It was probably meths that the dead man was drinking.
On Sunday mornings, after the wild life of the night before, Soho was generally calm and civilised. The small garden squares, like
Soho Square in which a visitor photographed me in October 2017, were tranquil places in which to settle with a book.
In 1975 it was in one of these that I encountered another such imbiber, who settled himself beside me, picked up my specs which, never needing them for reading, I had placed on the previously empty bench, and menacingly told me what he could do with them. I politely asked for their return. A bottle of meths in his other hand, he stretched out the arm holding my glasses and proceeded to simulate crushing. I grabbed his arm. With dismay I found I could not move it. He calmly put down my optical aids, staggered to his feet, and wandered off chuckling.
Perhaps equally alarming was the night two alleged soldiers rang our doorbell. It was not unusual that male visitors would seek an available woman in our yard. I told these two that they were out of luck. One became seriously threatening. Keeping my hand on the door, I responded with my usual quietly determined tone. His friend warned me not to take him on because he would kill me. Quick as a flash, I slammed the door. Sometimes I can exercise discretion.
On another occasion I discovered a gentleman exploring drawers in our bedroom. He was unable to tell me what he was doing there. Fortunately he was more scared than I was, so he did not resist when I escorted him down the stairs and back outside.
It was Jessica who received an offer she could easily refuse. It was not unusual for ladies of the night to avail themselves of the corners of the yard for various cosmetic or clothing purposes. On one instance it was relief that one such visitor sought in the very corner in which the man had died. My then partner called out of the window explaining that this was not a public lavatory. The woman offered to urinate in Jessica’s mouth.
Our relationship with De Hems, the pub whose rear entrance virtually faced our front door, was very good. One night, however, a very noisy party continued well after closing time. I rang the back door and asked for the decibels to be lowered. The reply was that the event was being held by the local CID branch of the Metropolitan Police. I said that if the row did not stop I would enquire as to whether the uniformed branch would be interested in a complaint. Silence ensued almost immediately.
We did see the seamy side of Soho, but I will not dwell on it again.
Love those socks, Derrick!
Much appreciated, John
me too!
You have certainly had your share of seemly episodes!
Thanks a lot, GP
That does sound like a seamy place. (I had to look up meths drinker.)
I did, too!
🙂
I did too, but I’m still not sure – is it someone who drinks rubbing alcohol?
Yes. I had not heard that term, so I Googled “is methylated sprits” and Google finished the question with “rubbing alcohol”. We shorten it to meths.
Yes, or some sort of alcohol that’s not meant to be ingested.
Thanks a lot, Liz. I gather it is cleaned up a lot, now.
The seamy area I lived in during 1975 has been cleaned up a lot as well (i.e., torn down).
Love your picture. Sounds like Soho really added to your general education. Quick thinking on several pivotal situations.
Thank you so much, Pat
One learns to adapt. There used to be prostitutes working on our block and down by the river. Crime and drugs also. Times change. Now it a Yupi neighborhood in Greenwich Village. Marc does a history walk. Lots of stories.
Sherry Felix port4u.net and sherryfelix.com ________________________________
Thank you very much, Sherry.
These are intriguing back stories that flesh out one’s past in a fairly mellow way in retrospect. I am often surprised at the laughter that ensues after we have shared some of the grimmer moments of our past and reflect that time covers these with a patina that hides the sharper emotions experienced at the time. Your narration of such moments is excellent – and I couldn’t help laughing at some 🙂
Thank you so much, Anne. You are right about how the stories mellow and later cause amusement.
Thanks for sharing, Derrick! What were undoubtedly some menacing situations make for good stories many years later.
Nice photo of you. 😀
And thank you very much, Merril
😀
Wow, what a place! Not a place I’d want to be, Derrick, so many creepy people.
Thanks very much, John. It was good for 5 years
I too love the socks. Only real man can pull of wearing pink (that’s my husband’s statement not mine.) “exploring drawers in our bedroom,” nice way of putting it.
I’m pleased you liked the pink and the drawers, Bridget. Thanks very much
Seems seamy, for sure! 😮 But all these years later, makes for great blogging stories! 😉
Your socks are sensational! I love socks! Mine rarely match, and are always wild and wacky and colourful! 😀
(((HUGS))) 🙂
Thanks very much, Carolyn. X
Now I understand your fascination with Dickens!
Good point, Andrew. Thanks a lot
Well, those incidents were seamy as hell. You seem to have gone through a long run of testing times along with your children. You appear unwound in your recent visit to the soho however, certain that its clutches can’t reach you anymore. The ladies on the companion bench are quite at home, unbothered by the photographic activity underway right across them.
Thanks very much, Uma. In that area you probably become accustomed to cameras.
Fagin was right round the corner!
Yes. Thanks very much, Cindy
You have some stories to tell from you time there.
I do. Thanks very much, Mrs W
Wowsah! Exciting times. Too much for this country-mouse Mainer. 😉
Thanks a lot, Laurie. I was very much a Londoner – wouldn’t go back, though
Definitely not the kind of neighborhood where I would feel safe.
Thanks very much, Rosaliene. It wasn’t all so bad. Perhaps we were lucky
rough and scary neighborhood.
It had its moments. Thanks very much, Lola
Sounds like quite the charming neigbourhood… glad you made it out alive.
🙂 Thanks very much, AnneMarie
Your description of Soho sounds about right judging from your stories told here.
The pair of you were very brave to live there.
Thanks a lot, Sue. Those were the worst bits.
This sounds like the Greenwich Village in New York in the 60s. Life on the brink of sanity, full of endless excitement of not always pleasant kind.
You must be right, Dolly. Thanks very much
You are very welcome, Derrick.
The City of Westminster do some mighty fine benches.
They do. Thanks a lot, Gary.
There were certainly plenty of colorful characters there. Charles Keeping would have had a field day drawing them.
He would, indeed, Lavinia. Thanks very much
Maybe he was going through your drawers on account of the same kind of confusion that caused my mother to do the same thing in her nursing home 🙂
I was working for a publishing house in London in the late 70s and as I recall it was in the Soho district. Very lively and eclectic but my experiences were not so seamy. I was never there overnight though. I seem to remember it was very close to a market that also had great bars and eateries but the name slips my memory.
Perhaps, after all, there is benefit to your former laneway residence having been gentrified.
He was probably confused by the time he left, Gwen. Perhaps you mean Berwick Street Market. Thanks very much
mmmm perhaps. Is there something called an opera market?
Not that I know. Covent Garden perhaps?
Of course! How can that have eluded me. So perhaps the publishing firm was on the edge of Soho behind Leicester Square. They had just published a delightful edition of the Kama Sutra when I worked there. That’s when I realised it was really like a manual for newlyweds, and living life in general, with sex being only one of the chapters.
🙂 Last time I visited the market had deteriorated to tat, although in our time there was much good handcrafted product.
What a pity. I remember as one of my favourite places.
Interesting times. Fortunately, you seem to have emerged unscathed. 🙂
Thanks a lot, Quercus 🙂
🙂
Your life was quite exciting in your younger days! :>)
Thanks a lot, Dwight
:>)
I’m so glad you survived those menacing encounters, Derrick.
Thanks very much, Alys
You had many unwanted and strange visitors! What a place!
Wonderful for a time
These are some crazy stories, Derrick. I know those years added substance to the man you are now. My daughter in Brooklyn has had similar hard experiences. She and her husband are happy to be leaving (just bought a house in New Jersey) but I know they will treasure their times there.
A nice parallel, Jodie. Thanks very much
xo
Thanks a lot, Jodie
Great stories, if a little unsettling 😊
I worked in an office just off Soho Square in 1978 ~ Crown Cassette Communication. I was living in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, at the time.
x
Gosh. We were still in Horse and Dolphin Yard until 1980. Thanks very much, Melanie X
We may have unwittingly crossed paths/pavements along the way….
x