Neighbourhood news, features, and comment
A Fitzrovia charity has called on the Mayor of London to take tougher action to combat air pollution in central London by restricting motor vehicles on high pollution days. The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, which campaigns on behalf of the 8,000 residents in the central London district, says "the Mayor must restrict motor traffic movement in …
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The inaugural music festival to celebrate the many musicians and composers who have had a connection with Fitzrovia will kick off this Wednesday with the first of a series of concerts and other events. Local resident Dan Bates, a classically-trained oboist, is leading the programme under the banner of “FitzFest: Fitzrovia’s annual community music festival”. The musical …
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Camden Council's private renting scrutiny work, and housing and inequality in London, are the topics for discussion at next week's public meeting organised by the campaign group Camden Federation of Private Tenants. Councillor Danny Beales, chair of Camden Council’s Housing Scrutiny Committee will be talking about the work of the Private Rented Sector Scrutiny Panel. …
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An excavation between Rathbone Place and Newman Street in Fitzrovia has uncovered a number of interesting and unique finds according to an archaeology fieldwork report. The investigation carried out between November 2014 and March 2015 found a series of post-medieval walls, drains and brick-lined pits, constructed on the site in the late 18th century, as well as 19th century …
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Community groups have condemned plans by Camden Council which would mean new social housing gained from property development in central London would not be built, but instead be replaced by cash payments and spent elsewhere. The new proposals are contained in a report drawn up by Frances Wheat the assistant director for regeneration and planning and submitted to Councillor Phil Jones, cabinet member for …
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Christmas has come early for the property owners, developers and estate agents in Fitzrovia as The Sunday Times in its annual trawl of the best places to live in London named the neighbourhood as its first choice. Attractions according to its lifestyle editors include a number of sylish bars and cafes, and Exemplar's pile on the …
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Camden Council has told the government that there were only 15 rough sleepers on a "typical night" in the whole of the borough during the autumn of 2015, far fewer than the number in statistics published by the Greater London Authority. Camden didn't bother to go out and count rough sleepers but did an estimate instead, yet …
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A group of Fitzrovia residents are encouraging their neighbours to write to MPs, local councillors and the media to fight the government's Housing and Planning Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament. The residents include Eileen O'Keefe, an emeritus professor of public health, and John O'Keefe, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. In a letter to …
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We write as members of a Residents' Association, facing the challenges of the proposed Housing Bill, which will affect all who live in properties owned by borough councils in central London. We are concerned that the effects of the Housing Bill are not widely known, and that, if passed in its present form, the Bill …
Open House London 2015 takes place over the weekend of 19 and 20 September and is the capital's largest annual festival of architecture and design. Below we list the venues in and around Fitzrovia that will be taking part. Birkbeck School of Arts, 39 Gordon Square, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm. Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, Sunday …
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The National Library of Scotland has made freely available the earliest editions of Ordnance Survey National Grid maps at 1:1,250 scale covering central London. The newly digitised maps provide a detailed cartographic picture of post-war Fitzrovia revealing how it escaped a lot of bombing but has since succumbed to the ravages of urban renewal and property …
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Having lived in Fitzrovia for the past fifteen years, twelve of them on Charlotte Street, the past few years have felt at times as though the ten minutes to Leicester Square is getting shorter each day -- and not in a good way. This is an area which is in a period of rapid change, …
A guided walk to visit and learn about the history of some of Fitzrovia's famous pubs will take place tonight (Tuesday 23 June 2015) as part of Fitzrovia Festival 2015. Mike Pentelow, editor and features editor of Fitzrovia News, co-author of A Pub Crawl Through History: The Ultimate Boozers’ Who’s Who, and Freedom Pass London: Make the …
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Racing cyclist, jazz musician, author and photographer Leo Zanelli has lived at Holcroft Court in Fitzrovia for 15 years. He was born in 1930 near Kings Cross, to Italian parents (his father was a chef, his mother a waitress). His early childhood was spent at the Angel Islington. In 1939 his family moved into Soho …
In the last quarter of the 19th century Charlotte Street and the surrounding area became home to many of those who had fled Paris after the defeat of the Commune. Today writer Lydia Syson will do a book signing and lead a guided walk as part of the Fitzrovia Festival visiting the sites of the …
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Just to the west of the lower end of Tottenham Court Road only a few buildings in Stephen Street and Gresse Street survived the huge redevelopment of the Gort Estate in the mid-1970s. In the foreground on the left hand side of the picture below are the Stephen Buildings, and in the mid-ground on the left is …
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The southern part of Tottenham Court Road is again undergoing large scale change with redevelopment of the Central Cross building on the west side and on the east side the former Time Out building has now been completely demolished. Another chapter in the story of the road that originally led to Tottenhall Manor House. This was what …
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Fans of British cycling could be forgiven for locking their bikes up outside the wrong venue on their way to take part in this year's annual pilgrimage to the Hammersmith Cyclists Film Show. Riverside Studios in Hammersmith is undergoing refurbishment for the next few years and the 2015 screening this Sunday will instead take place in …
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If you are in search of an active holiday in 2015 then an event in west London during January will help you decide what to do and where to go. The Adventure Travel Show at Olympia London brings together a huge collection of travel companies, writers, filmakers and explorers, with stalls, talks, seminars and films. And Fitzrovia News is …
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A new guide book describing walks in and around London is being launched at a Fitzrovia pub this Wednesday (12 November 2014). Freedom Pass London is written by local author and editor of Fitzrovia News Mike Pentelow and illustrated by photographer Peter Arkell. Intended as a companion to The Freedom Pass travel ticket it describes …
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