Street view & Peter Jones c.1975    Sloane Square 1912    Sloane Square looking East 1970      Old Chelsea Street Plan    Very Old Worlds End map - note different road names!

The row of shops to the east of the railed area, comprising odd numbers 1 to 31, also included: Sketchleys cleaners, a post office, Clark's shoes, Victoria Wine, a baker's and a couple of clothes shops - numbers, dates or locations not currently known.

2-32 Peter Jones est. 1906: Occupying this site, but with an address listed as 'Sloane Square', is the Peter Jones department store, a business that began as a drapery store on Draycott Avenue (then Marlborough Road). It grew to occupy 26 premises on the Kings Road and was rebuilt as one department store in the 1880s when it was one of the first stores in the country to be lit by electricity. Purchased by John Lewis in 1906, it was rebuilt in the 1930s in its current style and is now a Grade II listed building. Before the Peter Jones expansion and construction, the site originally also held a public house called the Star and Garter. The Who and a TV film crew assembled at the Duke of York's Barracks on 12th November 1966 to film five numbers for a TV broadcast about 'Swinging London' on NBC network's Today show in the USA. The segment included interviews with fashion designer Mary Quant and Carnaby Street retailer John Stephen. The segment aired in America on 15th November 1966.

Early 20th Century           Duke of York Square      Kings Road      Duke of York estate railings      Aerial View 

Planning permission was granted to remove the high railings surrounding the Duke of York area in December 1999.

3 or 5 Premier (?)     7 Sketchleys cleaners       9 Old Post Office     Shop parade view

11 Buzzy's Bistro 1962-1971 later Easiphit shoe shop c.1972
Adam and Jane Busfield advise: "My father, Brian Busfield (from whence the name derives and who was actually a dental surgeon in Beckenham), owned Buzzy's Bistro in the 1960s. You walked down an alley that actually said 'down this alley you will find Buzzy's Bistro' and you found the doorway to the basement, a few yards before the rubbish-bins, so what I remember very clearly is the insalubrious smell! However, it didn't put anybody off it seems".

"Once inside, there was a reception desk and coat-check, and the DJ with his shelf after shelf of singles. The minute a new release was available, he bought it. Buzzy´s was the first Dine and Dance venue in London. Then you descended a steep flight of stairs down to the restaurant itself (so the Bistro was below ground). Red and white check table-cloths, candles in straw-covered bottles covered in wax drippings, and a tiny round dance floor. The original boilers with their round metal-plate doors were kept - the doors painted matte black. Minimal lighting and banquettes created an intimate atmosphere. I recall seeing Paul McCartney and Jane Asher entwined once".

"My dad once told me that Ringo Starr used to go there, and actually had part of his wedding reception at Buzzy's. I was 11 years old at the time, but accompanied my father some Sundays when he went to check all was in order. Double prawn-cocktail followed by banana-split was my standard lunch! The food was good, especially the steaks, all cooked by a highly temperamental chef who, when drunk, was known to threaten the waiters with a meat-chopper. In the evenings, people would dance between courses and have to be thrown out in the early hours".

"In time, the idea was copied and my father and his partner struggled to compete, having to re-decorate too often to make it a viable proposition. Loving food, they set up Rustums Le Gourmet (it was further down the road, just a few doors from The Vale turning, on the north side of the road - 312?) in Kings Road and also owned an Indian restaurant Haddy´s (or Hadi's) in Old Brompton Road, Knights in Knightsbridge (just before you got to the old Bowater House junction, where One Hyde Park now stands) and Monsieur Jacques (afterwards Le Gourmet) in Queensway".

"Alas, they all had to close around 1971 when profits dwindled, rents soared, and the competition became too much - but the creation of Buzzy´s, in the early 60s, set the scene for trendy eateries where you could have a good meal while listening to the latest hits and observing the jet-set of the day".

13 Smith's newsagent (?)         17A British Federation of University Women c.1959

25 Angelique & Francoise, c.1968. I am advised that Angelique was a ground floor restaurant and, beneath it, accessed by a steep flight of steps, was Francoise night club (better known as Frankie’s). As Kings Rd rents soared, the street level unit was rented to a clothes store and the Angelique restaurant moved downstairs. At about10.30-11.00pm all the Angelique branding would disappear and be replaced with Francoise, tables would be shifted and the venue would be miraculously transformed into a disco. However, with changing tastes and lifestyles and a growing number of eateries in the area, the restaurant didn’t fare so well so it just became Frankie’s. It briefly ran as The Ritual for a time from c.1978 and then closed altogether.      

27 The Patio: boutique (early 70s, possibly 1960s) later (?) Twenty Seven boutique c.1972     29 Boots Dispensing Chemists

31 Topper shoes later a Tobacconist (My Shop?) In 1965 the upper floor in No.31 was occupied by the legal offices of Charles Alfred Leat who oversaw the liquidation of Copydex.

CADOGAN GARDENS

BLACKLANDS  The area known as 'Blacklands' formed part of the estate of Charles Cheyne, 1st Viscount Newhaven, who purchased the manor of Chelsea and Chelsea Place with the dowry of his wife, Lady Jane Cheyne, in 1657. Blacklands comprised about 90 acres and prior to c.1770 was mostly open grazing land described as '... a lonely place where a cow keeper tended the commoners' cattle'. A report from 1729 stated 'On Sunday morning last, about 8 o'clock, Mr. Rogers of Chelsea, crossing the common in order to go to Kensington, was knocked down by two footpads who robbed him of his money and beat him in a barbarous manner and then made off across the fields towards Little Chelsea'. The name is perpetuated in the adjacent Blacklands Terrace. 8-9 Blacklands Terrace was used as a location in the film 'Blow-Up'.

 Duke of York's Headquarters          CHELTENHAM TERRACE   1 to 13 west side looking south 1962

WHITELANDS  The area known as 'Whitelands' housed a girls' boarding school from 1772 until 1841 when it became a teacher training college. The establishment moved to Putney in 1930 and the building was briefly occupied by Oswald Moseley and his black-shirted British Union of Fascists (including 'Lord Haw Haw') as a 'barracks', during which time it became known locally as 'The Black House'. The building was demolished and replaced by flats in 1935.

33 The row of businesses on the ground floor at 33 were sub-numbered A,B,C etc.             33 Lloyd's Bank later Natwest c.1976    33A SW3 boutique

33B Joseph at Salon 33 c.1962 Joseph Ettedgui moved from Casablanca to London with his brother Maurice in 1960 to train as a hairdresser. In 1962 they opened a hairdressing salon (Salon 33) in King's Road and their brother Franklin joined them in 1964. In a 1989 interview Joseph said: “I really wanted to be an architect but I'm terribly impatient. I decided to take a course in hairdressing and I loved it; I loved the way you could transform someone in two hours". Joseph Ettedgui began travelling to Paris to see the ready-to-wear collections, leading to a meeting and early business association with Japanese designer Kenzo Takada. He began to sell Kenzo sweaters in Salon 33, and in 1972 the first Joseph clothes store opened underneath the hairdressing premises.

33C  Don Luigi restaurant c.1966    33D Anschel (G.Anschel) c.1967 craft jewellery and fashion accessories   Robert Weston c.1967?   Smart (1970s)    

33E Martins of Chelsea (possibly 1965 - known to occupy the premises mid-70s - electrical goods, radios and record shop - also at 39 )  

33F  33G  33H  This block of units was the Blue Star garage until c.1969. Previously Moons Garage c.1939  Forecourt view

WALPOLE STREET  23 to 35 east side 1962    1 to 22 1962

34 - 36 Lilley & Skinner shoes c.1972 upper floor: London School of Bridge   35 - 37 W.Battersby watchmakers and jewellers c.1959    

35 - 47 Was Gardners Food Service, taken over by Safeway supermarket c.1962.   Street view c.1959   Site was occupied by the Whitelands College Girls School 1842-1917

38 - 42 Sidney Smith Mans Shop men's clothing store c.1967 (company founded 1907 for ladies clothing)   

39 Martins record and television shop c.1959    41 Courtney Reed leisure wear c.1959     43 Post Office (?)    44 Ravel Studio     45 W.M. & C.J. Jones c.1959     

46 Cecil Gee Founded in 1851, and now part of Moss Bros, the company opened its first store in King Street in Covent Garden.

47 Royal Avenue House in 1963, with individual units numbered from 1 to 21   

ROYAL AVENUE  Blue plaque  The road was originally part of a 1681 plan by Sir Christopher Wren to connect the Royal Hospital with Kensington Palace, but never got any further than the King's Road. Previously known as 'Chestnut Walk' and later 'White Stiles' it became Royal Avenue in 1875.
Road access onto King's Road was closed in 1970.

48 Nose wine bar. Also Not Known (date?) and earlier Smithy's Gang Shop  

49 Chelsea Drugstore c.1968 The Chelsea Drugstore opened in 1968, replacing the 'White Hart' public house', and was a three-floor 'chrome and neon' complex styled on 'Le Drugstore' on Boulevard St. Germain in Paris. With areas to eat and drink, dance and shop, it contained a soda fountain on the second floor, news stands, record stores, boutiques and (of course) a chemist. It was open sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, and at one time offered a service where purple catsuit-clad girls on motorcycles delivered purchases. It rapidly became one of the road's top venues. The inside of the store can be seen as it was in 1972 in the film 'Clockwork Orange' as the 'Musik Bootick'. The original pub, The White Hart, can be seen in Joseph Losey's 1963 film 'The Servant'. (also featured is the Thomas Crapper showroom directly opposite). Pressure from local residents forced its closure in May 1971 and although a similar venture ('Harlequin Arcade') opened later, it failed to emulate the success of the original. It was later renovated first as a pub, then as housing, and has more recently been taken over by a McDonalds restaurant.

50 Chelsea Cobbler c.1967 A British shoe brand and outlet founded by Richard Smith and Mandy Wilkins. Also Not Known (date?)

51 to 61 and 124 to 128 Street View August 1969 

51 Ferbain (Cash) Turf Accountant c.1968 later Ferbain the Bookmaker  Street view 1969     

52 Unique boutique c. 1967  Other (not known)  Jean Machine at premises in 1976    

53 Casual Affair boutique (?) c.1975 (previously a Post Office c.1960) 54 Old Kentucky eating house c.1968  Earlier (?) Sainsbury's   Later Bathgate greengrocers (?) c.1976

55 'Andrews' butchers c.1963     56 F.W. Woolworth & Co Ltd       56B (?) Eric Shemilt c.1967    Sloane Sauna (c.1976 on upper level?)    

57 Cosy Dining Rooms restaurant c.1963  Inside Cosy    Zeev Aram & Associates and Aram Designs Ltd. Zeev Aram opened his first showroom in 1964 at 57 Kings Road. A tiny showroom, with an open slot cut into the window for mail, contained bright, white, stainless steel designs by Marcel Breuer, Castiglioni and Scarpa and the self-designed Dino storage system. In 1966 he introduced designs by Le Corbusier, P. Jeanneret and C. Perriand. In 1967 he designed the Altra table system and introduced the 'Action Office One' from Herman Miller (designed by G. Nelson and R. Props) in 1968. The shop closed in1973 (image c.1976?)

58 Russell & Bromley    

59  Bookshop then Francis Marsden fine art picture shop c.1963, Topper Shoes "This boutique has a beautifully cool interior in weird purply shades". Later Wagstaff c.1975      

WELLINGTON SQUARE  Wellington Square area - old map    Looking east 1962    Looking west 1962     Fred Hillsdon's Flower Stall

60 Kardomah coffee house         61 Clearways Travel c.1965 Clearways c.1965  then Gee2 boutique c.1969         62 Berzolla confectioners (?)

63 Richard Henry hair fashions c.1965   Robert Fielding of Regent Street c.1967   63A (upstairs) Dentist    64 H.H.Wagstaff hosier / hatter

65 Peter Evans Eating House aka (Peter) ? c.1965    I Was Lord Kitchener's Thing c.1968   66A London Central Asian Research Centre c.1969    

67 Trad - an oddments / 'junk' shop c.1966   Dewhurst   meat, poultry, provisions c.1968

67A Originally part of Wrights Dairy  later J. Wiseman & Sons furriers c.1967  

69 Originally Wrights Dairy then United Dairies outlet. Later Take Six boutique c.1969 Part of the Sidney Brent boutique chain

SMITH STREET    St. Leonard's Studios 1974

69A Nora Bradley shop c.1972    70 Dolcis shoe shop c.1970
       
BLACKLANDS TERRACE  

Blacklands Terrace 10 John Sandoe Books

71  Chelsea groceries c.1967

72 The Colville Tavern c.1856 Lord John 1969: Previously the Colville Tavern public house, which closed in 1969, was named after Colvill's Flower Nursery that occupied the site in the 18th century. It seems to have acquired the 'e' on the end around the start of the 20th century. The 'Lord John' chain was started by brothers Warren and David Gold who opened two boutiques on Carnaby Street in 1964, supplying Mod fashions. By 1970, the Gold brothers owned eight boutiques and expanded this to thirty during the early Seventies. The Colville Wine Store was also on the corner of Blackland Terrace.

LINCOLN STREET

73 C.L. Pearson & Co c.1967    74 Guys'n'Dolls c.1976 coffee / kebab / sandwich bar  side view Lincoln Street    75 Victor's toy shop (?) c.1967 

76 - 78 Blake's of Chelsea c.1967 later Ravel c.1970 (now at 128) then Syndicate c.1978    

77 Carter Patterson Goods Yard c.1967 now Charles II Place. On Saturdays this was the site of an open air market called the Chelsea Flea Market.  Inside 77 area

79 Vicky's of Chelsea ladies accessories c.1967

80 Kenco Coffee House (Kenco after 1962). Later a Wimpy Bar restaurant c.1972 street view 1973 then Pizza Land c.1978
The Kenya Coffee Company Limited was founded in 1923 by a co-operative of retired white Kenyan coffee growers. L.C. Gibbs and C.S. Baines began selling coffee from a shop in Vere Street, Mayfair, and moved to 30 Sloane Street as demand increased, next door to a food merchants called John Gardiner. After World War II, Tom Kelly, a Gardiner employee, persuaded the company to buy the Kenya Coffee Company and he expanded the chain, opening 11 coffee shops including the one in Kings Road. These may well have been the first branded high street coffee shops in the UK. In the 1960s, the cafes were thriving, selling not only coffee but all sorts of cakes as well. Tom Kelly also acquired the rights to sell Gaggia espresso machines which they sold to other coffee bars. In 1962 the company changed its name to Kenco. It was in the Kenco coffee shop that Radio Caroline's Ronan O'Rahilly and photographer friend Chris Moore first discussed the possibility of radio broadcasting from an offshore ship.

88 Just Looking c.1967 (Harry Finegold) Lots of mirrors and loud music inhabited this boutique which, like the Drugstore, was designed by architects Garnett Cloughley Blakemore (who also designed the revolving restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower).

89 Blueberry Hill c.1970 boutique - also see 303. Later Second Image c.1976

91 Unity Restaurant 1950s later The Godfather c.1976       92 Susan Handbags 1960s       93 Le Bistingo boutique c.1972

94 London Steak House 1960s    95 Marco Polo restaurant c.1961    96 Peter Dominic (?) also Warehouse

97 The Squire Shop A late Sixties boutique owned by Jeff Kwintner. Kwintner was also the owner of a chain of 16 menswear shops, 'Village Gate' which, at one time, was selling 3,000 suits a week. (Previously a butcher's).

98 The Chelsea Kitchen The restaurant was established in 1960 as part of the 'StockPot' chain and was popular with stars such as The Rolling Stones and George Best. It was not an 'elite' establishment, but served 'good fresh home-made food at good prices'. It closed in 2006 and was reopened in 2009 at 451 Fulham Road by the son of the original owner.

99 - 101 Entrance to a small Industrial Unit area, site of a Saturday market (see aerial images here at rbkclocalstudies). 1976 image as car park.
99 might also have housed Chelsea Pet Stores. It is now the Atlantic Court entrance to Marks & Spencer.

100 Sketchley cleaners - later moved to186a - Later: Office London   102 Wakefords c.1969 clothes store later combined with 104

103 BRS Parcels c.1958    Carvil c.1968 clothes shop / boutique    104 John Michael boutique then Garbo boutique c.1966. The premises were later combined with 102 as Wakefords.

105 H.J.Tuson & Sons (est.1868) aka  Chelsea Pawnbrokers Silversmiths and pawnbrokers. The curved windows showing in pic2 still exist. The pawn shop was accessed through a street door (pic1) and located on the shop side of the railings (pic2). Inside there was a counter on the right which was separated into individual sections for privacy.

106 John Michael boutique c.1966. The premises were combined with 108 and refitted in 1975 to become the new John Michael

107 Club dell'Aretusa c.1967 - 1970. Also known as John Bull's Restaurant. This was an elite establishment and allegedly the location of John Lennon's first public appearance with Yoko Ono at the pre-launch party for Apple Tailoring, held on 22nd May 1968. In 1967 Alvaro Maccioni had teamed up with Enzo Apicella and Mino Parlanti to open the large, members-only bar / restaurant / discotheque. A double-page spread in the Evening Standard asked "Are you one of the beautiful people? Simple test: Can you get in to the dell'Aretusa?". The establishment attracted diners such as Princess Margaret, Sammy Davis Jr, David Bailey and Twiggy. Wedgies nightclub c.1982

108 Kleptomania c.1966 boutique    later T.Pritchard c.1969  - also see 106. 

ANDERSON STREET     7 - 9 Anderson Street 1969     view from Anderson Street 1970

109 (actually 1091/2) Kweens Mini-Store 1960s boutique. Anne Sutherland, who worked there in 1967/1968 has kindly provided the following information:
"I applied for a job from an advertisement in The Times newspaper. It read 'Wanted - super secretary for super job with super clothes'. I got the job and started work in the attic as secretary to Mr. Frank Federer and Mr. Henry Keith who owned a clothing manufacturing company based in Bolsover Street called 'Keith Federer' which traded with the 'Kweens' label. On the ground floor of the shop was a retail space and a door to a stock room.

The second floor comprised the directors' offices and an empty floor space for modelling the clothes for prospective buyers. All the garments sold in the shop had the 'Kweens' label and were sold to independent boutiques all over the country. There was a garment called 'Pan Pan' which consisted of a very short dress with round neck and cap sleeves. Hundreds of these, in different colours, were produced and the factory worked flat out. They were very popular. I shared the attic office with an accountant/book keeper who was constantly trying to keep the books straight as any new boutiques buying goods from us without the correct references had to pay in cash and, more often than not, Henry would put the money in his shirt top pocket and forget he had it so invoices went out for goods that had already been paid for.

I was expected to work long hours. Often, just as I was going home an extra letter or two were found for dictation and, when Henry discovered my train got me to the office half an hour early, he quickly utilised it. If he had a client in the showroom and no one else was available I had to find time to model the clothes too! There were two or three assistants in the shop and I believe a Mr. Mendoza was stockroom manager. A Mr. Paul Leader was the Sales Representative. The back window of my office overlooked the Club dell'Aretusa but I only remember seeing Twiggy pushing a lettuce around her plate and Lionel Bart". 109A R.Soles shoe shop (founded 1975). Also at 178A

110 - 112 The Chelsea Permanent Building Society, later Chelsea & South London then just Chelsea Building Society, was founded in 1875. In 1934 new offices on 3 floors were opened. From 1966 the Society's administrative headquarters were based in Streatham, with the registered office at 110 Kings Road.

112 (?) Spy boutique c.1972      113 Quorum boutique c.1969 114 Scotch Wool and Hosiery Stores c.1969    115 G. Jones & Sons c.1957  Wine Growers Association 1960s

RADNOR WALK contained the Chelsea Pottery at 13, 1952 - 1994, founded by David and Mary Rawnsley, and two significant boutiques:

Radnor Walk 47 The Shop c.1964 'The Shop' was a 'girls boutique' jointly owned by photographer Terence Donovan and designer Maurice Jeffery, providing inexpensive but exclusive trouser suits, skirts and floral coats and accessories which were designed and made on the premises. Apparently there was a wart hog skull in the changing room......!

Radnor Walk 52 Quorum 1966 - 1969 Just off the Kings Road, at 52 Radnor Walk, designer Alice Pollock opened Quorum in Ansdell Street W8 in 1964, to be joined in 1965 by Ossie Clark and his future wife Celia Birtwell, who designed fashions and fabrics respectively. The Radnor Walk building also housed the English Boy male modelling agency on the second floor, run by Pollock and Sir Mark Palmer, a baronet, an Old Etonian and former page of honour to his godmother, the Queen. The first floor was occupied by Brian Jones and girlfriend Suki Potier. The boutique was well-known for its extravagant fashion shows, usually attended by celebrities such as The Beatles. David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) was a delivery driver for Quorum for a while. In 1969, Alfred Radley became a partner in the business and Clark started designing for Radley as well as Quorum. The business was bought out by Radley later in 1969. It also occupied 113 Kings Road between 1969 and 1972    Inside Quorum

116 Just Men c.1964 shirt shop appended to the store in Tryon Street. Later (?) Emilie lingerie

TRYON STREET (originally called Keppel Terrace, the street was renamed in 1913 after Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon).
   
11 to 23 Tryon Street 1975    Street view 1964

Tryon Street 7 - 9 Just Men c.1964 Owned by banking family brothers Lionel and Brian Abel-Smith. Managed by Charles Schuller, it featured suede and leather suits, sweaters, flared trousers and tailored suits. This shop also had an in-house hairdresser. It later expanded to include 118 Kings Road.

117 - 119 The area around a detached house called Manor House, sited between Little's Nursery and Shawfield Street, was turned into The New Vauxhall and Royal Bath Gardens, a tea and recreation garden by Richard Smith in about 1836. This was superseded in 1838 by the Royal Manor House Theatre, which only lasted 3 years. The house eventually became the Chelsea Literary and Scientific Institution. 'The Commercial Tavern' public house and Radnor Walk were built on the site in 1842. Around 1874 a building was listed as being attached to the side, containing a florists, but this had disappeared from maps by 1896. In 1958 the tavern was renamed 'The Chelsea Potter' in 1958 in commemoration of ceramics artist William Frend de Morgan who founded the Chelsea Art Pottery in 1872.

118 Timothy Whites c.1968 Later Just Men

120 Thomas Crapper 1907 - 1966  Laura Ashley c.1966 then T.Elliott & Sons boots and shoes c.Oct 67
Until 1966, the premises of Thomas Crapper, the WC manufacturer who originally started in Marlborough Road (now Draycott Avenue) in 1861 and moved here in 1907.
It became a 'Laura Ashley' outlet in 1966, although the first shop actually under the Laura Ashley name opened in Pelham Street, South Kensington, in 1968. The company originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s under the name 'Bernard Ashley' and expanded into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s. Later Bertie

121 Green & London general ironmongers & builders merchant c.1957     later Common Market c. 1972 a retail outlet that included Marx  

122 Kings Walk Centre: Michael's Man Boutique c.1968 later Skin boutique c.1970 (number?) also contained outlets for Oscar's Mens Clothes (a subsidiary of Michael's Man boutique), Lennards, Boots the Chemist, Sainsbury's opened 1966        Rock Dreams c.1976 .
Kings Walk was previously the entrance to Ranelagh Works (oil cloth then gas meter) manufactory, situated behind.

123 - 123A Victoria Wine    Kendall & Sons c.1969 builders and decorators   Gotama - The Hair House 1973  This location became the first UK Starbucks in 1998   

124 F.J. Ward's Bookshop c.1968 signage

SHAWFIELD STREET   Chelsea News was in Shawfield Street, next to Kendall & Sons Street view

124B Mitre House  The downstairs units contained a number of premises including The Magic Carpet Inn (1950s)   Alvaro 1966 - 1970: Alvaro Maccioni's highly exclusive restaurant - the first one ever to go ex-directory. London Life: "The name Alvaro is whispered from the studios of showbiz to the courts of royalty". He went on to open and run 'La Famiglia'. Look of London cover December 1967              International Stores c.1969 food store with sawdust floor. 

125 Alex Strickland c.1969: previously Harris Brothers greengrocers.   Peter Gurling advises: "This was a record shop and part of the chain named Soho Records which was owned by Mr Alex Strickland. He had branches all over London, but mainly in the West End and two in the City on Cheapside and London Wall. In the late 60s I managed the one in London Wall for a time, and my brother managed the Cheapside branch". The shop group was taken over by Pye Records.  Pinto sportswear store in 1970s

126 Stop The Shop c.1968 (Harry Finegold) 'Stop the Shop' opened in mid-June 1968 with a ground floor occupied by three 'revolves', one 20 ft in diameter and two smaller ones each 5ft.The all black interior of the shop was accessed via two peripheral ramps, one leading to the main sales floor area ( raised about 18 inches above ground level ) and the other to the lower level where the roughly circular space was dominated by the central support column of the upper 'revolve', surrounded by an octagonal mirror arrangement.

The large 'revolve' rotated at less than 0.5 rpm although it was possible to turn it considerably faster. Unsuspecting customers stepping onto it were likely to stumble, an event that was keenly awaited by onlookers watching through the curved glass facade. Two rotating display windows on either side of the main frontage ran somewhat faster and the rotating 'Stop the Shop' sign on the perimeter of each gave considerable movement to the whole elevation.

The mannequins that formed the main display were sited on the central axis and appeared to rotate more slowly, giving the impression of customers seeming to be orbiting a static display. 'Stop the Shop', therefore, did not have anything in its window except people. There were occasional problems with loading and a dozen people crammed onto one side of the platform could bring the 'revolve' to a halt due to the safety mechanism installed by The Bolton Turntable company, its designers and manufacturers. The black interior was lit only by movable spotlights, some with colour effects, and the walls and floors were carpeted in charcoal grey Wilton.

The small, carpeted changing rooms were rotating semi-cylinders and the facetted mirrors lining the entrance ramps gave the effect of customers leaving the shop splitting into multiple people walking away in different directions. These optical effects were designed by Garnett, Cloughley and Blakemore who also did work on other Kings Road outlets. The site was taken over by Italian fashion house 'Fiorucci' in 1975, establishing them in London, with the store sporting roller skating ramps.

127 Picasso coffee bar. The Picasso first opened in 1958 and was frequented by the likes of Michael Caine and Terence Stamp during the Sixties. David Hemmings was also a regular visitor during the filming of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film 'Blow-Up'. The Picasso survived until February 2014 when it finally closed, apparently boasting the same internal decor as it had when it opened.

128 Fantasie coffee bar. The Fantasie, one of the first espresso coffee bars in London outside of Soho, was opened at the start of 1955 by ex-solicitor Archie McNair, who lived in the rooms above where he also operated a photographic studio which had among its users one Tony Armstrong-Jones, who was later to marry Princess Margaret and become Lord Snowdon. McNair had previously asked Mary Quant and Alexander Plunket Greene to help him start up the coffee bar but they declined as they thought that coffee bars were a passing fad and it wouldn't be successful. In the event, it became one of 'the' places to be if you were to become one of 'The Chelsea Set'.

It was in the Fantasie that the three of them originally planned the opening of Mary's 'Bazaar' boutique. Like the Soho clubs it had live music and one of the regular acts was The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group. In 1998 the premises became the site of the first Starbucks to be opened in Britain.

129 Newsagent (name not clear?)    130 F.J.Ward's Print Shop c.1956    later 'F.J. Ward's Art Shop' c.1975    131 Dollond & Aitchison opticians c.1967

131 - 143 Antiquarius c.1920: Part of the 'Antiquarius' building was originally a billiard hall, a fine example of Arts and Crafts architecture, built in the 1920s by the Temperance Movement. Along with the adjoining Chelsea Garage, a new garage at 15 Flood Street built in 1919 and disguised to look like an 'olde English' inn, it became home to a number of fashion boutiques and a conglomeration of about 150 antique dealers' outlets during the 1960s until fairly recently, when the entire building was let to Anthropologie, the US fashion chain. Many of the antique dealers of the old Antiquarius have now moved to the Antiques Centre at 58 Kensington Church Street.

At various times, different companies were listed as 'occupying' one of the street-facing 'numbers' in the 131-141 sequence. The downstairs stalls (see 135) included The Purple Shop boutique and Acme Attractions, a new wave outlet founded by John Krivine and Steph Rainer. Rainer recalls ''The basement went mad. Before we knew it we had complaints from the people upstairs about the thugs coming in. The entrance to us was by a pipe shop. On Saturday mornings the queue came out on the street and the guy from the pipe shop wouldn't have any of it, but there was nothing he could do. It became a shrine, almost. People got married there.....''. Acme moved upstairs in 1977, becoming the BOY punk boutique.

132 Bally boutique c.1969 1970 frontage planning drawing    Earlier A.Hicks (?)         133 May have been a newsagents at some point. Later, The Village Gate

BYWATER STREET   Old Bywater Street junction     60s view

134 Glass & Black (?) Reported to have been a large, spacious boutique with a fish pond, or tank, dominating the centre of the shop.      Beatons bakers (image 1975)

135 Entrance to Antiquarius Antiques Market: Inside and downstairs
Acme Attractions c.1974 Initially inspired by Malcolm McLaren's 'Let It Rock' boutique, John Krevine and Stephane Raynor opened the multi-vendor outlet Acme Attractions in 1974, in the basement of the Antiquarius building. The store was managed by Don Letts who said that Acme was selling "... electric-blue zoot suits and jukeboxes, and pumping dub reggae all day long". Acme was frequented by artists such as The Clash, the Sex Pistols, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, Deborah Harry and Bob Marley. Raynor recalled: ''The basement went mad. Before we knew it we had complaints from the people upstairs about the thugs coming in. The entrance to us was by a pipe shop. On Saturday mornings the queue came out on the street and the guy from the pipe shop wouldn't have any of it, but there was nothing he could do. It became a shrine, almost. People got married there ...". They closed Acme in 1977 to create the 'Boy' clothing outlet upstairs, concentrating on 'punk' fashions.

David Fielden c.1978 (downstairs in Antiquarius) clothing outlet. The Purple Shop (downstairs in Antiquarius) jewellery and art-deco items. CoCo c.1966 younger Japanese look by Suzuya.

135A Top Gear c.1965 later Unknown (front of Antiquarius Antiques Market): Previously a travel agent's, TopGear opened at 135A in 1965 and was owned by hat designer James Wedge and model Pat Booth. It featured shiny black walls and scaffolding for clothes hangers, with the back wall covered by a huge mirror surrounded by light bulbs. It was an influential shop that Biba's Barbara Hulanicki is reported as being "most envious of". It had a reputation for selling 'Mod' clothing to the 'rich and influential' and the 'Mod' image was characterised by an eye-catching bullseye on its front canopy and carrier bags, a logo later much popularised by 'Mod' group 'The Who'.James Wedge recounted: "I did most of the buying.

There was a shoe designer who I think was at college (Moya Bowler) whose shoes sold very well. There were people who did crochet dresses, very simple little straight dresses with short sleeves and square necks in gold and silver metallic fabric and they were all knitted on home knitting machines. They used to go very well. I had one woman who used to come in with a little packet of six hand-knitted sweaters and they used to sell very well, they were angora. But we didn't have any out factories or anything like that. Foale and Tuffin were our biggest suppliers".

136 In the early 60s this was a boutique owned by Kiki Byrne, a former Quant employee. Victoria Wine c.1969    later a shoe shop c.1975

137 Countdown c.1965 - 1971 later Not Known, then Alyce En Bleu's c.1976 (front of Antiquarius Antiques Market): Next door to TopGear, and also owned by James Wedge and Pat Booth. This boutique had cork-covered walls with moody lighting and regular customers included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It was also famous for stocking the 'breast shirt', the design of which was based on a photo of Pat Booth taken by Wedge. This was an outlet for Tuffin and Foale's clothes.
"...on Saturdays there was always a Rolling Stone. Mick Jagger did a concert in Hyde Park and he wore a dress, a little white dress I think it was, and he got that from Countdown, and Marianne Faithfull used to be in there on a regular basis. All the 'people' used to hang out there. There were people who used to come and buy and there used to be a hell of a lot of people who came to steal and we lost so much stuff. That was why, in the end, I felt it was time to get out".

138 The Markham Arms 1856 - 1991: Public house, now a branch of Santander. John R. recalls 'The Markham Arms was used as a gay pub on Saturdays only, and I can remember meeting friends there inside in the fuggy, fetid atmosphere! On a Saturday, after lunchtime drinking, a number of patrons walked down to the cafe on the top floor at Habitat at 208 for tea, cakes and more cruising'. This was the pub where Anthony Blunt re-established contact with Kim Philby c.1954

138a Markham House:  Originally residential and occupied by solicitors, in November 1955 Mary Quant, Archie McNair and Alexander Plunket-Greene bought the freehold of the basement and ground floor of Markham House, later The Markham Pharmacy, on the corner of Markham Square, for £8,000 (now worth about £9.5 million). and split it into two businesses, Bazaar and Alexander's 1955 - 1969: The shop was an immediate success, largely due to the fact that their inexperience had them selling their clothes and accessories too cheaply, not only affecting their profits but also annoying other local retail outlets, a 'mistake' that was quickly rectified, but not before the boutique had gained a significant reputation. After some of her designs were featured in Harper's Bazaar and purchased by an American manufacturer, Quant concentrated on designing and making more of the clothes she sold rather than buying the stock in.

Although Quant is acclaimed as the person who 'invented' the mini skirt, it is more factual to say that she popularised the description after allegedly naming her short creations after her favourite car, even though the term had previously been used as early as 1920, by the Daily Express and other newspapers, to describe the (relatively) short skirts of the time. In her 1966 first autobiography 'Quant by Quant', the term 'mini-skirt' isn't mentioned at all. She is also credited with either 'inventing' or popularising the accompanying coloured or patterned tights and, later in the decade, the 'hot pants' fashion craze. "We were in at the beginning of a tremendous renaissance in fashion. It was not happening because of us. It was simply that, as things turned out, we were a part of it".  Ronald Tuckerman estate agents occupied the rest of the premises. The basement initially housed a coffee bar / jazz club called Alexander's the sign to which can be seen on the image. The club Bosun’s Locker used to be here, as well, underneath Markham House. Around 1925, Markham House was occupied by G.F.Wilkins, solicitors.

MARKHAM SQUARE     14 to 16 Markham Square 1968    Markham Square with church that was demolished in 1953

139 Ladies Wear clothes shop, later Antiquarius shop   140 - 144 Barclays Bank up to c.1973 (later Not Known)    

141 Adlers shirt shop, at some time Susan Locke c.1970? Later Jeansville c.1976  

143 A tall single-storey building located behind 131/133. In 1961 a planning application was made for 'use of the billiards hall at the rear of 131/141 King's Road as a studio, rehearsal rooms scenery store and for the general use of Granada Television network' but no record seems to exist showing that this was ever used by Granada. The Granada contract expired in 1968, when the area was absorbed by Antiquarius

FLOOD STREET

Flood Street 1 - 11 Chelsea Manor Studios opened in 1902 and, from 22nd July 1966, was'home' to the photographer Michael Cooper, who occupied Studio 4 on the rear ground floor. On 30th March 1967 the photographic montage for the sleeve of The Beatles' 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album was put together at Studio 4. Wax figures from Madame Tussaud's and other collage items were used along with the live subjects and the actual cover was a painting of that photograph. Cooper died young, in 1972, when the studio became a 'beauty school' and it was converted for commercial and residential use in 2002.

Flood Street 15 Chelsea Garage was built as a motor garage in 1919 and extended along the full length of the rear of the Antiquarius premises. In June 1965 it became a motor showroom instead of just a workshop. It was taken over and became part of the Antiquarius trading area in the early 1970s.

Flood Street 85 (Alpha Place) Hall of Remembrance. Often used as a rehearsal facility by Associated Rediffusion TV. The Beatles rehearsed here for the AR-TV special 'Around The Beatles' filmed at Wembley in 1964.

144 (See 140)      145 Kiki Byrne at 145 (Honiton House) was contemporary to Mary Quant's 'Bazaar' through which some of Kiki's early designs were sold. Owned by Kiki Byrne and her partner, graphic designer Robert Brownjohn, and frequented by Susannah York and Grace Coddington. Byrne was known for very simple, youthful little black dresses and unfussy suits made with good quality fabrics in neutral tones. Some of her designs were worn by Cathy McGowan on the TV music show Ready Steady Go! She also created the golden bikini worn by Margaret Nolan in the title sequence of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Jaeger since c.1966

146 Topper 1960s shoe shop, later Merle boutique c.1970 which was addressed as 59 Markham Street 
  
MARKHAM STREET     Looking North 1971     Street view      59 Merle boutique   

147 Not Known later John Garman Ltd. (?) (dental surgeon) c.1974

148 - 150 This site was previously occupied by Box Farm, from 1686 to 1899.  The Electric Theatre (one of London's first purpose-built cinemas), was built in 1913 by the London & Provincial Electric Theatre Company at 148 Kings Road on the corner of Markham Street. It was designed by Felix Joubert, who also made miniature furniture in his premises in The Pheasantry, next door. It was given a new frontage in 1937. Later known as the Classic Cinema, it was closed in 1973 and re-opened with live shows but was eventually demolished in 1978 and replaced by a branch of Boots.The frontage on the corner included a sales outlet called Clare's.

149 Kents (later Quincy Jones, Sen chinese herbs, L'Eto cafe)   150 - 152 now Waterstones

152 The Pheasantry 1769: The Pheasantry is an historic Georgian building built in 1769. In 1865 it was occupied by a game dealer named Samuel Baker who raised pheasants for the royal household, hence the name. The façade and entrance arch were added in 1881. During the early 1900s it was inhabited by Eleanor Thornton, the favourite model of artist and sculptor Charles Sykes and she is believed to have been the model for his most famous work, the Rolls Royce mascot 'Spirit of Ecstasy'. By the 1920s and '30s its rooms contained the studio of dance teacher Serafina Astafieva, who taught prima ballerinas Alicia Markova and Margot Fonteyn.

The ground floor and basement was a members-only club from 1932 until 1966 when the then owner Mario Cazzini died. After this the ground floors became a nightclub that survived into the 1970s and was where singer Yvonne Elliman was discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, leading to her role in the recording of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Post-war the upper building was let in apartments and famous residents have included Eric Clapton, journalist Martin Sharp (editor of 'Oz'), Germaine Greer (who wrote 'The Female Eunuch' there), film maker Philippe Mora, artist Tim Whidborne, Clive James, writer Anthony Haden-Guest and rock/pop photographer Robert Whitaker who was responsible for the controversial 'butcher' photo used on the original cover of the Beatles' album 'Yesterday & Today'. The site also contained Bassi's Restaurant during the 1960s
The Pheasantry was redeveloped in 1979, retaining the original facia, and currently houses shops, apartments and a pizza restaurant.

151 Andre Portat 'Coiffeur de Dames' c.1967  Ricci hair stylists (early 70s)  153 The Cheyne Gallery   W.Churcher photographer. Later (c.1974) Acme Attractions and BOY

154 Sandro's Cellar (basement) Not Known image c.1967   155 Sunlight Laundry c.1968

155A Entrance to Chelsea Methodist Church (1903) Methodists first started meeting in Chelsea in a local woman's house in John Wesley's time. He preached several times to them. As numbers grew they rented a room, then a suite of rooms in the Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens (now part of the Royal Hospital grounds). Shortly after, they leased and converted an old slaughter house in the present Sloane Street area. In the early nineteenth century, their first purpose-built chapel was in Sloane Square (now the Royal Court Theatre), their second one in Sloane Terrace – where the Christian Science church now stands. This second chapel was used by Chelsea Methodists from 1812 to 1903. In 1903, Chelsea Methodists built on the present site on the corner of King's Road and Chelsea Manor Street. In 1941, a bomb destroyed the sanctuary, and after the war, the rooms that were left underwent various changes. The bombsite itself was long used as a car park, before the whole site was redeveloped in 1983. Today, this is the only church with a door on King's Road.

156 Village Gate boutique owned by John Simons and Jeff Kwintner - 'sister' shop to The Squire Shop opposite (image c.1967) Street scene from 'The Party's Over' (1964)

157 Melita (basement restaurant run by Victor Hugo Borg until c.1977?)    158 Oscar's Clothes (?) (Later: Brighter Homes)   

159  ?..utton & Co shoe shop c.1967    160 'Z' (boutique?) (Later: Millers).

161 Dandie Fashions October 1966 became Apple Tailoring May 1968 and then The Rag Machine c.1972:

Dandie Fashions originally opened in October 1966, in South Kensington, and was owned jointly by Tara Browne and John Crittle with associates Alan Holston, Neil Winterbottom and Freddie Hornik. Fashions and tailoring was supplied by Foster & Tara, a business Tara Browne had set up with Pops and Cliff Foster, a father and son team.

Dandie moved to 161 King's Road at the beginning of 1967, by which time Tara Browne had been killed in the high profile car accident. The external mural decoration was carried out by BEV (Binder, Edwards and Vaughn) and was where The Beatles bought many of their clothes. The establishment also had a psychedelic multi-coloured Bentley, used to transport important customers to various clubs and party venues around London, that was commissioned from BEV at the same time as the shop front. Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie were also big customers and it was Dandie that supplied Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' outfit. Note: The shop and clothing labels were, at various times, named 'Dandie' or 'Dandy'.

Apple Tailoring (Civil and Theatrical): From Thursday 23rd May 1968 the premises were 'shared' with The Beatles' Apple Corporation, to become their second 'boutique' outlet, that closed within a year. Apple's Neil Aspinall and company accountant Stephen Maltz became directors of Dandie as part of this agreement. The short-lived business was run by 25 year-old Australian John Crittle and had a hairdressing salon in the basement run by Leslie Cavendish.

The Rag Machine: See 163. These premises are now occupied by Proud Galleries with an excellent display of rock & roll, fashion and pop culture photography.

162 Kleptomania c.1967 : (Previously Edward Marno Antiques)
Tommy Roberts, along with his wife Mary and his new business partner Charlie Simpson opened the original Kleptomania at 10 Kingly Street, Soho, in 1966. The Kings Road branches at 164 and 106 were added shortly afterwards, but were short-lived as Roberts moved on to open 'Mr Freedom' at 430 in 1968/9. Kleptomania handled Paul Reeves fashion designs under the label name 'Sam Pig In Love'.

Tommy Roberts: "In the style of 'Granny's' decor, the interior of Kleptomania's back room was repainted in purple and magenta and enhanced by the addition of an ultraviolet light surrounded by antique shawls gathered across the ceiling. ...... a hi-fi (allowed customers to) appreciate the aural pleasures of Love, The Mothers Of Invention and the Velvet Underground". "Kleptomania metamorphosed into an incense-filled, 'hippified' haven". "Any customer coming through the door and 'spoiling the vibes' was felt to be an inconsiderate nuisance".

The original 'I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet' was opened by Ian Fisk and John Paul at 293 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, in 1966. In the summer of 1967 Fisk and Paul dissolved their partnership. Fisk took sole ownership of the premises, which became the Injun Dog head-shop (subtitled 'Once I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet'). Paul and new partner Ian Richardson, managing director David Morgan and manager Robert Orbach opened a new branch of 'IWLKV' in Foubert's Place, Soho, selling militaria and Swinging London novelty items. In 1968 Paul added two more, in Carnaby Street and Wardour Street, and soon expanded to sites in Piccadilly Circus and in the Kings Road (on the corner of Jubilee Place), where the shop superseded Kleptomania, and another branch sited at number 65 that was called 'I Was Lord Kitchener's Thing'.

Robert Orbach: "The name 'I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet' was thought up by Ian Fisk just because we sold Victoriana. It conjured up images of Edwardian smoking jackets, top hats and canes and Birdcage Walk on Sunday - pure nostalgia".
"In about 1967 we took over Kleptomania on the Kings Road, so we were now operating in both streets. Carnaby Street was really run by working class people. The upper middle class Cambridge crowd were all in the Kings Road and they didn't like us working class heroes. For a while the Kings Road did better than Carnaby Street. There were rope barriers down the centre of the shop to direct people towards the cashier. The till was going all day long".

JUBILEE PLACE      Street views

163 Jean Junction c.1972 Jean Machine was a chain of stores selling jeans, founded in 1971 by Tony Lonsdale, nicknamed the 'Blue Jean King'. He brought jeans over from California and, after initial resistance from local wholesalers, set up a shop on the King's Road. He originally set up The Pant House in Hornton Street, Kensington, before adding The Rag Machine and The Jean Machine next door to each other at 161 and 163. Shortly after that, The Pant House also opened nearby in the King's Road.

CHELSEA MANOR STREET (just Manor Street before 1937)     Bow Tie Cafe

164 - 166 Lloyds Bank    164 - 174 wide view    164 to west wide view

165 - 179 Chelsea Old Town Hall 1886 to 1965 became the Chelsea Register Office 1978
Dating from 1886, the Register Office in the Old Town Hall holds the records for all births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships that have taken place within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since July 1837. It ceased to be the local town hall in 1965 when Chelsea amalgamated with Kensington and became the Register Office when 250 closed in 1978. It is now a venue for all manner of concerts, fashion shows and fairs. It was the venue for John and Yoko's media launch of The Plastic Ono Band on 3rd July 1969.

168 All Kinds Jan Curtis advises: "All Kinds traded from the late 60s to the mid 70s. It was owned by David Pratt and sold very modern boutique menswear. Many famous customers shopped there including The Four Tops, The Temptations, and many famous footballers. My husband served Tony Curtis and sold him a jacket. When they released the musical Hair a group of nude women ran down the Kings Road and some came into the shop. The alterations to the clothes sold in the shop were done by Freddie Burretti, the famous designer for David Bowie, who became a good friend of my husband. He worked in a tailors above one of the shops near Take Six".

170 John Michael 1957 - 1968 John Michael Ingram's boutique was one of the earliest on Kings Road, opening in 1957, only two years after Mary Quant's 'Bazaar', and was one of the original retailers of the style that was to become 'Mod'. He also opened 'Sportique', in Soho, situated right next to the 2i's coffee bar in Old Compton Street. By 1965 he had built the business into a public company and, by the end of 1966, he had opened 17 shops with a head office on Savile Row. He subsequently started an export business, selling his lines to the JC Penney chain in America and later went on to design clothes for TV personalities, including Patrick McGoohan in the cult TV series 'The Prisoner'.
Later renamed Westerner c.1968, an Americana boutique specialising in western gear for all the family. Later renamed again, as Guy, but still owned by the chain.

172 Choy's Chinese restaurant 1952 - 2013    174 Beaumonts of Chelsea c.1964  later  Strides    176 Miss Chelsea

BURNSALL STREET     Street view

178 King's boutique  later Tips c.1976    180 Chelsea Gems where you could get an 'accurate' horoscope for a shilling - amazing! Wavell & Co Ltd. chemists c.1967

178A R. Soles shoes c.1975 also at 109A

180 - 182 The Eleusis Club had a lease of numbers 180 and 182 that expired in 1902. The Chelsea Electric Palace was a long narrow cinema seating 400, possibly a shop conversion. It was operating prior to 1910, through to at least 1914, advertising pictures and variety. It was later renamed Cadogan Electric Palace and closed as the Cadogan Cinema in 1927. By 1930 the building was in use as a chemist shop.

181 - 183 / 183a Chelsea Arts Club / Chenil Art Galleries / Decca Studios: 181 was the home of Chelsea Arts Club until 1901 when it moved to 143-5 Old Church Street.
The Chenil Art Galleries next to the Town Hall were built on the site of Charles Chenil's art material shop in 1906 by Jack Knewstub. Augustus John had a studio there in 1910, as did Roger Fry and Eric Gill. David Bomberg held his first show there in 1914 and in 1926 David Barbirolli conducted a chamber orchestra there. Knewstub's art business went into receivership in 1927. The last documented exhibition was held there in 1926. The building was sold at auction and became Decca's first recording studio between 1929 and 1936. It was acquired by the local council in 1947 for retail and later became an antiques market, then a toy shop. It had fallen into disuse by 2008 and in 2010 redevelopment began on a new residential and retail scheme.

182A Semmens of Chelsea Mens Hairdressers c.1967

183 Heath Bullock - period furniture    later Girl c.1970 boutique    184 C. Ashby & Sons electrical engineers    185 David Clulow opticians est 1962

186 Gipsy boutique (1960s?)    186a Sketchleys      188 Cygnet House  business and residential occupation on upper floors    188a Pompadour Wig Boutique    

190 American... Classics(? or possibly American Haven which was a 'burger bar) then Lorenzo Italian restaurant c.1970   191 Flip American Clothing

192 Sir Mark boutique (?)      193 Steinberg & Tolkien theatrical costumiers 1993 - 2007

194 - 198 Tankard & Smith This was a long-established petrol service garage, also dealing in classic cars, and was a supplier of service vehicles to London Transport. Still operational in the early Sixties, the exact closure date of the Kings Road site is unknown. The London Gazette lists Tankard and Smith (Shepherds Bush) Limited, Motor Traders, as going into liquidation in October 1962. Tankard & Smith adverts  
Lendrum & Hartman American car sales took over the site. Sold to the Lex motor group c.1960, they moved to Flood Street in 1966. The site was briefly occupied by Billy Murphy's Emperor of Wyoming in 1974 (named after a track on Neil Young's first solo album) for a short time before closing and eventually concentrating its Kings Road business at its Worlds End location at 408 (see 404).  Later (?)  Allied Carpets.   The site is now a Waitrose store.

195 - 197 Six Bells (1722)  The original Six Bells public house is known to have been licensed to a John Westerbone as early as 1722. The site contained a tea garden with arbours and little summer-houses in the 1820s and sported a bowling green (a club with 65 members) in 1895. The building was reconstructed in its Tudor style in 1900, at which time a mammoth's tooth weighing 16 lbs and measuring 15" by 12" was excavated.

In the winter of 1958 the 'Wally Fawkes Troglodytes' jazz band had to move from their residency in Piccadilly and settled into the Six Bells as their new 'home'. Fawkes was not only a talented and well-known jazz musician, associated with George Melly and George Chisholm, but also a cartoonist who was the creator of the 'Flook' character featured in a strip in the Daily Mail in the Sixties. He ran 'Trog's Jazz Club' for many years in the Six Bells upstairs rooms, which also had 'blues' evenings on Thursdays featuring artists such as Zoot Money, Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and others.

Renamed in the 1970s, 'The Birds Nest' was one of the Watney's pubs bearing this name that represented a new concept in entertainment. Watney's combined a pub with a discotheque and an innovative system of telephone tables where customers could dial for food and drink. Two hundred and fifty people attended the launch party including Simon Dee, Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth. Here the theme was Bavarian. Watneys engaged German architect, Thomas Gehrig, who had designed the interiors of bars and clubs in Germany, Italy and the USA. The aim was to appeal to an international clientele. It still existed as one of the Henry J. Beans bar / restaurant chain until its recent closure.

196 - 222 is currently being redeveloped, with a new Waitrose, Curzon cinema, a large pub with a rooftop bar, offices and homes, restoring the Gaumont art deco frontage.

199 Hide Park antiques c.1975

200 - 204 The Lord Nelson 1806 renamed The Trafalgar 1970: The Lord Nelson public house was first established here in 1806-7 and was rebuilt in 1933. In 1970 the pub's name was changed to 'The Trafalgar' and it operated as a kind of 'discotheque with a fairground'. The 'opening' ceremony saw film stars Julie Ege and George Lazenby pulling the 'first pint'. It is now owned by Mitchells and Butler and incorporates a brasserie.

201 HIS clothes boutique (John Stephen)  later Monk's   Chelsea Wash-Inn launderette c.1975    203 Chelsea Record Centre c.1975 Picture 2 

205 Tom Salter's Cafe: 1960s - Owned by Tom Salter who operated the 'Gear' boutique chain, the cafe later became a wine bar (Pucci Pizza) and in 1975 was the venue for a gig by a group (called either The Strand or The Swankers) who, after some personnel changes, were to become The Sex Pistols some months later.
Salter and street view 1975  later Pucci Pizza c.1987

206 - 208 The Gaumont Palace 1934. The Odeon 1963: The current building that includes the Curzon cinema is built on the site originally occupied by the studio of film pioneer William Friese-Greene, whose image can be seen on a bas relief on front of the building. The Gaumont Palace opened on the site on 8th December 1934 with 2,502 seats and a 150 seat restaurant with its own entrance. It was modernised in 1960 and re-named the Odeon in 1963 before closing in 1972. Part of the site was converted into the Habitat store now at 208 and a new Odeon cinema seating 739 was opened at 206 in September 1973, closing again in November 1981. After lying fallow for two years film distributors Artificial Eye took it over, re-naming it the Chelsea Cinema for its re-opening on 15th September 1983. The cinema was taken over by the Curzon group in 2006. Sir Terence Conran opened the first Habitat store at 77 Fulham Road in 1964, later moving the 'flagship' store to its current location and is now one of the brand's only remaining premises.
Inside the cinema  Odeon street view

207 Givans Irish linen stores c.1975 1987 view   street view     209 Oakshots off licence? later  The Wine and Beer Shop c.1975 later Superwines c.1987 1987 street view

CHELSEA MANOR STREET (just Manor Street before 1937)

OAKLEY STREET     58 to 69 Oakley Street 1963

210 - 222 Kings Road These numbers are untraceable and do not currently exist but it is most likely that they were swallowed up by the 'footprint' of the cinema.

211 Argyll House 1723. The oldest houses still existing in the Kings Road can be seen at 211-217, the oldest of which is Argyll House, designed and built by Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni for John Perrin in 1723. The house is named after the Duke of Argyll who bought it in 1769. It was occupied by society hostess Lady Sibyl Colefax from 1922 to 1937 at whose soirees it is alleged that the future Edward VIII was introduced to Wallis Simpson.

213 - 215 Kings Road c.1725: These houses were added later in the 1720s. 213 was occupied in the 1930s by noted society interior designer Syrie Maugham (a daughter of Thomas) and, from 1948 to 1978, 'Third Man' and 'Oliver!' film director Sir Carol Reed whose occupation is commemorated by a blue plaque. Judy Garland and her family rented the house in 1960. Dr. Thomas Arne, the composer of 'Rule Britannia', lived at 215 during the 18th century and the premises were later occupied by acclaimed actress Ellen Terry from 1904 to 1920 and, more recently, Peter Ustinov. house 215 c.1973   

217 Kings Road 1750: This house was originally occupied by James Hutton, one of the founders of the Moravian Church. 

GLEBE PLACE   Glebe Place 51 Chelsea Open Air School c.1965   Street View and Kingsley School

219 Millers of Chelsea antiques    later Tiger Tiger toys c.1976        221 E.A. Fownes wines, spirits, beer    later The Loose Rein food bar, wine store and cellar wine bar.    

223 225 and 227 These numbers do not appear to exist, although buildings are contiguous at this point in time. There appears to be a service entrance to the west of
number 231 so it is possible that these numbers belonged to premises behind the road-facing shops? This parade housed the road's oldest shops

224 - 226 Westminster Bank. Now a Grade 2 listed building planned to be converted to retail outlets and residential units.

228 - 232 Old Post and Sorting Office: The building at 232 King's Road was converted and extended c.2007 to provide affordable housing, with access from the King's Road to the side of the retained shop.

229 Albert King antiques dealer (?)  .....Cigar Store (?)   Antique Clothing (c.1976)   Nicholas Martine art gallery c.1973

231 J. Middleton art dealer (?) c.1973    229 - 231 was later occupied by Antique Clothing c.1976    233 Nicholls Brothers builders merchants

234 - 242 Chelsea Palace of Varieties 1903 Granada TV Studio 10   Granada 1958 1957-1966: Previously occupied by Wilkinson Sword's Oakley Works, where guns and swords were made, the building was replaced by the Chelsea Palace of Varieties (a music hall theatre designed by Wylson and Long and built by contractor C.T. Kearly) which opened on the 13th April 1903. It seated 2,524 on two levels, stalls and pit, and a box gallery. By 1923 it was also being used as a cinema but was sold in 1925 to Variety Theatres Consolidated after which, until it closed in March 1957, it reverted to live performances only.

During 1956 the Palace hosted a Radio Luxembourg talent contest which was won four weeks in a row by Fantasie coffee bar regulars Chas McDevitt's Skiffle Group. It was during this competition that Chas met 20 year-old Glaswegian singer Anne Wilson, performing under the stage name Nancy Whiskey. Together they recorded 'Freight Train' which became a hit on both sides of the pond and the success it brought allowed Chas to eventually open his own coffee bar in Berwick Street in Soho, inevitably called 'The Freight Train'. The Theatre was taken over by Granada Theatres in 1951 and renamed the Chelsea Granada in 1957, with the intention of turning it into a cinema, but it was subsequently leased to Granada Television who remodelled it for use as their 'Studio 10'. TV shows produced in this studio over the next eight years included 154 episodes of 'The Army Game' and three series of a variety show called 'Chelsea at Nine', which featured many top acts who were appearing live in London.

A note of interest is that Granada owners Sidney and Cecil Bernstein only gave their studios even numbers, so this was, in fact, the fifth Granada TV studio. Billie Holiday gave her last (recorded) performance there on 23rd February 1959, performing 'Strange Fruit', 'I Loves You Porgy' and 'Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone', only the first two of which survive. Granada abandoned the building in 1966 and it was demolished to be replaced with flats and the Heal's furniture store.

Heal's (1966 - closed 2015). The company dated back to 1810, when John Harris Heal founded a family bed-making business at the store's main branch in Tottenham Court Road, W1. The sign of the four-poster outside his shop was to become the mark of good design throughout the UK. The TCR store was particularly important to the Arts & Crafts movement, fostered by Sir Ambrose Heal, who joined the firm in 1893. Heal's was where Aldous Huxley first met Virginia Woolf, was the first to exhibit Modigliani in its (now defunct) Mansard Gallery, and first showed room-sets by Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Maxwell Fry.

234a Hallmark Cards  (date?)

235 '235 Kings' Owned by Rodney Rawlings from 1965 until 1974, it was bought from Jonathan Hanson and his business partners and transformed into one of the most popular restaurants in the area. The 50-seat bistro boasted devoted regulars, at various times, that included Dudley Moore (always ordered Shepherd’s Pie), Lance Percival, Derek Nimmo, Alan Bates, Jean Muir, James Clavell, The Hollies, James Hunt, Marjorie Parr, John Cowan, Dan Topolski and the current Oxford eight, and many other notables. Nigel Dempster and the William Hickey team usually commandeered one end of the communal centre table at jam-packed Saturday lunches. see Rodney Rawlings reminiscenses

More rarefied visitors included Lee Marvin, Julie Christie, Charlotte Rampling, Brigitte Bardot, the King of Sikkim, Princess Anne, Mick Jagger, Tiny Tim... and others, with everyone eating at shared, candle-lit tables (there were no tables for two) in a paparazzi-free atmosphere. On the door of 235 Kings was a sign with the message “Interdit aux paysans!” (by ‘peasants’ we meant uncouth, uncivil people of any sort, including Hooray Henrys and the like.) “Cet etablissement est un lieu prive, cree surtout pour l’amusement du patron et son personnel. Si vous voulez manger ici, soyez sympathique”.

237 Express c.1973 wine store (?)     239 (Street Level) Not Known

239 Chester Antiques at street level. The Gateways Club (Basement) 1930 - 1985: The Gateways club, with its famous 'green door' side entrance in Bramerton Street, was established in 1930/31 and, almost unique for its time, became more or less exclusively lesbian during the war when large numbers of women, working or stationed near London, needed somewhere of their own to go to. It legally became a 'members' club in 1936. Ted Ware ran the club during the war, allegedly after winning it in a poker game. He married actress Gina Cerrato in 1953 who took over the running of the club, together with an American woman called 'Smithy' who originally came to England with the US Air Force. Inside the green door was a steep set of steps leading down to the cloakroom and the club entrance. The windowless cellar 'club room' was only 35ft long with a bar at one end (usually run by 'Smithy') with a fruit-machine by a central pillar and a jukebox opposite the bar.

In the Sixties it was popular with artists and celebrities such as Diana Dors and Dusty Springfield and it was used for scenes in the 1968 film 'The Killing of Sister George', featuring many club regulars on screen and starring Beryl Reid, Susannah York and Coral Browne. It is also believed that the song 'Green Door' was inspired by its entrance. The Gateways closed on 24th September 1985 when it lost its late licence due to complaints about the loud music, by which time many more alternative venues for the gay community had become publicly acceptable.

BRAMERTON STREET    Street view   Street view 2

241 Chapman Brothers (1908 - 1964) also at 251. Carvers and gilders, picture framemakers, by 1911 also picture dealers and restorers. This important business produced frames for many leading artists. The Chapman business is not well documented. It appears to have been founded by George Chapman (c.1844-c.1915?), who was recorded in the 1881 census at 251 King’s Rd, as a master gilder and picture framemaker, employing four men, with his brother, Joseph, house and estate agent, in the same household. In the 1901 census George Chapman, age 57, gilder and picture framemaker, was listed with his son Edwin John Chapman (1879-1958), age 21, also a gilder and picture framemaker. George Chapman was included in the electoral roll until 1915 but his death has not been traced. By the time of the 1911 census Edward John had married and was living in Fulham, described as Manager, picture dealer and restorer, carver and gilder. He died in 1958, leaving effects worth £8251.

Later Meenys (1972) Gary Craze opened Meenys on the Kings Road in 1972 and sold American adults and children’s clothes like Levi’s, Converse, Oshkosh, Gant, Topsiders, Bass, just to name a few. The other branch was located at Draycott Avenue, which was the first Meenys in 1971 and was also a children’s hair salon. He then opened on Kensington High Street and in Hampstead. Before Meenys, Gary Craze had also opened Sweenys (1966), a men’s hair salon in Beauchamp Place, and Todds (1968) in 478 Kings Road at the World’s End.

SYDNEY STREET   Looking North 1966   Sydney Street west side (demolished 2003 to make a garden centre).

243 The 243 Shop c.1976: Boutique, previously a cafe / coffee bar.

244 - 252 Board of Guardians / Chelsea Workhouse 1883 Chelsea Register Office until 1978: The Board of Guardians' offices were built in 1883 and extended to Sydney Street in1903-5. The complex also included a workhouse situated behind the main building but sharing the same address. 250 was the old Chelsea Register Office where Bessie Wallis Warfield married her second husband, Ernest Simpson, in 1928, becoming Mrs Wallis Simpson.
It was the venue for Judy Garland's 1969 marriage to disco manager Mickey Deans, with singer Johnnie Ray as best man, just a few months before her death and also Neil Aspinall's (the 'fifth Beatle') to Suzy Ornstein before the official records and licence for marriages were transferred to the old town hall in 1978.

245 Chelsea Antique Market (1960s) then D. Kirkham (1976)

Entrance to Chelsea Antique Market: Listed as 245A, but with two entrances, this conglomeration of shops and an advertised 110 stalls was the site of the original 'Chelsea Antiques Market' until it changed ownership in 1991. Peter and Adrian Harrington bought the freehold but did not want to spend £5 million to redevelop it and sold the premises on. It has since re-opened. Pattie Harrison and her sister, Jennie Boyd, ran an art-nouveau stall called 'Juniper', between July 1968 and February 1969, and Emmerton & Lambert was a well-known 'second hand' fashion 'boutique'. Slightly confusingly, 'Chelsea Antiques Market' has more recently been advertised and reported as running at 135 Kings Road, the Antiquarius building, which was its main rival.

245A Chapman Brothers works 1912 - 1964       247  Joanna Booth (1976)    249  Patmores fishmongers later  Dominic's bistro c.1972

 DOVEHOUSE GREEN   Chelsea Hospital for Women 1955 (1871-1988)    
By the 1880s the poor state of the King's Road burial ground caused controversy. A mortuary was constructed in 1882 and the remaining area was used for the recreation of workhouse residents. After war damage the ground was redeveloped from 1947-50. The mortuary was demolished and most stones removed to develop a garden partly open to the public, The Borough re-modelled the garden in 1977, retaining mature trees and some monuments, renaming it Dovehouse Green.

DOVEHOUSE STREET   street view

251 S.Boris c.1969: After purchasing the shop from the man after whom it is named, Joe and Terry Heade ran S.Borris, The Sandwich Shop, for 35 years, until it closed in 2004. Among its many notable customers were Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland and Christine Keeler.
Previously Chapman Brothers (Chelsea) Ltd. picture dealers and frame makers 1874 - 1911 then at 241

253 Emmerton & Lambert boutique    253a Chelsea Antiques Market second entrance    255 Jeremy Ltd  furniture (1976)      257 Cafe Jazz Hot c.1961     

RAMSAY MEWS

259 Green & Stone Previously C.L. Hacking ironmongers, in 1895 Charles Hacking put in the winning tender to install electric lights in the Upper Hall of Chelsea Town Hall with a quote of £48. Green & Stone of Chelsea, picture framers and supplier of specialist art materials, was first established on the King’s Road in Chelsea in 1927 when Mr Alfred Green and his sons Alfie and Peter were invited to work from the Chenil Gallery by its directors, Augustus John and Bernard Shaw. In 1934, Green & Stone relocated to 259 King’s Road, a premises previously run as a shop for the Women’s Suffragette Movement. From here Mr. Green and his sons continued to run the shop primarily as a picture framing business, offering only a small selection of art materials. In 1978 the business was bought by employee Rodney Baldwin.

264 Chelsea Fire Station The Kings Road Fire Station was opened on 3rd March 1965 by London County Council and was part of a development that included the
Chelsea Arts School (Manresa Road) and Chelsea College of Science and Technology. Previously a Regency terrace demolished in 1955

266 - 268 The Chemistry Department and Hall of Residence occupied 266 - 268.    Aerial view 1957   
The whole block was previously an empty lot occupied by Park Motors, a used car trader, on the site of a regency terrace dating from 1810 - 1955.

MANRESA ROAD    Kings Road looking North 1959  Manresa and Chelsea College site 1959    Old Public Library (built 1890)

270 - 278 Residential houses c.1959

271 Clytie Jessop Art Gallery: Art gallery owned by the British actress and film directrix that exhibited works by many notable contemporary artists. Her first screen role was as the ghost of Miss Jessel in 'The Innocents' (1961) and she had minor horror roles for Hammer in 'Nightmare' (1964) and Amicus in'Torture Garden' (1967). In 1986 she wrote, directed and produced the film 'Emma's War', starring Lee Remick.

273 Stockpot : The Stockpot was the one of the oldest restaurants and a popular Sixties hangout, now sadly closed.  273A Doorway to upper floor Not Known    

275  Cafe (?) later possibly 'Gift Shop' (see Cadogan arms in reflection). The Designers Guild now occupies 267 - 277

277 Flaxman Antiques  Then owned by Robin Guild’s mother, it became the Designers Guild shop in November 1971, run by Trisha Guild, Robin's second wife.

 OLD CHURCH STREET

Old Church Street 46A Sound Techniques Studio 1964: Sound Techniques began its life as a recording studio in December 1964, when it was set up by Geoff Frost and John Wood as one of the early independent sound recording studios in the UK. Artists who recorded there included: Pink Floyd (who recorded their first record here), Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, Steeleye Span, Incredible String Band, The Pentangle, John Martyn, Beverley Martyn, Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, Judy Collins, John Cale, The Yardbirds and The Who. Outer street building

279 The Glaciarium 1876, The Palaseum 1910, King's Picture Playhouse 1911, The Ritz 1943, The Essoldo 1949 street view 1966, The Curzon 1972,
Kings Road Theatre 1973, The Classic 1980. The world's first artificial ice rink was constructed in Covent Garden in 1844 and was a kind of 'prototype' for the first 'modern' indoor rink, The Glaciarium, which was opened by John Gamgee in Milman Street on 7th January 1876 and moved to 279 Kings Road in March of that year. This was a sophisticated artificial rink created by using technology invented to freeze meat for transport. The site was occupied by The Palaseum in 1910 and renamed in 1911, with its capacity increased from 960 to 1200. It became the Ritz in 1943 and was remodelled in 1949, becoming the Essoldo until 1972 and renamed the Curzon, closing in 1973. It reopened as King's Road Theatre for live performances, notably the first live version of the Rocky Horror Show, closing in 1979 and re-opening in 1980 as the Classic, now CineWorld. It has also been, at various times, a Cannon, an MGM 1234 and an ABC.

280 - 296 Residential houses c.1959    281 Contessini c.1975 restaurant (?)    283 Sandra Shops / Mayfair c.1967    M.Silver & Sons c.1975 watch & clock repairs

285 Marjorie Parr Art Gallery  Marjorie Parr founded her original gallery at 285 Kings Road in 1963. Her early exhibitions included artists Guy Wordsell and Michael Andrews, painter John Hitchens, sculptors Peter Ball, Roger Leigh, Peter Thursby, Elisabeth Frink, Enzo Plazzotta, F. E. McWilliam and textile designer Tadek Beutlich. She sold the gallery to David Gilbert in July 1974 but continued to assist him at the gallery until the end of 1975. Gilbert renamed the gallery in March 1977 to the Gilbert Parr Gallery, which finally closed in October 1982.

287 Raffles  A private members’ club named after colonial mogul Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, was founded in 1967 by Peter Evans, the restaurateur who is credited with bringing steak houses to London. The Peter Evans Eating Houses took over from Angus Steak Houses. Members included The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Vivienne Westwood as well as Princess Margaret, Earls Snowdon and Lichfield, Barbra Streisand and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

289 Chelsea Book Shop c.1963    The Jam (Buona Sera 289A) restaurant since 1972

PAULTONS SQUARE    view looking west 1961    view looking east 1961

CARLYLE SQUARE

291 - 293 A.H.Inglis dentist c.1960    294 Small Wonder    295 - 301 (?) Practical House Agents c.1960    later Hooper & Purchase antiques c.1981

296 Jackson, Rose & Co.  The current shop front dates from the 1980s but the set-back first floor parapet defines the former line of the road.

298 Cadogan Arms c.1680: This pub was built during the 17th century as the 'Rose & Crown'. The name was changed to 'The Cadogan Arms' when it was rebuilt in 1838. The pub was altered in the mid-1960s to designs by architects and surveyors Chesterton & Sons. These comprised of external and internal alterations, which included the addition of new windows in place of doors at ground floor on the west and south side.

OLD CHURCH STREET     Sloane House 149 Old Church Street 1965     64 to 68 Old Church Street 1968    49-51 Zapata shoes (bought by designer                                      Manalo Blahnik in 1973)

300 - 302 Westminster Bank c.1966 street view        303 - 323 Collectively known as Argyll Mansions. Residential above, small retail units at ground level. Old picture        

303 H&B.... (?) television sales c.1960  later Blueberry Hill boutique c.1970 and later a betting shop. The Electric Colour Co art collective was formed in 1969 by artists Andrew Greaves, Jeffrey Pine, David Smith and Roderic Stokes. Andrew was to say "It was originally supposed to support our fine art practice but became so involving that it took up all our time". Late in 1970, among other 'boutique' projects, ECC fitted out the mysterious and short-lived King's Road fashion outlet Blueberry Hill, which lasted all of six weeks before the landlords closed it and converted it into a betting shop. No-one seems to be able to remember who operated the business or designed the clothes. They may also have had a presence in The Great Gear Market at 89.

304 Alkasura 1969 - 1975: Lloyd's second Alkasura boutique (also see 380) was a favourite of stars such as Rod Stewart and Marc Bolan (a particularly good friend), and was where Bolan acquired his satin jackets in the early 70s. Lloyd was to develop a religious mania and apparently walked around local streets in monk's clothing before he eventually committed suicide via self-immolation. Previously National Westminster Bank? Later Osborne & Little.

305 Unity Restaurant       309A Robot shoes c.1980s also at 323      311 or 313 Possibly Chelsea Rare Books (?)  311 Fruit Fly c.1980s  

312 The Chelsea Grill restaurant c.1962 later Rustum's Le Gourmet (?) restaurant and Susan Locke   318 Not Known   old image c.1911    315 - 321 Old residential houses  

323 Originally a police house or station - see lamp on building?)   Cobblers To The World (Terry De Havilland) c.1972    Robot shoes and boutique c.1980s

BEAUFORT STREET   view looking south from Kings Road 1972      Beaufort Mansions (SW side) 1975

325 Ebenezer French boot and shoe maker c.1891 Forbidden Fruit c.1972 then The Natural Shoe Store c.Jan 1981     327 Tobacconist (Hairdressers early 1980s)

Note: 328 - 348 The Post Office directory of 1902 gives the following occupants: 328 Thomas John Laffeaty cycle manufacturers (probably the original site of Laffeatys),
330 James Ball beer retailer (King William IV pub?), 332,4,5, wallpaper manufacturers, 338 Wm. Chas Billings corn dealer, 340 Edward Humphrys dairy,
342 Percy Bolton chemist, 344,6 Boothroyd & Marsdon drapers, 348 Isabel Marian Fells dressmaker.

386 Wm. Wyatt butcher c.1939    later Climpsons    

388 Mac Fisheries Ltd. Later Martha Hill boutique c.1972

391 Maypole Dairy c.1939 (?)    later ....ount (?) cleaners   393 ... Antiques (?)

392 The Man In The Moon originally c.1769: This public house stood at the corner of King's Road and Park Walk and contained a fringe theatre for about 20 years, before it closed in 2003. Adam and The Ants played some of their early gigs here.

PARK WALK   

Street view   Earlybird 20, boutique Park Walk Garage (in reflection of boutique)   Elm Park Mansions

The World's End area dates its name back to King James II, who considered the area to be 'the end of the world' when he used to ride down King's Road.

394 Cobra sports shop c. 1980

396 Johnny Moke boutique c.1984  Terrace view          Entrance to Kings House
Notable for the owner, born John Joseph Rowley in Walthamstow, East London, on September 2nd 1945. Moke was a member of the London Mod scene that included Mark Feld (Marc Bolan). He developed an interest in style and design and, by 1967, was selling antique clothes from the tiny basement of Granny Takes A Trip with partner Mickey Oram.

395 - 411 Parade of Shops   397 The Barn restaurant, c.1972 previously Mac Fisheries   

398 Anne Russell: hairdressers 1960s. Later Review boutique.
This block of buildings was collectively known as Kings House. Flat 5 was occupied by DISC and NME writer Chris Hutchins c.1963

399 - 411 street view before redevelopment (some confusion over configuration after 1950s)
               later street view see more below

THE CREMORNE ESTATE   An initial plan for the estate was turned down in 1962, on the grounds of population density and a lack of architectural merit. A new plan was drawn up by Eric Lyons, architect, and E.G. Goldring of the Chelsea borough engineers, to include 8 tower blocks grouped around podiums with interconnected walkways. After an inquiry held in 1965 the Minister of Housing turned down the borough's plan but was prepared to treat Chelsea's application as exceptional because of the high standard of layout and design. The plan was adapted and the revised scheme, for 765 flats in blocks of 5 to 14 storeys forming three irregular squares, with two level walk-ways, and including underground parking, shopping centre, church, public house, and community centre, with a school on an adjoining site, received ministerial approval in 1967. Building work finally started in 1969 and the first families moved in by early 1975.

430 The World's End store (since 1980): Still owned by Vivienne Westwood and famous for its large 'backward' clock, this has been the location for some of London's most famous fashion boutiques since 1963:

4.30 (1963 to 1966): A 'girls boutique'. Jonathan Aitken (of The Young Meteors) said of it: "At 430 Kings Road ex-naval officer Bill Fuller, aged 33, and his girlfriend Carol Derry, 26, sell the cheapest clothes in London this side of Biba and have an unusual line in imported French style".

Hung On You (1966 to Sep 1968): The boutique was owned by Michael Rainey, who was a son of notorious society figure Marion Wrottesley. He was married to Jane Ormsby-Gore (daughter of Lord Harlech) who was a contributing editor of Vogue and who became Rainey's business partner when the boutique was originally started at 22 Cale Street, Chelsea Green in 1964, moving to the Kings Road in 1966. "Michael (Rainey) would find lovely materials, all made in London in the East End by proper old-fashioned tailors. He was a great stickler. The Stones and Beatles would come in and say, 'We want four of those'…"
In an interview for Town magazine Rainey said: "We are not tailors, but we will make things up for people if we think their ideas are good". Their prices were high (shirts being as much as 7 guineas) but customer Richard Neville recalled "Groovers didn't mind paying triple for a floral chiffon shirt, because Mick Jagger had probably bought one like it the day before".

Mr Freedom (1969 to Dec 1970): By early 1969 Thomas Steven 'Tommy' Roberts was looking for a better business opportunity than Kleptomania. He withdrew his capital from the business with a view to acquiring premises in the Kings Road, saying "In the King's Road I could sell style, not just knick-knacks to passing tourists". The owner of the 'Hung On You' boutique, Michael Rainey, was a friend of his and had decided to sell the business and the stock to finance a personal spiritual journey to India, so they agreed a deal for Roberts to take over the lease and stock for £1200, with a weekly rent of £25 payable to the landlord.

Roberts took it on in a partnership with Trevor Myles (who had previously supplied Kleptomania with beads and bells) and the boutique was re-named 'Mr Freedom', after the satirical 1969 William Klein film. Tommy Roberts: "We wanted to be comic-land, totally different, not a bunch of barrow-boys selling knock-off kaftans". The shop exterior was designed and executed by the Electric Colour Company artist collective and much of the interior was decorated by Les Coleman and Jeff Edwards of Mediocre Murals, with George Hardie of Nicholas Thirkell Associates as the principal graphic designer in a team including Pamla Motown. The basic colour of the interior was blue, with red splashes and a lot of neon and perspex. The decoration consisted largely of pop art posters, American flags, images from comic books and rock 'n' roll motifs, illuminated by a revolving mirror ball. Tommy's 'boardroom table' was a pinball machine!

The premises were very small - only a few hundred square feet - but were still managing weekly sales of c. £5000 by the end of 1970. Tommy Roberts had outgrown it and was looking for a larger outlet where he could create a 'palace of fun' where both the fashions and ambience could be equally outrageous, settling on a three-storey building at 20 Kensington Church Street. He acquired the lease with new partner and old friend John Paul. JP invested £50,000 into the 'new' Mr. Freedom but the shop was to last less than a year. Trevor Myles departed to move back to 430 King's Road where he opened 'Paradise Garage' and Tommy Roberts was forced to call in the receivers in March 1972.

Paradise Garage (May 1971 to Nov 1971): In May 1971, the lease for 430 was taken over by Trevor Myles who opened the short-lived Paradise Garage boutique, selling Hawaiian-style shirts, vintage denim and general Americana. Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood sold 1950s rock and roll records in a backroom. Once again, the decoration was provided by the Electric Colour Company who were instructed to create something to 'cross South Seas charm with American authenticity'. The internal 'set' contained caged lovebirds, a jukebox and even an extremely small dance-floor while, outside, a bamboo sign was erected on painted corrugated iron and a 1950s petrol pump was placed on the forecourt, very often accompanied by Myles' tiger-striped Ford Mustang. The premises also contained something called 'Osteria' - a restaurant/bar?
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, with Malcolm Edwards (aka 'Talcy Malcy') acquired the lease in 1971 and were to create a series of boutiques on the premises, catering for the swiftly changing fashion scene. These were:

Let it Rock (November 1971 to 1972)   Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die (1972 - 1974) Biker rock items

SEX (1974 - 1977): SEX sold cut-up shirts with pictures of Karl Marx and Third Reich insignia. Vivienne Westwood said: "We're not just here to sell fetish clothing but to convert, educate, liberate". Malcolm McClaren died in 2010 from mesothelioma, which he maintained he had contracted from being exposed to asbestos while stripping the shop to change it to 'Seditionaries'.

Seditionaries (1977 - 1980): Peter York (Harpers & Queen) : "Despite its low-key manner the shop is oddly uncompromising. Seditionaries is single-minded. The stuff is quite expensive too…it's a shop for the elite of Radical Displacement". Designs from Seditionaries were licensed out to BOY at 153 Kings Road (previously Cheyne Art Gallery)

432 Cale Antiques occupied the premises during the period that 'Hung On You' used 430. It was occupied by a business called The Other Spot at the time of Mr. Freedom and later occupied by Timmis & Richards chemists at the time of 'SEX' c.1975. It has also been an Indian restaurant.

433 Riley Arms public house. It was first licensed in 1858 as the Riley Arms, and in 1877 had the address 411 Kings Road, and still by 1921; this was at the corner of Riley Street, hence the name. It was rebuilt in 1952 as part of a general regeneration of the area, and from that time at least it has had the address 433 Kings Road. In 1986 the pub's name was abbreviated to Riley's. Closed in 2019.

434 C. Young & Sons (at time of 'Hung On You') later Thos W. Richards (at time of 'Paradise Garage' and 'Sex') c.1975 Street view 1975  later Keith Wainwright's Smile hairdressers c.1984

436 The Flying Dragon c.1967 'The Flying Dragon' was a tea room / restaurant owned by Puss Weber (nee Susan Ann Caroline Coriat) and her partner Barbara Allen. It was notable for the famous dragon mural painted by Dudley Edwards (post BEV) and his partner, Mike McInnerney, collectively known as 'Omtentacle'. The interior showed a rising and descending white horse on opposite sides. Two huge Anchor butter posters were used to montage 'grass' onto the wall, with 'cloud' machines in opposing corners blowing 'moving clouds' across the artificial grass 'carpet'. The site was boarded up by 1975

438 New Assam Indian restaurant c.1972    

440 Snoads / W.A.Hunt   later A.H. Dixon second hand furniture (1960s or earlier?)    later Aylesford & Co estate agents c.1975

LIMERSTON STREET    Chelsea Bun Diner 

view looking South 1961      street view 1962    West side

441 - 457 World's End Nurseries
This site, approximately one acre, was home to a garden centre before the 1800s when the area was developed for housing. After severe damage during the war the opportunity to reinstate the garden centre was taken by James Lotery but redevelopment plans in the 1960's were hit by a seven-year industrial dispute before it came to fruition.

442 The Stanley Arms This public house was built in 1851, originally named The Stanley Tavern. In 1971 it was renamed the Magpie & Stump, taking the name of a long-demolished pub in Cheyne Walk. It has recently closed and been converted to a restaurant.

444 - 456 Residential (?)    442 to 456 street view 1975

HOBURY STREET  view looking south 1962

458 - 474 Residential (?)     458 to 474 street view 1975

459 The World's End Distillery c.1690: The 'World's End Distillery' tavern, once 'in the middle of nowhere'. Named 'Ye Olde World's End - Cannon Brewery' in 1894. At various times, Welch Ale and Watneys

A narrow alley (called Hobs Lane and World's End Passage) that ran down to the river Thames was commercially important as many of customers came by boat from the city to visit the gardens. It is mentioned in the 1695 Congreve play 'Love for Lover'.   Worlds End passage from Lacland Place
The Original World's End Tavern       Old World's End street map    World's End street view

  THE WORLD'S END ESTATE The Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea commissioned the design of the World’s End Estate in 1963. Eric Lyons produced a design whose housing density exceeded the LCC’s limits of the time. The borough and architect refused to accept any design that resulted in a reduction in the site’s overall population, and a public enquiry ensued. Ministerial approval for a design providing 750 units of Council housing was finally granted in December 1966. Work began in 1968 when 11 acres of low rise Victorian housing occupying the site was demolished. Construction proper began in December 1969 and, following several breaks in construction, including an infamous builders' strike, was completed in April 1977.

The first tenants moved in as the works neared their conclusion and the majority of properties were occupied in the period between 1975 and 1977. Immediately adjacent to the estate are a small number of community facilities that were built at the same time and in the same style. These include the Chelsea Theatre (originally the community centre), Ashburnham Primary School, St. John’s Mission Church (which had previously existed on the site) and Omega House (providing space at ground level for the local supermarket). The north side of the estate faces Kings Road with frontages onto World's End Place and the Kings Road beyond.

LUNA STREET  Street view 1   Street view 2

BLANTYRE STREET    Street view 1969    Looking North from Cheyne Walk

Blantyre Street 28 The Sweet Shop 1967 - 1970: After success in selling her own collection of knitwear to Quorum and the Kings Road boutiques, designer Laura Jamieson opened her own boutique just off the Kings Road in 1967. The premises were rented from the council at £7 per week and sold, amongst other things, wall hangings, tunics and patchwork and applique cushions of her own design and items designed first by Trevor Miles (who went on to open Mr. Freedom with Tommy Roberts) and, later, Willy Daly who had worked with Ossie Clark.

The shop's customers included Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and Keith Richards, and Laura designed the outfit worn by Grace Coddington at her wedding to restaurateur Michael Chow in 1969 - an apple green devore silk velvet dress appliqued with wild rose, scalloped below the knee with a daisy chain belt of brown and cream suede around the hips. In early days the shop's external appearance was just white-painted board and, although not having the main road's exposure, received a lot of publicity in the daily press and Vogue magazine due to the quality of its products and its clientele.

461 (?) The Salvation Army, previously W.J. Pike removals, was situated at the end of World's End passage, between the World's End public house and the St. John mission hall.

463 - 469 (?) Saint John's Mission: The original church was situated on Tadema Road. Open air services had been held in the area from 1873. The permanent church was opened in 1876 to serve the new development of World's End in west Chelsea. It sponsored a wide range of charitable and social activities and worked with the Salvation Army. The church was bombed in 1940 and services moved to the mission church, Saint John's Community Church, on the junction with Blantyre Street. In 1973 the parish was united with Saint Andrew's, Park Walk.

SEATON STREET   Chelsea Corner Cupboard

DARTREY ROAD   Dartrey Road looking south 1969

Dartrey Terrace 1 Gandalf's Garden c.1969: Situated just off the Kings Road at World's End, in Edith Grove, the former Home and Colonial store became Gandalf's Garden, named after the wizard in Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. What was essentially a 'tea shop and craft centre', but actually a whole counter-cultural 'mystic' community, was founded by Muz Murray and flourished for a short time at the end of the Sixties as one of the 'in' establishments of the London hippie and underground scene.

A closely associated retail outlet (Gandalf's Garden Shoppe) and an iconic 'underground' magazine (6 issues) were also operated under the same name. The external decoration was created by Michael McInnerney and Dudley Edwards working as 'Om Tentacle'. Inside, large cushions were provided for use by customers while drinking their 'Chinese tea' and the basement of the building housed toilets and an area where homeless people could be fed and spend their time during the day.

In the evenings, this area was used for 'spiritual meetings' of various sorts and it gained a global reputation for being one of the first 'centres' to invite speakers and teachers to give talks and presentations on many spiritual beliefs and practices, including popular mysticism, meditation, yoga and the occult. The Kings Road location of Gandalf's Garden, and the magazine, ceased operation in 1971 and the 'business' dispersed into other 'Gandalf's Garden seed centres' around the world. In an advert from 'International Times' (IT):

Come dream awhile at Gandalf's Garden Shoppe 1, Dartrey Terrace, King's Road, Worlds End, Chelsea, London, S.W.10 Phone: FLA 6156. Over a bowl of Chinese tea you really do meet the "gentlest people" at Gandalf's Garden Shoppe. Some days someone wanders in with his sitar and plays awhile. Others bring guitars and soothe us all. Some days you come in and bring your flute or play our ocarinos. Anyone can happen at Gandalf's Garden Shoppe. Come dream awhile and try it. Gandalf's Garden Mystical Scene Magazine. Issue Three out now. Send 3/6 P.O.

Dartrey Terrace 3 Fish'n'Chips   Dartrey Terrace 5 Scrap Metal Merchant

Corner of Bifron Street: Mrs Kibble's Sweet Shop & General Store (date?)

RAASAY STREET  street view

471 P.W. Wright      473 Decro-Cat interior designs

SHALCOMB STREET   Street view

475 Sophisto-Cat c.1969  Previously Edmund R.Goodrich c.1961, the Sophisto-cat furniture store was home to Christian the lion in 1969. The animal had been bought as a cub from Harrods (you could do things like that in those days!) by the two Australian men, John Rendall and Ace Bourke, who ran the store. The store, which had acquired the cub from Ilfracombe zoo, was quite happy to part with him for a mere 250 guineas. He was a local celebrity for a year, being taken to restaurants and allowed to run around in the grounds of the Moravian church - he even took part in a Biba advertisement. When his size became a problem, his owners worked with Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna and George Adamson to return him to the wild and he was eventually released in Kenya in 1971.

477 Starways    478 Todds hairdressers c.1968 owned by Gary Craze    

479  Not Known  Lazenby's furniture in 1950s  480 Arnold & Ambler publications c.1964   

481  Quick Nicker    483  Field

484 Swan Song Records: The headquarters of Swan Song Records, started by Led Zeppelin on 10th May 1974 following the end of their contract with Atlantic Records. The label was discontinued for new releases in 1983 but the company still exists for reissue of previous recordings.

485 World's End Pharmacy    487  Speed Queen

EDITH GROVE    102 Edith Grove The Rolling Stones shared a flat here in 1963.

26 - 42 Edith Grove 1962   Worlds End 1695 Map   Cremorne Gardens   Cremorne Info   Worlds End 1865 Map

488 Granny Takes a Trip 1965 - 1974   The premises were previously occupied at various times by bakers J.B. Webber and the World's End Fruiterers.

'Granny' was probably the first 'psychedelic' boutique and was opened by Nigel Waymouth, his girlfriend Sheila Cohen and John Pearse, after looking for an outlet for Sheila's collection of antique clothes. The premises had been acquired in 1965 and opened in December after Pearse, who was a Savile Row-trained tailor, agreed to join them. Waymouth came up with the curious name (which was also used as the name of a 1967 song by 'The Purple Gang', banned by the BBC) and the boutique was featured in the famous 'London - the Swinging City' issue of 'Time' Magazine.

Internally it was initially 'a mixture of New Orleans bordello and futuristic fantasy', with marble-patterned walls, lace drapery, beaded glass entrance curtains and an art-deco Wurlitzer that provided the music. With the growing 'hippie' influence, around 1968, this changed to purple-painted walls and lighting with Aubrey Beardsley erotic prints and the heavy smell of incense, patchouli oil and 'other substances'. Author Salman Rushdie commented that "psychedelic music, big on feedback, terrorised your eardrums".

It was, however, more famous for its external appearance(s), including the 1966 mural of a native American chief and the 1967 'Jean Harlow' mural. Most famous of all is probably the 1948 Dodge saloon car which appeared to have crashed through the wall and onto the forecourt. The car was also subjected to colour makeovers - canary yellow and, most memorably, in black and gold with glittering stars. The Dodge feature was kept after the sale of the shop to Freddie Hornik in 1969 until complaints from the local authorities forced its removal in 1971. The artist, Waymouth, also contributed to the psychedelic look of Gandalf 's Garden's rival Oz and other 'underground' magazines. In 1967 he and another artist, Michael English, formed Hapshash and The Coloured Coat, a graphic-design partnership that produced the most distinctive pop posters of the time.

The clothes, though of very high quality, were very high-priced and tended to attract an 'elite' clientele, which just added to its legendary status. Sales assistant Johnny Moke (who was to later open his own boutique on the road at 396) recalled "We used to cut up blouses and dresses and turn them into shirts or tops for men. What was great about Granny's was that there were no boundaries. Anything went and they kept on changing". Pearse was unhappy with the increasingly 'hippie' image of the shop and eventually they ended up selling the business to Freddie Hornik, who had previously worked at Dandie Fashions, (and his partners Marty Breslau and Gene Krell), in 1969. Hornik changed the style completely, stocking more 'dandified' clothes and catering for the 'glam rock' look. He also opened a branch in West Hollywood, USA.

The London premises at 488 closed in 1974, the name being sold to Byron Hector who opened a shop under the same name elsewhere on Kings Road, eventually closing in 1979.

489 - 491 The Guinness Trust situated between 489 and 491 is not numbered, just flat numbers at 'Guinness House'. The estate was originally built in 1929 on land given to Guinness on a 999-year lease. The estate gave preference to people living or working in Chelsea. On 23rd February 1944 German bombers, possibly trying to destroy the power station at nearby Lot's Road, dropped bombs on the estate and surrounding area. Half of the 160 tenements were destroyed and the rest damaged, with 86 people losing their lives. It was rebuilt in 1947-48, and named Caple House, after the Superintendent and his wife, killed in the wartime bombing.

TADEMA ROAD     Kings Road junction c. 1950    Junction c.1961    Gulf Garage

490 Sunlight Laundry c.1970

LANGTON STREET    
Street view 1962    Street view   Street view A 1971   Street view B 1971    

492 Davisons off licence c.1974  View of Davisons from Langton Street 1975

493 - 505 Residential (? See 497)  
493 and 495 c.1950   side view of 493 (with adverts) from Tadema Rd c.1950

494 The World's End cafe and restaurant street view c.1970

496 S.Frost & Company c.1970    El Greco Art Galleries c.1974     

497 'The Bakehouse' (hostel?) c.1978 Two houses knocked into one? Part homeless hostel / backpacker accommodation

498 .....Antiques (?) c.1974

500 The Wetherby Arms c.1881: A public house significant in Rolling Stones history. Bill Wyman: "The Chelsea section of London is important to me. I joined the Rolling Stones in December 1962 at the Wetherby (Arms) pub on King's Road…."   Landlord 'flyer' 1969    
Later Swifts, now a Paddy Power betting shop.

SLAIDBURN STREET

502 Vogue Cleaners c.1961 later Chelsea Scooters (?)  Books Games and Toys (?)  502 - 508 Unclear view

UVERDALE ROAD    61 to 65 1931   Corner of Kings 1962  
Uverdale to Burnaby St (Maxwell's Bag Wash, Petchells, Ainsby's Grocers, Bert Evans Dairy)

507 El Cheapo previously A.Rollo and Sons  509 Davis & Cruchley 511 R.Evans & Son  

513 Mr.Tobias of Kings Road later Chelsea Dining Rooms c.1972

515 Shops no details     517 F.Brightman bakers

EDITH GROVE   11 Edith Grove was the base for leading portrait photographer David Montgomery     Kings Road / Edith Grove (North) early 20th C.

UPCERNE ROAD   Street scene 1970

519 - 529 Not Known    Empty Lot (?)      

TETCOTT ROAD    Street party view 1953

531 Oddbins wine merchants c.1969     

533 The Furniture Cave Originally The Chelsea Brewery Company,moved from Fulham Road in the mid-19th century and renamed The Royal Chelsea Brewery. Took over Smith's Welch Ale Brewery in 1900 and changed its name to the Welch Ale Brewery Ltd (see World's End pub pictures). Acquired by Watney, Combe, Reid & Co in 1920, along with 80 houses, it was converted into wine and spirits and called Cremorne Gate Cellars. Later became Brown & Panks and an antiques centre, housing many different dealers, including Capricorn boutique.
1974 Fire picture   At some point, Peter Carnie Self-Drive Cars occupied one section of the corner site.
In the 1970s part of it was the Country Cousin restaurant and gallery, with live music on stage.

LOTS ROAD   Street view   Street view   Street view   Street view   91 to 95 1975

Lots Road Power Station 1905: Also known as 'The Chelsea Monster', Lots Road was a coal (and later oil-fired) power station on the River Thames, becoming operational in February 1905, built to supply electricity to the expanding London Underground system. The station burned 700 tonnes of coal a day and had a generating capacity of 50,000 kW. At the time it was claimed to be the largest power station ever built and it eventually powered most of the underground railways and tramways in the transport system. The station is notable in the history of UK commercial radio as when the first two radio stations, LBC and Capital Radio, opened in October 1973 the site for their medium wave transmitters was not complete. A temporary antenna was strung up between the two chimneys until the permanent site at Saffron Green was completed in 1975. The power station was finally shut down on 21st October 2002.   Aerial view 1968

FERNSHAW ROAD

535 Cube Records 1972: This was the headquarters of an independent record label launched on 26th May 1972 by music publisher David Platz and was also his UK office for Essex Music. The Cube label folded in the mid 1970s, becoming part of Elektra Records. The building has since been demolished and the new 'Plaza 535' building still houses the Essex Music group.

536 Watney's Brewery a huge building later taken over by Charringtons c.1967 then occupied by Junk City.
Earlier, Welch Ale Brewery

GUNTER GROVE

HORTENSIA ROAD    Hortensia Road School (later Carlyle and Sloane schools)

STANLEY BRIDGE North side looking east c.1972 St. Marks in background    South side looking east 1972  
The first record of a bridge over Chelsea Creek was in 1448. The bridge was rebuilt in 1717, 1826 and finally in 1908. The creek, also called Counters Creek or Billingwell Ditch, was canalised in 1828 from Counters Bridge on High Street Kensington to the Thames. The scheme was a financial failure and the canal was closed in 1863. It was bought by a railway company, Birmingham, Bristol and Thames Junction, who built the railway along the canal. It was eventually extended southwards as the West London Extension Railway, eventually crossing the River Thames on a new bridge and connecting with the London Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway south of the Thames. On the North side between the college and the railway were situated council nurseries, accessed through a gate and metal stairway.

WANDON ROAD

REWELL STREET

541 Formerly the Nell Gwynne public house until 1944 and, at various times known as Come The Revolution and One / Pulse Bar   Now The Jam Tree.

541A Cumat Ltd c.1957    543 - 547 Not Known   Small shop units c.1957     549 - 553 Residential (?)

550 Stanley House The original house was built before 1625 by Sir Arthur George, a friend of the poet Edmund Spenser and a cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh, and was originally called Brickhills. On his death in 1625, the property was inherited by his daughter, the wife of Sir Robert Stanley.

There are records of it being rebuilt around 1691. William Hamilton, husband of Lady Hamilton, bought the house in 1815, adding a large picture gallery on the east side that contained a series of casts from the Elgin marbles fixed around a frieze. In c.1840 it became the residence of the principal of St. Mark's College, a training college for the Church of England, visited by Leo Tolstoy on 12th March 1861.
The current building was renovated in 2002 at a cost of £10 million.

552 The College of St. Mark and St. John was founded c.1840 as The National Society for the Education of the Poor. Known colloquially as 'Marjon', it was redeveloped into flats and houses in 2002.

SANDFORD STREET (now a narrow pedestrian walkway only)

SANDFORD MANOR at Sands End.  Sandford Manor 1959   British History
The extensive manor grounds were on the south-west side of Stanley Bridge, stretching between King's Road and the Thames (the railway line used to be a "sandy ford", earlier part of the Kensington canal).
The present building (date uncertain) probably supersedes an earlier one dating from 1383. After a complicated series of ownerships, the grounds later formed part of the premises of the Gas, Light and Coke company.

555 Shoe Repairs prior to c.1957       559 Cosy Corner Cafe workman's cafe c.1972

562 The Wheatsheaf - a 'Whitbread' public house in 1963   recent picture 
Built c.1881 this pub had a couple of addresses, often listed as 24 Stamford Road before about 1919, although in Kings Road in the 1901 census. It later became Nectar and more recently a restaurant, night club and cocktail bar called Mare Moto.

HOLMEAD ROAD (STAMFORD ROAD)   

574 Guinevere Antiques Founded in 1963 by Guinevere Weaver - later occupied 574 - 580    

575 The Adelaide Public House c.1881 closed c.1968 (?)   later a bar called Lunasa

577 The Imperial Arms public house c.1881

MICHAEL ROAD (CAMBRIA STREET)   Street view 1962

580 ...e Mostyn (?) c.1963   

RUMBOLD ROAD

583 Antiques    585 Not Known    587 Thomas    594 New Calcutta Indian restaurant c.1972

599 Christopher Wray Lighting Established in 1964 by Christopher Wray (died 2014), an out of work actor. He originally traded in the Chelsea Antiques Market. By 1992 the shop had the largest display of indoor lighting in Europe. Dudley Moore was an occasional visitor and used to play the harmonium located in the store.

601 - 609 Esso Garage / Petrol Station c.1968    

604 Also Christopher Wray Lighting (?) c.1968    600 - 606 shops c.1977    

606 Not Known  c.1968    608 Not Known c.1968    610 Crichton's newsagents c.1968        

611 Warr's Harley-Davidson     pic2   Listed as 611 Kings Road but now in new premises behind the Esso station in Edith Row. Founded in 1924 by Captain Frederick James Warr. Britain's oldest H-D dealership and, up to the early 70s, the only H-D dealership in the UK.

612 Tyres and Batteries c.1968    613 - 615 Lockhart's Antiques     

MAXWELL ROAD

EDITH ROW        

617 Hand & Flower public house 1869     

619 - 633 Residential (?)  street view A 617 to 635 1977     street view B 617 to 635 1977
See Street View taken from outside a builders merchants 'opposite the Hand and Flower' 26th March 1971

WATERFORD ROAD    Kings Road junction 1969

BRITANNIA ROAD

648 Lord Palmerston public house c.1874 (then at 'Schofield Terrace'). Later 'The Morrison' until 2011

WATERFORD ROAD At this point, the road becomes the 'New Kings Road'