soho clarion - The Soho Society

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Page 4 Soho Soho North North in in Knappgarden Knappgarden How far north can you go before you get Soho out This is of the your text for system? the Knappgarden Clarion is a full six hour drive northwest from Stockholm and is home and workplace to Nigel and Linnea Tarr who, after 26 years of owning and running L’Epicure in Soho, then Soho South Restaurant in Kent, moved to Sweden and acquired the Knappgaden pension. The property dates back to the 17th century and Soho Soho Ball Ball This year the Soho Ball will be held on Friday 24 September and will benefit the Soho Community Centre, Soho Parish School and the Soho Family Centre. The venue is Le Meridien Piccadilly and tickets, at £100 each, include a champagne reception, a superb three-course dinner and entertainment, including the popular Abba tribute band, has 11 bedrooms. Soho North, Knappgarden’s own bistro, serves local specialities such as wild mushroom soup, elk and reindeer fondue as well as popular international dishes, with Nigel and Linnea cooking and working front of house to create a homely, friendly atmosphere. With snow falling for six months each year, win- FABBA. The casino and champagne bar will be open all evening. Auction items and prizes this year include a song written by Chas from Madness for the highest bidder (he gets to keep royalties, though!); a special selection of mementos put together by drummer Charlie Watts; a self portrait sketch by Phil Collins, a Christian Furr litho; Janet Fitch jewel- ter activities include husky sledging safaris, snow scooter tours, ice fishing and skiing. In summer it’s rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, shooting, fly-fishing and swimming. A far cry from Soho the Soho we know and love, but clearly though you take Nigel and Linnea out of Soho, you can’t take Soho out of the two of them. The Society was pleased to work together with Regent Street Direct on the arrangements for an exhibition on the proposals for the Crown Estate buildings in the area including Brewer/Glasshouse/Air /Sherwood/Swallow Streets. Members of the Society came to a well attended meeting and presentation and there were many questions. In brief the proposals include the demolition of much of the Regent Pal- lery, a night at Hazlitt’s Hotel and a selection of videos and CDs from stage hypnotist Paul McKenna. This annual fundraiser is the major social event on the Soho calendar, so book early to secure your place. Further information is available from Cindy Hacker, Chair of Soho Ball, email cindy@parrotprods.co.uk If anyone remembers Nigel and Linnea and wants to get in touch, their website is at www.knappgarden.com. Advertise in the Clarion Clarion Reasonable rates 020 7439 4303 Crown Crown Estate Estate Re Re-development Re development ace hotel and replacement with a similar building for offices, a new five star hotel in the County Fire Office building, a glass roof over Glasshouse Street and 73 flats for keyworkers in Brewer Street. We have comments on detail relating to the proposals but no objection in principle to the changes. We understand there will be a planning application in the next few months. BRYAN BURROUGH 100 CLUB ‘Jazz at the 100’ 100 Oxford Street Mon – Sun
Issue 117 Page 5 Obituary: Obituary: John John Taylor Taylor John Taylor, who died at the end of 2004 at the age of 82, was on the committee of the very first Soho Festival back in 1953. One of his fellow committee members was Gaston Berlemont of the York Minster (now French House) pub, and a friendship began that introduced John to the French and saw him become one of its longest and most enthusiastic regulars. Born in Glasgow in 1921, Taylor maintained that he won his first baby show then hit the road south, for London and the bright lights. He thought of himself as a Londoner, and in Soho he found his natural locale. Yet, having had to spend unhappy periods of his childhood back in Glasgow with his maternal grandmother during the intermittent partings of his parents, he retained an ability to affect a broad Glaswegian accent. This served to endear him to Soho’s Glaswegian winos of the past who might demand the price of a drink. Newframes 25 Beak Street London W1F 9RT t 020 7437 8881 F 020 7437 8163 www.newframes.co.uk Craftsmen Created Bespoke and Contract Framing Contract Framing—no minimum Large selection of Moudlings and Swept Frames in stock Canvas Stretching Object Framing He arrived in Soho in 1945, to take up the position of editor on The Tailor & Cutter in Gerrard Street. Fresh from wartime duties as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, he was untrained for anything other than flying an aircraft and deciphering the Morse Code, ‘so naturally I turned to journalism’, he used to explain. With the help of a ‘creative’ c.v. that claimed pre-war experience and the impressive effect his interview apparel had on the T & C’s proprietor - Royal Naval uniform showing gold braid, his pilot’s wings and with his lieutenant’s rings - Taylor was appointed. He not only learned quickly on the job but completely revamped the staid old publication and quadrupled its circulation in just a few years, making it the ‘most quoted trade paper in the world’, according to The Times. He went on to launch Man about Town, the first men’s consumer style magazine, at the beginning of the 1950s. Covering food, wine, motoring, and other male interests as well as style - all neglected during the war years - it provided the perfect platform for Taylor’s own interests of fine wine (especially champagne), good food, pretty women and entertaining company. Funny, off-beat and inventive in format, it attracted a var ety of distinguished contributors, and saw the early works of cartoonists Calman, Heath and Scarfe. It became something of a cult success and was finally bought by Michael Heseltine in the 1960s to help establish his publishing and political careers. Man about Town and Taylor’s prodigious output of articles for other publications - regular columns in Punch, Weekend, She, Penthouse, The London Evening News , Men Only and Topic, contributing to national and regional news- papers, magazines at home and abroad, and TV and radio work - made him one of the most successful and famous journalists of his generation. Despite this work output, however, he was a legendary bon viveur, both in Soho and in the Fleet Street environs. ‘I often wonder how I managed all the work in consideration of all the drinking,’ he writes in the book of memoirs finished not long before his death. Lunch-time sessions began at the French, often continued at the old Bianchi’s restaurant in Frith Street - where they might go on all afternoon until evening diners started to arrive - or in Muriel Belcher’s Colony Room Club, then resumed in the French in the evening and might end in Gerry’s. He knew the ‘old’ Soho of pre-Wolfendon, when the ladies were still on the streets - who would wish him a cheery ‘Morning, John’ . He loved the Rabelaisian quality of the place, and the mix of bums, media folk, artists, aristos and celebrities that so democratically rubbed shoulders in the French. And until ill-health intervened in 2003, he was still sipping a glass of champagne there and enjoying a lunchtime session with friends in one of his old haunts in the area. ‘In Soho,’ he paraphrases in his memoirs, ‘it seems to me all life is there.’ John Taylor, born in Glasgow 1921, died in London December 19 2003. His memorial took place at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, on April 22 2004. MARIE SCOTT
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