IN PRAISE OF MARYLEBONE HIGH STREET; London's Finest (5)

About 40 years ago, Marylebone High Street was an unregarded corner of Central London. There was a useful but dated Express Dairy, some long-established if fading shops, several rather down-market pubs and a bourgeois population besieged by nomadic and careless short-term tenants. The district had a shabby-genteel air and it was decidedly unfashionable. What a transformation today! I have  stayed at my son’s flat on the Street intermittently for the last 9 years and I have no hesitation in proclaiming that Marylebone High Street is the most dynamic, agreeably affluent yet relaxing area in Central London.

St Marylebone Parish Church

At the North end of the Street is stately Anglican St Marylebone Parish Church built in 1817 by Thomas Hardwick. Its tall gold-painted steeple is particularly imposing. There has been a church there since at least 1400 and it gave its name St Mary “by the bourne” (a small stream) to the adjoining village – not St Mary-la-Bonne (the good) as frequently misstated. Byron was christened, Sheridan married and James Gibbs was buried here.

Other faiths are well catered for – St James Spanish Place nearby is a long established Catholic church as the present Hertford House was the site of the residence of the Spanish ambassador. Methodists can enjoy the cavernous Hinde Street Church (Charles Wesley is buried in a garden further North) where Donald Soper preached, while the growing number of Muslims can worship at the splendid Regent’s Park Mosque, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd in 1969, a brisk walk away.

But Marylebone High Street is essentially dedicated to Mammon. The improvement in the area has been steady, no doubt much helped by the enlightened principal landlord the Howard de Walden Estate who has planned the creation of an up-market retail Marylebone Village. Howard de Walden is a survivor of the great families, like the Dukes of Portland and Devonshire, or the Earls of Oxford who brought their family names, Harley, Cavendish, Wigmore and Wimpole to the area they developed in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Shops and Flats at Marylebone High Street

The great retail magnet is the Waitrose supermarket, opened in 1999, packed full of well presented quality goodies with excellent meat, fish and cheese counters. The lunchtime rush sees locals anxious for a tasty snack and Waitrose obliges. Opening hours are conveniently long closing at 10pm most days. La Fromagerie dispenses delicious cheeses, FishWorks sells fresh fish and oysters (a good restaurant behind) while more modest tastes are met by the Farmers Market behind Waitrose every Sunday. There are several chocolatiers and patisseries including Valerie’s, (a popular tea-room too), Paul and Rococo. A Tesco Express has been radically upgraded, while takeaway and sandwich shops abound.

The selection of fashion shops is stunning ranging from The White Company to Dream Looks but including L K Bennett, Brora, and Eileen Fisher. For unusual gifts Brissi beckons as does the Conran Store. New design ideas can be found at Divertimenti and at Skandium. One of my favourites is galleried Daunt’s Books, a browsers paradise,

Inside Daunt's Bookshop

For the lady who has everything, Alexandrov and Cox and Power purvey fine jewellery and there are fancy bags at Aspinal of London, while the kiddiewinks can be decked out at Petit Bateau or The Little White Company. Delectable fragrances can be found at L’Occitane or at Ortigia while chic shoes abound at Mascaro.

Exhausted by retail therapy or simply by a hard day at the office, the locals go out to eat. If a modest meal is all that is necessary The Golden Hind sells perhaps the finest fish and chips in London. Topkapi produces tasty Turkish mezes. The Relais de Venise, otherwise L’Entrecote, sees queues for its wildly popular steak dish. The Providores sells tapas and Getti gives you elegant Italian while Terence Conran’s Orrery offers high-class French food. These are all on or about Marylebone High Street but it is a very short walk to the lively pavement bistros of St Christopher’s Place, catering for all pockets.

Marylebone High Street is not just shops and restaurants. The adjoining streets have attracted many nationalities, Arabs, Greeks, Turks and South Americans. With the sharp rise of house prices over the last decades, house owners have become seriously rich. The area is highly affluent and the parade of Bentleys, Rollers, Mercs, Beemers, Jags and Astons addles the brain of any Motorhead. A gentler pleasure is the regular weekend parade of roller-bladers or cyclists on a rally, sometimes in period costume.

The locals congregate happily. Some pubs are more orientated to wine where your group sits with a bottle or two and glasses. The Middle Easterners relish smoking their water cooled pipes in several cheerful Shisha cafes. Yet the traditional pub where you can buy English draft bitter and gossip with friends is still much in evidence and The Angel in the Fields, The Gunmakers and The Prince Regent are all local and excellent.

This is my snapshot of the Street. I know that it is invidious to single out any particular establishment and retail tenant turnover is often rapid. I apologise to those I have through ignorance or lack of space not mentioned. I love London and if I had a spare £2m or so (and I don’t!) I would certainly buy a modest 2-bedroom flat in the area to see out my final years. Harley Street, replete with medical expertise, is a stroll away and if I were ready to turn up my toes (which I am not) I suppose one could do so in luxury at one of the many neighbouring private clinics.

Fragonard's The Swing at the Wallace Collection

More positively, I would wander over, admission free, to the incomparable Wallace Collection in nearby Manchester Square and gaze upon Fragonard’s The Swing. This great Rococo masterpiece with the girl’s shoe being kicked over the head of the smitten lover is a delight and makes one happy to be alive in such a vibrant city.

SMD

7.05.13

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2013