Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of London’s West End. Soho’s Berwick Street Market is one of the oldest markets dating back to 1778. Before World War I, two rival gangs led by Chan Nan and Eddie Manning controlled drugs and prostitution in Soho. For much of the 20th century, Soho had a reputation as an entertainment district, sex industry, and nightlife. After the 1980s, Soho had undergone a considerable transformation, and now it is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices. In 2019, Soho was reported to be the unhealthiest place to live in Britain. Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that the area had the greatest access to takeaways, pubs, and off-licenses. These were combined with high levels of air pollution and low levels of parks and green spaces.
#1 The smallest shop in London at 4 Bateman Street, Soho. The shop, occupied by a cobbler, is six feet long, five feet high and two feet deep. The rent is three pounds a week, 1910
#2 English lessons for Italian children at a school in Soho. Signor de Villa instructs boys in reading and spelling, 1913
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#3 Crowds watch the cortege of suffragette Emily Davison, who was killed by the King’s horse at the Derby, passing Eros at Piccadilly Circus, 1913
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#4 Pedestrians crossing Great Windmill Street, Soho, London, 1930
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#5 The bustling market on Berwick Street in the heart of London’s Soho, 1933
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#6 Men raise their glasses in a public house in London’s Soho, 1933
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#7 A small crowd gathers to watch a man trying to extract himself from chains on a street in Soho, 1937
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#8 A shopkeeper removes the word ‘Italian’ from the sign above his restaurant in Soho, after anti-Italian riots throughout Britain, 1940
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#9 Crowds assemble in Piccadilly Circus to celebrate the news of Japan’s surrender and the end of the Second World War, 1945
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#10 Polly Perkins performing at the Windmill theatre, 1950s
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#11 Revellers cram into London’s Piccadilly Circus to count in the New Year, 1955
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#12 Waiters carrying half bottles of champagne set off on the annual waiters’ race from Soho Square to Greek Street, 1955
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#13 The prize-winning float parades through the streets upon the opening of the Soho Fair, 1955
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#14 A rainy night in Soho, 1955
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#15 US troops and their girlfriends say goodbye in Piccadilly Circus after leaving the Club Americana, a Saturday night jazz club open from midnight until 7am, 1955
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#16 People look at notices outside a newsagent’s shop on Frith Street, where a newspaper board reads: ‘They saved London’, 1956
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#17 A man in drag heads a carnival procession down Old Compton Street during the Soho Fair, 1956
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#18 Andria Loran, a model who was democratically elected Queen of Soho 1956, stands in the doorway of the Mambo Club, keenly noticed by an onlooker
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#19 Youths hang out on the backstreets of Soho, 1956
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#20 Singer and guitarist Bill Kent entertains some teenage fans in The Two I’s Coffee Bar on Old Compton Street in Soho, 1958
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#21 Columbia Cinema (now Curzon Soho), London, 1958
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#22 Policemen try to control fans of the rock and roll singer, Tommy Steele, outside Saint Patrick’s Church on Soho Square, where he is to be married to Ann Donoghue, 1960
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#23 The reverend Vernon Mitchell visits numerous strip clubs in Soho to determine what should be censored, 1960
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#24 Dressed in minuscule fur bikinis, Kean Fluffles, Angela Parker and Audrey Crane perform in London’s Casino de Paris in Soho, 1963
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#25 Actress Barbara Windsor and her husband Ronnie Knight sit with Reggie Kray and his wife Frances Shea at the El Morocco nightclub in Soho, owned by the Kray Twins, 1965
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#26 A man sweeps his cloak around him after getting out of a sports car on Carnaby Street, 1966
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#27 Men watch as a model takes part in a photo shoot in the window of a new Henry Moss boutique on London’s fashionable Carnaby Street, 1966
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#28 A sign offering a brand of briar pipes for sale at a reduced rate is seen at Coleman Cohen tobacco shop in Old Compton Street, 1966
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#29 Two men look at each other while standing on a street corner in Soho, 1966
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#30 John Lennon, dressed as a Public Lavatory Commissionaire during the filming of the ‘Not Only…But Also’ Christmas Special, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, stands outside a public convenience on Broadwick Street, 1966
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#31 Berwick Street, Soho, 1972
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#32 Queens Striptease Revue Berwick Street, Soho, 1972
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#33 Soho, 7th March 1972
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#34 The Queens Hot Pants Galore, Berwick Street, 1972
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#35 Walker’s Court, Soho, 1972
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#36 A fruit and veg cart on Berwick Street in London’s Soho district, 1981
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#37 Curzon West End (now Curzon Soho), London, 1985
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#38 A policeman in Soho, 1984
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#39 Painter, SoHo, 1984
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#40 $2 Dollar admission, SoHo Party, 1985
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#41 Soho – Movie Wall, 1970s
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#42 Soho – Berwick Street, 1970s
