Charing Cross Road
Charing Cross Road is a London street which runs north from Trafalgar Square to St Giles' Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It is so called because it leads from Charing Cross.
It is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops. The section from Leicester Square tube station to Cambridge Circus is home to specialist shops such as Zwemmer's (art books), Murder One/New Worlds (crime books and romances on the ground floor, science fiction, fantasy and horror in the basement), and Comic Showcase. Most of these shops are on the ground floor of a housing block owned by a housing association, and in around 2001 the association decided to raise the rents sharply to move them closer to the market level. This was opposed by the book dealers, who felt that they were providing a valuable service and contributing to the character of the area, and should not be treated in this way by a not-for-profit body such as a housing association. The assocation's counter argument was that if the booksellers did not pay a market rent they were being subsidised by its low income tenants. The booksellers attracted considerable public support and a reduced rent increase was imposed, but several of the bookshops have closed nonetheless. More second-hand bookstores can be found on the nearby Cecil Court.
The top section from Cambridge Circus has more generalist shops such as Borders, Blackwells and Foyles, although specialist sports bookshop Sportspages is found here, in a small precinct to the right. Also notable are the music shops on Denmark Street (also known as Tin Pan Alley).The music venue the Astoria is also located here as is St Martin's Arts College. A number of theatres can also be found here.
A long-standing correspondence between New York based author Helene Hanff and the staff of a real-life bookstore located on the street, Marks & Co., was the inspiration for the book 84 Charing Cross Road (1970). In 1986 the novel was made into a film with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. The book has also been produced as a play and a BBC radio drama. 84 Charing Cross Road has not been a bookstore for many years (the address is currently an All Bar One). There is however, a brass plaque marking the site where Marks & Co. used to be.
At the road's southern end is a statue of Edith Cavell.