Coutesy of Wikipedia. From geograph.org.uk. Basher Eyre / Options narrowing in Brydges Place /
How many old movies have you seen where someone is being pursued down a cold and narrow alley in London – usually in impenetrable fog – and is murdered by someone unseen?
19th century London was well known for its dark alleyways. They represent a romantic if somewhat dangerous image of Victorian London.
This one, lurking off St Martins Lane, claims the honour of being the narrowest, measuring just 15 inches at its narrowest point.
It has existed in one form or another for centuries. Originally a country lane and then an alleyway when development in Covent Garden began. But when the area fell into decline, Brydge’s Place, reportedly no more than four feet wide, would have been crowded with desperately poor and dilapidated housing.
In the late 1800’s the Metropolitan Board of Works, the authority charged with rebuilding London, demolished many of the area’s poor tenements and widened the roads. Brydge’s Place survived.
What goes on down there today? On one side is a high wall separating it from the London Coliseum the home of the English Opera, while the other, there are back doors to various establishments and businesses.
Not to say that some dubious activity doesn’t still go on down there. Well, it wouldn’t be London if it didn’t, would it?