Up west

By Pip Granger

Subjects: Homes and haunts, Large type books, Manners and customs, Nineteen fifties, Homes, Social life and customs

Description: Do you remember the West End of London during the 1950s? Did you live or work there? If so, I want to hear from you ... This was the advertisement author Pip Granger placed in a local newspaper, and the response was immediate. Soon she was hearing from people who recalled what it was like when sweets were rationed; from families who'd been bombed out of their homes during the Blitz; from men who'd worked in the flower markets of Covent Garden; and, from the son of a family of immigrants who'd opened one of the very first delicatessens in Soho. All had extraordinary stories to tell. Based on the author's own memories and dozens of interviews and written testimonies, "Up West" evokes a unique and vibrant community, and a way of life that is vanishing fast.