A road to remember
Country Life UK|October 07, 2020
London’s premier design district is home to some of the world’s leading interior-design and furnishing shops, but its refined façades belie a bohemian past, finds Carla Passino
Carla Passino
A road to remember

THE bronze of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart proudly surveys Orange Square, off Pimlico Road, with a slightly cheeky look on his chubby face. Unveiled in 1994, the statue pays tribute to the Austrian genius who composed his first symphony, aged only eight, when staying at a house up the road (180, Ebury Street). Although Mozart is perhaps their most famous (if rather ephemeral) resident, the streets around Pimlico Road have been home to an array of colourful characters who have given this corner of London a unique identity.

At the time the Mozarts settled in Ebury Street, the area had a distinctly rural feel, not least because it was bordered to the east by Neat House’s market gardens, about 200 acres brimming with the cabbage, celery, cauliflower and asparagus that kept London fed. In one of the streets that lined the gardens (now Warwick Way), resided one of the Regency era’s most notorious villains —Slender Billy. Thief, forger and a well-known organiser of badger-baiting and dogfighting encounters, he nonetheless ‘bore the reputation of a man of strict probity in his nefarious dealings,’ according to the 1825 edition of Sporting Anecdotes—so much so that, when he was hanged on January 29, 1812, his passing was much mourned.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 07, 2020 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 07, 2020 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024