Madonna - Out In The City

LISTED LONDONER
MY LONDON
WRITER AND DIARIST CLAYTON
LITTLEWOOD GIVE US HIS CAPITAL
HIGHLIGHTS...
Where do you come from
originally?
Weston-Super-Mare. I was an
obsessive Soft Cell fan as a
child and, living in a provincial
seaside resort. I remember
thinking, if I could just get to
the ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’
world of Soho, I’d meet other
freaks like myself. So, at 19, I
packed my case and I’ve been
here ever since.
Where do you currently live
and when did you move there?
I lived on Old Compton Street,
below our shop, in a damp,
rat-infested basement. But two
years ago, after being made
bankrupt, we moved to Holland
Park. When I say that people
think I’m loaded. The street
where we live was probably
where the servants used to live.
When I told a friend I was
moving to Holland Park he
remarked that even suicide
seemed a brighter prospect.
What’s the best thing about
living in London?
The theatre and museums. The
streets aren’t paved with gold.
They’re paved with creativity.
…and the worst?
The current mayor; the cost of
living; the tube.
What are your favourite
restaurants?
The Stockpot and The
Mermaid (aka The Lorelei on
Bateman Street). But if I’m
feeling particularly flush, then
it’s The Wolseley.
Where do you go drinking?
I don’t tend to go drinking.
Now it’s all about coffee and
people-watching. I can often be
found in the little coffee shop
on the corner of Old Compton
Street and Frith Street. I’m
there most afternoons, writing.
Favourite tourist haunt?
The National Portrait Gallery. I
have a fascination with dead
queens.
Favourite green space?
I escaped from green space. I
prefer concrete.
Where do you go to escape the
city?
Years ago, every holiday was
spent partying in Spain or
Miami. I never saw the sun...
Portrait by
CHRIS JEPSON
too busy sampling the… er, local
delicacies. Now, if I do leave
the city, it’s to visit a castle or a
stately home. I’ve entered my
National Trust years.
If you were mayor for a day,
what would you do to improve
London?
Bulldoze Soho’s High Street
chains and rebuild the Peter
Street brothels.
Name a place or location of
sentimental value to you...
Outside the late Sebastian
Horsley’s flat in Soho. When I
visited, he used to open the
shutters on the first floor, peer
down, clasping his feather
negligee at the neck, his eyes
caked in last night’s mascara
and he’d purr, ‘Hello Romeo,
Juliet here. Welcome to
Horsley Towers.’ I adored him.
Favourite London song?
Marc Almond’s ‘Soho So Long’.
What’s London’s most beautiful
building?
I like any that are ancient,
decaying and crumbling.
Are you single, partnered or
dating?
I met my Jorge in Miami in
2004. We got married in
Provincetown, atop the PTown
monument (commemorating
where Pilgrims first landed).
Jorge was able to move to the
UK as my partner. We were one
of the first gay couples the
British Embassy in New York
had dealt with, so we too were
pioneers in our own small way.
Invite us to a party...
I was hosting a dinner party
last week and it was all going
swimmingly. Then I ate a hash
cookie. I don’t remember what
happened next.
In 2008, Clayton Littlewood’s book
Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho was
published. In 2009 Clayton turned
the book into a play. It premiered at
the Trafalgar Studios, returning a year
later. The sequel, Goodbye to Soho,
will be published in May. There will
be a free-entry book launch event at
Madame Jo Jo’s on 10 May, plus
readings at the Society Club, Soho,
on 2 May and Gay’s The Word
bookshop, Bloomsbury, on 3 May.
www.claytonlittlewood.com
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