It's a coincidence that I launched this little series on the same day that Google launched Street View in the UK. I realised, of course, that I could probably illustrate all of the buildings I've ever worked in by courtesy of the Google cameras. But somehow, I felt I might be missing out in some way - how, I'm not really sure. I did go back to Pond Street for the first time since leaving the employ of Henrion. But there was nothing there, apart from the building: that was exactly the same as I remember it, but everything around it had changed. And there were no longer designers in residence: these days it's the Hampstead Clinic of Chinese Medicine. So maybe that act of paying homage doesn't matter after all.
I had, though, wanted to go back to the next one (hence the delay since the last post in this series), but a little bird told me that it's covered in scaffolding (and those protective nets) at the moment. And there's not much point in photographing just that. So here comes Street View to the rescue:
And here we are on the fringes of Covent Garden with The Ivy at the end of the street. Sadly, I never got to eat there (though, to compensate, more than a few Kir Royales were downed in le Beaujolais next door). The second and third floors were my territory (though not both at the same time, obviously). And with some illustrious company to keep the creative juices flowing. In fact, creativity seemed to seep from its very fabric. It had, at one time, been the studio of Alan Aldridge (we knew that because we found a solicitor's letter under the carpet chasing an unpaid debt).
It was here that I met and worked with Bob and Horace, employed Lashko as my right-hand man, and rubbed desks with the architects Jon Broome and Simon Conder, along with many other kindrid spirits. (Forgive me if you're reading this and I've left you out of the list; do put that right by leaving a comment - or emailing me if you're shy.)
Ah, happy days. But we were eventually forced out by a boom in property prices (remember those?).
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