The Intrepid Fox public house, 15 St.Giles High Street
The Intrepid Fox public house, used to be situated in Soho, and was (in)famous as a music venue which attracted "alternative" lifestyle people. After the original site was sold to property speculators, it has moved to take over the former Sanctuary public house, in St.Giles High Street, in the shadow of Centre Point.
In this former guise, as the Sanctuary, it was the location for the overspill book signing of Virtual Light by William Gibson, back in 1994, which due to happen in the old Forbidden Planet bookshop, which was then on New Oxford Street.
This makes it very close to both of the Ground Zero events - the book reading / signing event locations at the Trades Union Congress conference centre in Great Russell Street on Tuesday 28th August at 7pm, and the signing at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, in Shaftesbury Avenue,on Wednesday 29th at 1pm - 2pm.
The pub has retained the decor of the old venue, but has more space,and, importantly for some, now that the "no smoking in public places"law has come into force in England, a bit of a walled patio where smokers can perch themselves, whilst still being "not more than 50% enclosed", without spilling out into the traffic.
It is a strong candidate venue for William Gibson Board tourists to meet up at before or after the events for a drink.
GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:58 ( 51.516017 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:45 ( -0.129101 )
N.B. this whole area around Centre Point, St.Giles High Street and High Holborn is not a safe place to be on your own at night - there is a lot of street crime from aggressive beggars, drug addicts, muggers etc. who uphold the old historical tradition of the notorious 18th and 19th Century slum The Rookery, which used to occupy this area, and which was illustrated by the engraver William Hogarth in Gin Lane etc.
As a happy regular at the old location in it's hey-day in the 80's (Kevin the landlord and rubber dresses on the barmaids)I am overjoyed to know the Fox has survived, even if the new building isn't as haunted as the Dean St. one was.