Encyclopedia > Charing Cross Road

  Article Content

Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road is a London street which runs north from Trafalgar Square to St Giles' Circus and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It is so called because it leads from Charing Cross.

It is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops. The section from Leicester Square tube station to Cambridge Circus is home to specialist shops such as Zwemmer's (art books), Murder One (crime books and romances on the ground floor, science fiction, fantasy and horror in the basement), and Comics Showcase. Most second-hand shops are found in this area, although increasingly inflated rents are leading to closures. More second-hand bookstores can be found on the nearby Cecil Court.

The top section from Cambridge Circus has more generalist shops such as Borders[?], Blackwells[?] and Foyle's[?], although specialist sports bookshop Sportspages is found here , in a small precinct to the right. Also notable are the music shops on Denmark Street (also known as Tin Pan Alley). Music venue, the Astoria[?] is also located here as is St Martin's Arts College[?].

A number of theatres can also be found here, including the Savoy Theatre, famous for the Savoy Operas.

A real-life bookstore located on the street was the inspiration for the novel 84 Charing Cross Road (1970) by Helene Hanff[?]. In 1986 the novel was made into a film with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. The novel has also been produced as a play and a BBC radio drama.

At its southern end is a statue of Edith Cavell.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
242

... 2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century Decades: 190s 200s 210s 220s 230s - 240s - 250s 260s 270s 280s 290s Years: 237 238 239 240 241 - 242 - 243 244 245 ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 22.3 ms