Changing London: Drawings from the Peterborough column of 'The Daily Telegraph',

by Geoffrey Fletcher

95 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Richard Newbold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forty sketches from the "Peterborough" column of the Daily Telegraph of the 1960s, by the artist and unabashed Londonphile Geoffrey Fletcher, who specialised in guides to the nooks, crannies and untrodden paths of the obscurer parts of the city. Each sketch, expanded to near A3 size, is accompanied by a pen picture, often the original from the column, sometimes the history of the subject, but usually the acerbic but wryly humorous criticism of the onward march of progress which saw much of old London in danger from the developers. Happy to say many of the places included are still with us. Though in some ways, the miniatures printed in the newspaper seemed perfection, the artist/author's draughtsmanship is superb, and very atmospheric. As a flavour of what is inside, a particular favourite is Riceyman Steps (actually Granville Square) near King's Cross, the rundown area subject of a novel by Arnold Bennett of Five Towns fame, the square still happily with us, at the back of a recently built Travelodge! I hope Messrs Fletcher and Bennett would smile at this, possibly through gritted teeth.