Just minutes from Leicester Square station you’ll find a Victorian alley which inspired Harry Potter’s Daigon Alley. It’s the little-known birthplace of British cinema and film businesses were based there from 1897. The Victorian shop fronts now display antiquarian and second-hand books and all manner of trinkets, curiosities and unusual services – from antique military medals to tarot readings.
And look out for the Victorian gas lamps still lighting up this tiny street which lies between Charing Cross Road and St Martin’s Lane. Much has changed since the 1930s when it was known as Booksellers’ Row, but it is still the place for literature oddities and specialist sellers.
“Thank God! Cecil Court remains Cecil Court…” – English novelist Graham Greene
………………………………………………….Cecil Court, 1966. Photo credit – Trevor Vincent Edwards. cecilcourt.co.uk
