at the south(ish) end where another street runs up to it. This is actually quite a rare combination.

After much time and effort I've found a location which corresponds to this - it's almost unrecognisable, because most of the buildings including the one with the big shutters have gone, but...

The building in the background in the skirt-up shot is recognisable. There are also several hole covers and patches in the pavement which match, the two lowered pavements on either side are still there, a kink in the pavement in the right place where the scooter is parked - there's actually a motorbike in almost the same place, in fact... shackled to a pole which has replaced the parking meter - and there's even a distinctive little nick in the tarmac at the junction of the two kerbstones next to it.

It's the north end of Fetter Lane where it runs up to Holborn. 51°31'2.31"N  0° 6'32.58"W

The building in the background is the HSBC, and the Mini was parked outside what is now Cooper's Quality Sandwiches.

I hate to think how many hours I've spent on this .

Brilliant work ICBM!

Fetter Lane was of course where the Daily Mirror was based in those days. So their tog didn't go far for the shoot.

ICBM

proggy said:

I'm absolutely amazed you managed to find that.

I am, a bit - I'd almost given up having spent hours on it (God knows why!). But to me it always looked more like it was closer to the City than Fitzrovia - I don't know why, my parents lived in Queen Anne Street in the 60s and I was born in St Mary's Hospital Paddington, but I left London when I was one so I don't exactly have memories of the place . I haven't even been back very often.

Jimbro66 said:

Fetter Lane was of course where the Daily Mirror was based in those days. So their tog didn't go far for the shoot.

If I'd known that it might have taken a lot less time! That's their old building with the shutters apparently. He literally went across the street...

It's actually amazing just how much redevelopment there has been, even given it's nearly fifty years - the whole block on the far side of Holborn as well as all the east side of Fetter Lane, and the angled building which was the clue to the street layout. Everything apart from the bank and the north end of the sandwich shop side really.

boogieman

Great detective work @ICBM. I used to work near there at one time, just down from Holborn Viaduct. There was a weird cheese importers shop under the viaduct that never seemed to be open. Urban myth had it that it was actually a recruiting office for MI5. 

Jimbro66

ICBM said:

Jimbro66 said:

Fetter Lane was of course where the Daily Mirror was based in those days. So their tog didn't go far for the shoot.

If I'd known that it might have taken a lot less time! That's their old building with the shutters apparently. He literally went across the street...

I wouldn’t have recognised the street having never been there but when I was a youngster my dad used buy the Mirror and often entered competitions in it which I remembered were posted to Fetter Lane.

viz

AK99 said:

^ As in  I, ii, iii, IV... ?

Corrected

GSPBASSES

Reverend said:

GSPBASSES said:

I feel sure this is fake news, but seeing as how no one is alive today who can remember earlier than 1972 without dribbling and soiling their adult sized diapers, I guess we'll never know.

I take that as a bit of an insult, I was born in 1946, and I can remember back Beyond 1972 no problem. I can remember the first gig I did in 1959 in our local youth club, I can also remember playing in the Marquee, Crooks Ferry, played with Long John Baldry several times at Crooks Ferry. I should add we were only playing there on the duff nights normally a Tuesday. The band I was in the Peasants who were the resident band at the London Tavern on an off through 65 66. We were booked to back DD Warwick at the London Cavern, unfortunately when she turned up she was expecting a full orchestra so it didn't happen. I'm alive and well, not wearing diapers yet.



Taken in 1966, I remember it well after this photo was taken we went on to Richmond Park to take some more photos but moved on by the police, don't know why. All we got was you can't do that here, move along please.

Edit :- I should've mentioned the first gig in 1959 I was in a skiffle band play in the wash board, we were pretty rubbish, playing mainly Lonnie Donegan songs. It wasn't for a year after that that I took up playing the Bass in The Shadows cover band.

Im guessing you couldn't prove you'd bought your clothes in the ivy shop, so were brining the area into disrepute 

There's nothing wrong with the clothes we were wearing, very fashionable at the time. I used to buy most of my clothes from Carnaby Street or the Kings Road as did most of the other members of the group. I worked at top of Shaftesbury Avenue couple of minutes walk to all the best guitar shops, and maybe a 10 minute walk to Carnaby Street.

ICBM

GSPBASSES said:

There's nothing wrong with the clothes we were wearing, very fashionable at the time. I used to buy most of my clothes from Carnaby Street or the Kings Road as did most of the other members of the group. I worked at top of Shaftesbury Avenue couple of minutes walk to all the best guitar shops, and maybe a 10 minute walk to Carnaby Street.

Yes, but you're wearing your shirts loose outside your trousers, and you've forgotten your ties and jackets. Lock 'em up constable...

NorthernStomps

This is fucking weird thread....

Neill

NorthernStomps said:

This is fucking weird thread....

Your point being.........?

Rowby1

NorthernStomps said:

This is fucking weird thread....

I’ve been coming here long enough that I don’t notice any more.