Recently in Covent Garden Category

Just off the Charing Cross Road, one block north of Leicester Square Tube station is Great Newport Street.

What used to be The Photographer's Gallery, is the new location of Orbital Comics, which has dozens of boxes of US Marvel and DC comics (and a few independents) in plastic storage bags for collectors.

The former art gallery extends quite far back from the main road, and is much more spacious than their old basement premises, in the now demolished block near Centre Point.

8 Gt Newport Street
London WC2H 7JA
Tel: 0207 2400591

Latitude: N51:30:43 (51.511995)
Longitude: W0:07:40 (-0.127825)

The BBC TV drama series Spooks shows fictional MI5 Security Service agents in action.

Instead of Thames House, the series uses Freemasons' Hall, used by the United Grand Lodge of England, in Great Queen Street in Covent Garden

Freemasons' Hall
60 Great Queen Street
London
WC2B 5AZ

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:55 ( 51.515161 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:16 ( -0.121137 )

If you have a Hubertus Bigend style corporate expense account, then one of the top restaurants near to the William Gibson book promotion events is

The Ivy
1-5 West Street
London
WC2H 9NQ

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:47 ( 51.512946 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:42 ( -0.128247 )

Here you can see the rich , famous and powerful at work and play, or at least you can see their limousine chauffeurs and the paparazzi photographers hanging around outside.

Just to the east of Monmouth Street, about halfway between Seven Dials and the northern (Forbidden Planet Megastore) end, is courtyard called Neal's Yard.

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:51 ( 51.514285 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:35 ( -0.126506 )

Neal's Yard is mentioned by William Gibson in Pattern Recognition, where Cayce visits a Pilates exercise studio. There are still Pilates, Reflexology, "healing crystals", vegetarian food etc. to be found in there, as well as corporate managed office space and skateboard fashions etc.

There is also a Blue Plaque dedicated to Monty Python, where the famous eccentric British comedy series / industry began its initial recordings.

The Short's Gardens entrance to Neal's Yard has a water clock sculpture. One shop to west, is the Neal's Yard Dairy Cheese Shop, which harks back to the original use of the premises.

This shop produces an overwhelming taste and smell sensation, with real "live" cheeses such as Cheddar and Stilton etc.. and is one of cyberpunk fiction author William Gibson's favourite shops in this area :

Friday, August 31, 2007

A SOVEREIGN FOR SOUL-DELAY
posted 5:03 AM
Yesterday morning I walked around the corner to Neils Yard Dairy and bought myself 200g. of the Montgomery's unpasteurized cheddar.

Asked for it by name. The clerk, in a proper cheeseman's cap, wrapped my interestingly discoloured wedge in that special white paper they use, glossy on the inside, folding it that way I can never quite master.

Now it's 5:23AM PST, back in Vancouver, and the Montgomery's cheddar really *is* a sovereign medicine for jet lag. And that is the reason it costs almost as much as heroin, in America.

Interestingly, now (20th August 2009), the offices above this Neil's Yard Dairy are being advertised as "Trendy Offices to Let"

Monmouth Street leads almost from the Forbidden Planet Megastore , at the northern end, (on the other side of Shaftesbury Avenue) to Seven Dials at the southern end, which are both mentioned by William Gibson in Spook Country and have been previously mentioned, along with Neal's Yard (just off Monmouth Street) in his previous novel Pattern Recognition

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:53 ( 51.514597 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:37 ( -0.126911 )

Monmouth Street has several quirky designer shops, as do most of the streets radiating from Seven Dials, especially Earlham Street, and the nearby Neal Street.

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:49 ( 51.513735 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:37 ( -0.127018 )

CyberCandy sells imported US, Japanese, Korean and other foreign brands of soft drinks and peculiar candies and snacks. If you really need a can of Jolt Cola or Mountain Dew Code Red etc. then this is where you will most easily find it in central London.

3 Garrick Street
Covent Garden
LONDON
WC2E 9BF

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:30:41 ( 51.511277 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:32 ( -0.125678 )

CyberCandy is also just across a pedestrianised street from a branch of Tesco Metro city centre supermarkets for more standard British brands of food and drink.

N.B. the prohibition on drinking alcohol in the street in all of the London Borough of Camden - the Police or their auxiliary Police Community Support Officers can confiscate or pour away your drinks, or arrest you and fine you if you disobey, The CCTV trackers will call themin if you appear to be rowdy or even vaguely threatening by standing around in a "group", which is, astonishingly now legally defined as only two or more people.