It cannot be denied that, from a booklover’s perspective,
London’s Charing Cross Road is not what it used to be. The book (later made
into a play and a film) “84 Charing Cross Road”, by Helene Hanff, was based on
events that began in 1949 when the road in question was virtually lined with
bookshops along much of its length. Sadly, that has not been the case for a
long time, and the bookshop at number 84 had closed even before Helene Hanff
published her book in 1971.
That said, Charing Cross Road is not yet a lost cause for
book buyers and there are still places to visit where books of quality and
interest can be found, both new and second-hand, and the chance of finding a
bargain still exists.
Charing Cross Road runs north from Trafalgar Square and ends
at the crossroads next to the massive Centrepoint tower where Oxford Street
meets Tottenham Court Road. Charing Cross Road is divided into two parts by
Cambridge Circus, where Shaftesbury Avenue crosses it. It is not a long street;
one can walk the whole length in twenty minutes, assuming that one is not
tempted to visit any bookshops along the way!
Foyles to Cambridge Circus
Towards the top of the street (the Oxford Street end) is
Foyles, which is arguably London’s “top shop” for new (and some second-hand) books.
At one time it claimed to be the world’s largest bookshop, and even if that
status has long been overtaken it is still of impressive size. The original
premises had been occupied by this family firm since 1906, with books on a wide
range of subjects being sold on five floors. However, the shop has now moved to
new premises a little further down Charing Cross Road.
Next door to the original Foyles building (across a side
street) is a reminder of the changes that have afflicted this part of London in
recent years. Soho Original Books offers mainstream books on its ground floor,
but much of its business derives from its very different basement floor, which
is a licensed sex shop. This is a pattern that can be found elsewhere in this
part of London, including further down Charing Cross Road.
On the opposite side of Charing Cross Road there was once a
large branch of Borders bookshop, but since that company’s demise the premises
have been taken over by TK Maxx, thus representing another lost space for the
book trade.
Another bookshop loss is Blackwells, which used to be on the
opposite side of the street to the new Foyles site. The main London branch of
this famous Oxford-based firm is now on High Holborn – not all that far away,
but not on Charing Cross Road!
The best second-hand bookshops
You should now cross Cambridge Circus to the southern
section of Charing Cross Road. Incidentally, the site of “number 84” is just
past this point on the left-hand side if walking southwards. Things get more
interesting at this point if it is second-hand books that one is after, because
there is a string of small independent shops that are well worth a visit on
this side of the road.
First in line is Koenig Books, which specialises in art,
architecture and photography titles. A few doors down is Quinto and Francis
Edwards, the name coming from the fact that it was formed from a merger of two
earlier bookshops. It stocks antiquarian as well as general second-hand books,
and makes a point of completely re-stocking one floor of the shop every month.
A little further along is Henry Pordes Books, where it is
well worth going to the back of the shop where the cheaper stock will be found
and the temptation to browse will be almost irresistible! The staff at Henry
Pordes are very helpful and know their stock backwards.
Just next door is a shop with the intriguing name of Any
Amount of Books. It is an appropriate name because it would be hard to imagine
how any more books could be crammed into the space. It is a popular shop, which
means that the difficulty of browsing the shelves is compounded by having to
avoid the elbows of one’s fellow browsers! Down the narrow stairs is an airless
room packed high with yet more books, and probably a staff member unpacking
boxes and trying to find space for even more stock. The impression one gets is
of vaguely organised chaos, but real bargains can be found if one is persistent.
Cecil Court
“Any Amount” is the last bookshop in Charing Cross Road, but
it is worth walking on past Leicester Square Station and Wyndham’s Theatre to
find Cecil Court (pictured above), which is an alleyway on the left that leads to St Martin’s
Lane. This narrow street, which is free of traffic, is lined on both sides by
specialist bookshops that might also be just the place to find something
special, although the prices are a bit on the steep side. That said, a number of the shops put racks
outside their shops that contain books that are past their best and will be
sold at rock-bottom prices (the same applies to some of the shops on Charing
Cross Road).
The traders in Cecil Court include: Storey’s Ltd, which
specialises in antique maps and prints; Travis and Emory, which is a music
bookshop that stocks scores as well as books; Motor Books, specialising in all
aspects of motoring plus other forms of transport; and Watkins Books, which
stocks books on all aspects of mysticism and spirituality.
Worth a look
All in all, if one is even remotely interested in books, a
walk down Charing Cross Road will probably take considerably longer than the
twenty minutes suggested earlier! However, if walking round bookshops and
jostling with fellow enthusiasts proves to be a tiring escapade, there are
plenty of places to get a coffee or a meal (some of the eateries used to be
bookshops!) and one does not have to carry one’s book purchases very far to the
nearest tube station or bus stop. Shopping for books in Charing Cross Road may
not be as good as it was in years gone by, but it is still worth the effort.
© John Welford
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