Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road is a street in London which runs from Trafalgar Square to the north to St Giles' Circus ( the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It is named after the Charing Cross, from which it emanates. The original Charing Cross was built by Edward I as one of the crosses that marked the path of the remains of his wife, Queen Eleanor of Castile, to London. At its northern end, the Charing Cross Road forms the boundary between the districts of Soho in the City of Westminster and St. Giles in the old Borough of Holborn.

The Charing Cross Road was created by the Metropolitan Board of Works, together with the Shaftesbury Avenue. The two roads are among several that were built in Victorian and Edwardian to improve traffic flow through central London. Other examples include Thames Embankment, Northumberland Avenue, Kingsway and Aldwych. The Charing Cross Road was created by a decree-law of 1877 at a cost of £ 778.238. She closed parts of the captivity of older streets with a.

The Charing Cross Road is known for its bookshops, especially specialist bookshops and antique shops. In the section of the subway station Leicester Square to Cambridge Circus is specialized bookstores such Zwemmer 's ( art books), Murder One ( detective novels and romance novels ) and comic Showcase are (2006 closed). Most of these shops are rented the ground floor of a residential block that belongs to a non-profit social housing company ( so-called Housing association ). In 2001 the company decided to increase the rent for the shops drastically bringing them closer to the market standard. This led to protests by the booksellers who argued to offer a valuable service and thus contribute to the character of the area. They found that they should not be handled by a non-profit organization such as the Housing association in this way. The counter-argument of the company was that the booksellers would subsidize their little earning tenants if they did not pay proper market rent. The booksellers were able to gain considerable support from the public and the rents were less strongly increased; nevertheless included several bookstores. Among the stores that closed, heard the woman bookshop Silver Moon, which was incorporated by Foyles. More antique shops are located on the nearby street Cecil Court

In the upper section from Cambridge Circus, there are bookstores like Borders, Blackwell's and Foyles. Also worth mentioning are the music shops on Denmark Street (which is also referred to as Britain's Tin Pan Alley ). The Astoria Theatre, and the St Martin 's Arts College also were at the Charing Cross Road, as did some theater, such as the Phoenix Theatre with its entrance on the adjacent Phoenix Street.

A longstanding correspondence between author Helene Hanff of New York and the employees of a really existing bookshop on Charing Cross Road, Marks & Co., was the inspiration for her book 84 Charing Cross Road (1970). In 1986 the book with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins was filmed in the lead roles. It was also produced as a play and as a radio play by the BBC. For years no bookstore located on the Charing Cross Road No. 84 already more (currently an All Bar One ), but a memorial plaque at Marks & Co.

At the south end of the street is a statue of Edith Cavell. At the north end is the Phoenix Garden, a Garden for the residents.

In JK Rowling's popular book series Harry Potter a pub called The Leaky Cauldron ( in German translation Dripping boiler ) is described at the Charing Cross Road, which forms the gateway to the main shopping street magician, Diagon Alley and which provides also accommodation for magicians. The road is also mentioned the Canadian band Spirit of the West in the song Home for a rest.