KGB Lamppost, Mayfair

In Mayfair, at the corner of South Audley Street and Audley Square, outside the University Women’s Club, stands this Victorian lamppost.

It is exactly the same as the rest of the lampposts, along this street, but this one has a tale to tell.

From the 1950s the USSR had KGB agents placed in England, with orders to gather information and pass it back to their superiors. Some agents worked at the Soviet Embassy, which was under close watch by MI5, but 'illegal' agents had to find another way to pass their information on. 

So, this lamppost was used as a 'dead letter drop'. Agents would conceal their documents, or messages, behind the door of the lamppost, before leaving a chalk mark at its base, notifying their superiors that a message was contained within. Their superiors could also leave instructions or messages for the agents to collect.

In 1985, British intelligence managed to extract their secret agent, Colonel Oleg Gordievsky, from Moscow, without the ever watchful KGB even noticing. It was Colonel Gordievsky who alerted British Intelligence to the lamppost, which was soon put under surveillance. Word must have spread fairly quickly, through the KGB, because by 1986 it was no longer in use.

Interestingly, or ironically, EON Productions had their offices at No. 3, next door to the University Women's Club, from 1961. EON Productions was created by Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman who auditioned Sean Connery for the first James Bond film, 'Dr No', in their office overlooking the KGB lamppost.

I was quite surprised, on my visit, to see that the door of the lamppost wasn't locked, but ajar.

Embassy of the United States of America (1960-2018)

Home to the Diplomatic Mission of the USA, from 1960-2018.

Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, has always held an odd fascination with me. Whether it is because of the area, or the history of the square, I do not know.

However, one of the most imposing, and I would say magnificent, buildings around the square, is the old Embassy of the United States of America, with its gilded bald eagle sitting on its roof. 

June 2020

Now that the embassy has moved to Nine Elms, you can get quite close to the building and see it in all of its glory, before the developers move in.

Piccadilly Arcade

The finest Edwardian Arcade left in London.

Considering the amount of times that I have walked along Piccadilly, I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have walked through the Piccadilly Arcade.

It is one of those hidden gems that so many people miss, but it is well worth visiting, even if it is just to escape the hordes of tourists, or escape from the London weather.

Lumiere London, 2018

Westminster Abbey looking glorious at Lumiere London 2018.

As soon as the dates were released for this years Lumiere Festival, I knew that I would be attending. Falling across four nights, Thursday 18 - Sunday 21, we decided that the Friday would be the best night for us.

Fortunately, I was allowed to leave work slightly early, thank you to my manager for that, so that I could pick up the girls, with my wife. This afforded us the luxury of being able to leave for London, earlier than expected.

As we had all had a long week, and knowing that Erin (6) and Keilyn (4) would be tired, I had planned a route that would allow us to see some of the installations, while staying close enough to transport links, should the girls become too tired.

Gallery

Lumiere London, 2016

Leicester Square Illuminated.

Back in mid January, 2016, the Lumiere Festival came to the Unfinished City and it was something that I had to witness.

Spread across four nights there were plenty of opportunities to see all of the installations, as they were spread over four main areas: Mayfair, Piccadilly, Westminster and King's Cross.

Various artists transformed the city's streets, buildings, parks and squares into temporary art galleries, where light was the key element.

Gallery