round the corner in soho, where other broken people go

Today is Sketchcrawl day all over the world. A few weeks ago, I went out early on the Saturday morning before Christmas with my nephew anthony for a sketchcrawl around the narrow and interesting streets of Soho. It was perfect sketching weather, not too cold; did I mention that it never rained the entire time I was back in London? The entire time? In December? We began in Soho Square, and I did the picture above. Weekend before Christmas, steps away from the busiest shopping street in Britain, and it was calm, not busy. I fell in love with Soho years ago, in my teens, I learnt all its alleys and short cuts, appreciated all its quirks. In the mid-nineties, the post-club 4am stop was Bar Italia, on Frith Street, the only time I ever drank a cappuccino (I am not a coffee drinker), and it hasn’t changed. Pulp sang a song about it once. Here’s a drawing of it:

Below is Broadwick Street, looking towards the Blue Posts pub (I posted a drawing of that a few weeks back). There’s a good art shop on this street. In the distance (with paint running from it) is Centre Point. Oh, and there are the public toilets, look. Just in case you need the loo in Soho, and you don’t want to get scowled at by a pub landlord. Anyway, that was Soho, London.