Covent Garden revives a London tradition

Press, 10 January 1987, Page 18

Covent Garden revives a London tradition

By

DERRICK MANSBRIDGE,

who was a

recent guest of British Airways and the British . Tourist Commission on an inaugural flight from Christchurch to London and Perth.

Nell Gwynn, before she went on the stage and rose to heady heights as mistress of Charles 11, would have approved. So, too, would have Eliza Doolittle, at least before she came under the influence of that pompous Professor Higgins and became a toff. Both loved Covent Garden past and both would be right at home in the hustle and bustle of Covent Garden present The Garden has been part of London life since it began as a market as far back as 1654. In fact, until the 1960 s it pretended no other existence. Then, the problems of space and time caused the market to close and the cobbled streets echoed no more to the barrows carrying fruit and vegetables and flowers, and to the, equally fruity language of the porters and those who came in the early hours to buy. Now, almost overnight, Covent Garden has been re-bom, not so much structurally (some redevelopment has been undertaken but most of the changes have been cosmetic) but more because of its position as a vibrant, thriving centre of fashionable London life. And not the least attractions to the thousands of visitors from all over the world are the street entertainers, some of whom have already moved on to successful television and stage careers. The square, situated north of the Strand, derives its name from the Convent Garden on the same site which belonged to the Abbey of Westminster. The land was granted by the Crown to John Russell, the first Earl of Bedford in 1552. For the fourth earl the great Inigo Jones laid out the square in 1631. The church of St Paul’s (still standing despite twice being destroyed and twice reconstructed during Second World War bombing raids and not to be confused with the cathedral of the same name) was built soon afterwards. It became the actors’ church, its walls lined with plaques to the dead and famous of stage and screen. The west wall has a facade of white Corinthian columns. Of the piazzas or open arcades of Inigo Jones’s square,

only a fragment on the north side survives. Covent Garden also became a fashionable residential area until the mid-1700s when the market began to grow, but the buildings that were to become famous were not erected until 1831. The buxom Nell Gwynn sold oranges there, legend says. George Bernard Shaw wrote his flower-girl Eliza Doolittle into the Garden before she went away to her “not Pygmalion likely” fame and fortune. The market was always busiest between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., along with the equally famous Billingsgate for fish and Smithfield for meat. The Garden bloomed for many years but slowly a dead hand settled on it after the Second World War. Even so, it took an Act of Parliament in 1966 to end

this historic association. Five years later the traders moved into a new market place at Battersea, south London. All that was now left of Covent Garden were the dilapidated surrounds of old Victorian storehouses and yards. A valuable chunk of Central London real estate lay ready for the developers. It seemed an ideal spot for the next skyscraper, the next concrete and glass buildings, the next, avenue for greedy financiers. But the people living and working in the area had other ideas. They began a petition to preserve the historic buildings and have the area turned into a craft centre. And that was the decision finally made. In a manner not even the planners could have envisaged, the new Garden took shape and

form. Old brown brick buildings were refurbished, their exteriors cleaned, their ironwork tracery supports burnished, and the market turned into shops, restaurants, cafes, and a museum. Spreading out for blocks around the square are networks of streets; on sale in them are almost everything a consumer would wish to buy. Are you a cheese connoisseur? The Neal’s Yard Dairy has the best selection of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish cheeses in the country. They are sent there by small

farmers who have revived traditional methods of cheese-making. There are tea shops, copper shops, The Hat Shop, The Glasshouse, the pottery shop; there are gift shops in profusion, eating places in abundance, and every kind of clothing store. Even so, the central market in the cleverly revived original building is the busiest, most crowded section of the Garden, as it always was. Every week about 200 crafts people bring their wares to sell them at stalls. Mondays are antique days, Tues-

days and Wednesdays are big on buttons, Wednesdays and Thursdays on picture frames, but there are always huge assortments of knitwear, pottery, jewellery, leather, and wood. Also, unlike the old days, the new Covent Garden is a lateriser. The stalls do not start to open until around 11 a.m. and they stay open until around 7 p.m. And there are the buskers, reviving the heart of London’s street theatre. It was on May 9, 1662, says Peter Nichols, theatrical editor of the London magazine, “Time Out,” that Samuel Pepys recorded watching a performance of “Punchinella” on the same piazza that "now hosts the most vital street entertainment of the twentieth century.” “Between then and now, performers have not had an easy

life,” says Nicholls. “Through the ages, their trade has frequently been considered synonymous with that of rogues and thieves. “The itinerant nature of the business made it a perfect vehicle for embezzlers or burglars. Yet, except for the City of London, busking (street performing) is not, nor has been, illegal. “The law that is frequently invoked against street performers is that of obstruction as an all-embracing statute that can be enforced as and when the police deem it necessary. It is a measure of the influence of the modern Covent Garden that those laws are probably less stringently enforced now than ever before. “Alternative Arts began to regenerate the theatrical traditions of the Garden. Beneath, the portico of St Paul’s church the

theatre groups set their stages, and what came about was a parallel development. The street J entertainments expanded as the ' shops, cafes, and stalls, built In \ the old shell of the market, < attracted customers from all over the world. >. * ’ "The West Piazza, controlled - and organised by Alternative - Arts, has combined the .consid- ’ ered and the adventurous, monitoring the quality of the acts and I introducing the most unlikely ■> and innovative of performances. ’ There is no other stage in Lon- - don where-a Maori war dance ' will sit happily side-by-side with : a juggler and a break-dancer. "For the performers the advantages are numerous. As the ' popularity of the Gardens increases, so too do their audlences. The certainty of knowing that they cannot be moved on allows them the time to build up . their repertoire. The piazza, ‘ closed to vehicles, gives them the ' space to play, and through Alternative Arts and their own ' resources the scope for work is ■ increasing. J "In the last six years there has been a steady change in the \ regular performers, although some still are happy to stay J playing the same pitch (even the same set). Nevertheless, it is a ' measure of the street as a , proving ground that many have already moved on to success. , “The Vicious Boys, who on the - street would leapfrog through an ' outrageous set of film impersonations, have already made their name on television, and the * Flamin Hamsters, a raucous * female partnership on the street, have done likewise. “Others, like plate-balancing juggler Steve Rawlings (who got started through a Government- ’ assisted business enterprise scheme) have moved indoors to ’ the thriving London cabaret circuit.” During a week-end as many as 100,000 people will pass through 1 today’s Covent Garden. Nearly all will stay and watch, nearly all will see something they have never seen before. And if you look hard enough a ■ Nell and an Eliza can be seen there, too.