New Fox on the Block

New Fox on the Block, originally uploaded by Mr Atrocity.

A while back I complained that a Soho institution, "The Intrepid Fox", a goth pub on a site that had contained a pub for more than two hundred years had been forced to close, apparently because of plans by the new lease-holders to "develop" the building, I assumed into flats no-one could afford. That does not seem to have happened. The old building on Wardour Street is boarded up with "To Let" signs all over it. It appears therefore that these idiots have kicked out a successful business in order to try extort an even higher rent from some other luckless bastard and, having failed in this attempt, have been left with an empty building in a prime spot in Soho doing nothing. My tiny mind boggles.

In happier news, the Fox lives on. "The Intrepid Fox", complete with its iconic gargoyle over the door has re-opened just off Charing Cross Road. It's in a modern building which doesn't have the Dickensian charm of the old site but at least its spirit of individuality continues. We must be thankful for small mercies.