The 300th London alley article

It’s hard to believe it, but last week was the 300th in a surprisingly long-running series on the history and description of London’s alleys and passages.

Outer Temple

So this week, I’m having a day off, so sorry, no alley, but time to a take a pause, reflect a little and look back at what’s been written and think about the next few hundred alleys.

The series didn’t start as a series, just the occasional ad-hock article, but then in April 2017, a mad idea occurred, why not write one article every single week about a London alley?

One a week, every week, without stopping.

It’s enlightened self-interest, because as a person, having a routine is somewhat necessary, and I know that if I don’t set some regular tasks, then things tend to drift and wobble around. I suffer from lethargic depression at times, so forcing myself to do something is pretty important – and nothing is scarier to a writer than a deadline. And thus was born the idea of a weekly article without fail, about a bit of London’s history in the guise of writing about an alley.

It’s been exhausting, but in a good way.

In the process, I’ve learned so much about London, thanks to hours spent digging into the archives, the old maps, the planning documents and goodness knows any source I can find that’s reputable.

Reputable is important, as I come across a heck of a lot of myths often reprinted without the person repeating them stopping and thinking, I wonder if that’s actually true. I hope that in general, I’ve erred on the side of caution where facts are disputed and minimised the mistakes in my own writing.

Crawford Passage

It’s also got me wandering around nooks and crannies. I have always been a bit of a nosy sod peeking into places to see what’s there, but now even a random amble around a bit of town can have me coming home with a load of photos of a new alley (and lots else) to add to the research pile.

The hardest alleys to write about have been the ones that resulted in the shortest articles, because sometimes, there’s simply nothing to say about them. Those articles are the hardest because ever increasing amounts of time are being spent researching in an increasingly desperate hope to find some small crumb of interest about the alley.

So what looks like Ian’s had a day off and just written a few paragraphs are often the ones that took the longest to write. And there’s nothing to show for it. But sometimes, you have to accept that nope, it’s just not that interesting, but should be written up anyway.

For the completeness.

One of the odder outcomes of all this writing is the feedback. People usually doing some family research send an email asking if Mr Bloggs lived at 13 Acacia Road in 1732.

And once I’ve worked out that Acacia Road is near an alley I wrote about four years ago (because emails rarely include the context), they sometimes get quite irate when I respond that I don’t have any additional information to help them with. No, I really don’t. No, I am not an expert in the history of the entire Harringay area, I just happened to write one article about one alley there.

Family history researchers do seem to get exceptionally annoyed when I can’t help them, as if somehow I have let them down. Getting irate won’t change things – other than giving me a headache.

Fortunately, they’re rare.

Swedeland Court

Generally, I’ve personally really enjoyed the process. There’s the excitement of visiting an alley or stumbling upon one and eagerly downloading the photos when I am home and looking forward to the research.

Sometimes I’ll be deep in some document or other and suddenly, there’s a fantastic bit of history to write about, something interesting to learn about, and then write in the article that’s being drafted. There’s a joy that comes from completing a good article, on the occasions that I have a good one, knowing that there’s an interesting story behind this alley and I am fortunate to be in a position to share it with people.

I guess I have maybe another 300 alleys and passages in London before the series is complete, and I have photos for about 50 of them already in my computer, collected on many rambles around Greater London.

But yes, there will be a time when I slow down a bit, maybe not writing every single week, maybe even have a holiday, but don’t worry, that’s a long way away.

But in no particular order, this is my personal Top 10 of the favourite alleys I’ve written about.

Shepherdess Walk, N1

There is a delightfully cute little alley that has been in this part of Hoxton ever since it was all fields, and yet its history is a total mystery.

Harringay Passage, N4

At just under a mile in length, this is the longest alley in London, and predates the area which is today known as the Harringay Ladder due to the way the street layout looks like a ladder.

Emerald Court, WC1

London’s narrowest alley, and it’s not the one that most people say is the narrowest alley in London.

Billy Fury Way, NW6

This is an old path that appeared with the railways in West Hampstead but only gained the name of a local celebrity fairly recently.

Chichester Rents, WC2

This rather dramatic and modern looking alley is a modern redevelopment of an alley that can trace its heritage back to the original developments along Chancery Lane.

Crawford Passage, EC1

This alley just around the corner from Farringdon Station is the famous one with the weird double yellow lines.

Shoulder of Mutton Alley, E14

This is a Limehouse street which crops up regularly on lists of odd street names in London, but it had a more interesting history than that.

Queen’s Passage, SW1A

All too easy to walk past without noticing is a narrow subterranean passage that runs underneath the posh houses next to Green Park giving access to the quiet streets behind.

Savoy Buildings, WC2

This is an alley that’s owned by The King and comes with its own unique London Underground tube roundel.

Albany Court Yard, W1

This is a small courtyard leading off from busy Piccadilly, but one with an exceptional building at the end.

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But, my absolute favourite is an alley in central London that doesn’t even look like an alley unless you go through two office doors and end up in a corridor, which despite its appearance is a public alley.

So my absolute favourite, simply for the oddity of the passage than its history simply has to be The Outer Temple, WC2