Quarry Bank: that Lennon's detention sheets.

This pair of fairly amusing documents is up for auction via Tracks at the moment, and they've supplied a detailed (and equally amusing) press release which I certainly can't better, so, in the interests of extreme laziness, here some of it is verbatim. (The quotes in italics are from Rod Davis, about whom ye will shurely already know.) Re. the above, relating to Form 3B:

"The detention sheet covers the period between May 19th and June 23rd 1955. John Lennon always portrayed himself as bit of a rough handful at school. This detention sheet supports this view and, in fact, if anything, it shows John to be actually worse than he made himself out to be.

This page was part of a class detention book that was rescued from a bonfire at Quarry Bank High School in the late 1970s. During a summer break at Quarry Bank a member of staff was asked to clear out a storage room to make space for a newly appointed teacher. His instruction was to burn all of the books which were stored in the room. Whilst burning a number of old and redundant books he spotted the name ‘Lennon’ at the top of some of the pages in the book and quickly realised it contained details of the detentions imposed on John Lennon. He tore the sheet from the book and retained it as a keep sake. A number of the pages that he had taken out of the book and kept were unfortunately destroyed at a later date in an accident involving chemicals. Other sheets he gave away. This page is one of the few that have survived.

In relation to the different detentions listed, the following information is specified on the page from the book: The date that the detention was given, the reason for the punishment, the date that the detention was served and the initials of the teacher who imposed the punishment. Where possible we have tried to establish the identity of the various teachers who gave John detention. The information in red written within quotation marks was supplied to us by Rod Davis. Rod was John Lennon’s school friend and a former band member of John’s group, The Quarrymen. He very kindly helped to provide us with the information relating to the identity of some of the teachers who had initialled the page and their respective responsibilities at Quarry Bank etc.

May 19th 1955. John received two detentions the first was given by John McDermott for being a ‘Nuisance’ and the second, from a different master, was for being ‘1/4 hour late for detention’.

“John McDermott taught Religious Instruction (R.I.). There is a great story involving Lennon, Shotton and McDermott and a classroom full of school lads dressed as vicars (courtesy of Lennon and Shotton) on page 40/41 of Pete Shotton’s book ‘Lennon In My Life’”.

May 23rd 1955. John was given two detentions. The first was given by Harry Dautch for ‘Chewing in class’ and the second was given by Oscar Greaves for ‘Noise’.

“The system was all about "Bad Marks", so that if you did something to deserve a bad mark, this would stay on the record for a week and then would expire. If you got a second "Bad Mark" in the week then you would serve a detention. For really getting up a master's nose you would get 2 bad marks, which meant a detention right away. This is the explanation for the figure 1s and 2s in the sheets. Just because John was getting detentions from masters it does not necessarily mean that he was being taught by all of them at the time”.

“H.D. - Harry Dautch, John’s French teacher. A kind and charming man with a great sense of humour, however John obviously did his best to prevent him teaching anything by fooling around in class. In John’s School Report from Christmas 1955 Mr. Dautch wrote ‘A disappointing result, He is so fond of obtaining a cheap laugh in class that he has little time left for serious concentration’”.

“Oscar Greaves taught English, he was a very charming old chap. In his earlier years Lennon fooled around so much that according to Pete Shotton (verbal) he nearly had a nervous breakdown”.

May 25th 1955. John was the recipient of a detention from Oscar Greaves for ‘misbehaviour again’.

May 26th 1955. John received a detention from John McDermott for ‘Very bad behaviour’.

May 27th 1955. John was given two detentions. The first for ‘Sharing desk without permission’, the teacher who gave this detention was R. A. Roberts. The second was for not having his homework, ‘No Hwk’, this was given by a teacher named Graeme Nixon.

“R.A. Roberts, known as “Jocky”, he features in the “Daily Howl” (John Lennon’s satirical hand written mock school newspaper). He lived in Woolton and owned a little pre-war Austin 7 in which the window glass was yellowed. We used to joke that it was “heraldic glass” as he was a history teacher. He was a very kind man who would often give you a lift back to Woolton if he saw you standing waiting at the bus stop”.

“I.G.N. - Graeme Nixon, a maths teacher. Known as “Nick”, not a pleasant man according to Pete Shotton. I subsequently learned that he had been a very gallant tank commander in World War 1”.

June 6th 1955. John was the recipient of detention for ‘Talk’.

June 8th 1955. John was given a detention for ‘Talk’

June 13th 1955. John was the recipient of a detention from R. A. Roberts for ‘Repeated misconduct’.

June 15th 1955. John received two detentions. The first from G. J. Benzie for making ‘Silly noises during an examination’. The second was for ‘Bad behaviour, repeated’, given by a teacher with the initials ‘G.U.S’.

“Benzie was a geography teacher but here he appears to have been invigilating an exam, although John did not take his GCEs until 1957”.

“G.U.S. I can’t come up with a definite answer here as I am not familiar with the initials. The best candidate is Mr Shears, who was known as “Clipper” in my early years, then “Fred”. There was an English teacher Mr Lippett, who was known as “Gus” but he would have written his correct initials rather than his nickname”.

June 16th 1955. John was given two detentions. The first is an interesting detention for ‘Sabotage’ given to him by K. I. Lishman. The second was given by Oscar Greaves for ‘misbehaviour’.

“K.I. Lishman, known as “Killer” because of his initials KIL. He was a no-nonsense Maths teacher. He is the origin of the comment “this boy is bound to fail” which has wrongly been attributed to the Headmaster W.E. Pobjoy. Lishman was not referring to failing in life, but merely to failing Maths GCE due to chronic absence! The actual quote is: “His term marks amounted to 17% of the maximum and he missed the final exams. He is certainly on the road to failure if this goes on. K.I.L.” The date of this comment is Summer 1956, so it would have been July”.

June 20th 1955. John received detention for ‘Just no interest whatsoever’.

June 22nd 1955. John was given a detention for ‘Idleness’.

June 23rd 1955. John received detention given by John McDermott for ‘Very Bad conduct’.

Peter Beech, John’s General Science teacher at Quarry Bank, remarked of the detention sheets, ‘The sheet is typical of John Lennon, he was an extremely cheeky boy! He did, however, know his limits. In the classroom, if you settled John down, you generally settling the class down! John Lennon’s chemistry teacher Eric Oldman said that John could actually go far’.

On being shown the detention sheets recently Beatles official biographer Hunter Davies, commented, ‘When I was interviewing John, back in the Sixties, he delighted in recounting all his misdemeanours at school, along with Pete Shotton, how naughty they were, then laughing at their own bad behaviour. I thought he was exaggerating, flamming it up for effect, as successful people do when they get older, making themselves more a rebel than they were - but it turns out to be all TRUE. These detention notes prove it. In a way they are laughable, in this permissive age, being detentioned for chewing gum or shouting, but at a grammar school in the Fifties - the sort of which I also attended - these were seen as terrible crimes, almost hanging offences, so the teachers liked to suggest…’"

...and here is the second sheet, this time relating to Form 4C:

Again, the press release shiznit:

"The detention sheet covers the period between November 25th 1955 and February 13th 1956, class 4C.

November 25th 1955. John was given a detention for ‘Comments’ by G. J. Benzie.

November 29th 1955. John received two detentions the first for ‘Talk’ imposed by Harry Dautch. Then a second was given to him by R. E. Shimmin for ‘Talk after warning’.

“Mr Shimmin, a Manxman, John Lennon made various jokes about him in the “Daily Howl”. He was a science teacher”.

December 2nd 1955. John was given a detention by John McDermott for being a ‘Nuisance’.

December 6th 1955. John received two detentions this day. The first was given to him by R. E. Shimmin for ‘Fighting in the class room’ and the second was given to him by P. L. Burrows for ‘Shouting’.

“P.L. Burrows, known as “Porky” because of his bulk, was John’s class teacher in his first year and is present on the class photo from that year. He is the man whom Derek Nimmo credited with stimulating his interest in drama. Porky taught English”.

January 9th 1956. John was given a detention by R. A. Roberts for ‘Misconduct’

January 16th 1956. John received three detentions in one day! The first was given to him by R. E. Shimmin for making ‘noise during lesson’, the second and third were given to him by H. Dautch for ‘Chewing’ and ‘Silliness’, respectively.

January 23rd 1956. John was the recipient of two detentions. One was given to him by R. A. Roberts for ‘Talk’ and the second was given to him by K.I. Lishman for ‘No input’.

February 9th 1956. John was given a detention for making an ‘Impudent answer to a question’.

February 10th 1956. John received a detention from R.L. Burrows for being ‘Late for lesson’ and another detention given to him later that day by John McDermott for being a ‘Nuisance’.

February 13th 1956. John was given three detentions in one day! The first for ‘Misconduct’, the second for ‘Talk after warnings’ given by R.E. Shimmin and the third for not having his homework, ‘no HW’, given by K.I. Lishman.

A note on the bottom of this sheet states that John Lennon was given a detention for being late, ‘Late 31/1, 8/2’ by his chemistry teacher, Eric Oldman.

“Eric Oldman (known as “Ferric” because he taught chemistry) was the Housemaster of Woolton House, of which John was a member. It is possible that these detentions were for being late for school in the morning as John would normally have had to report to Oldman on arrival to be registered”."

Many thanks to Jason at Tracks. They are being auctioned on the 22nd, if you have the "moneys".

Liverpool: Gambier Terrace, then unt nau.

This famous shot of John plus art school chums was taken in Gambier Terrace, No. 3 of which, as ye will know, was home for a while to the aforementioned (though paying rent was more of a theoretical possibility than an actual event). The former art school itself (about which more anon) can be seen through the gates in the new pic.
There's another photo of John plus further art school pals also taken on this very spot, though it's not in general circulation. This little corner of Liverpool remains remarkably unchanged, give or take the odd bush, Beatle or etc. Lovely stuff.

Lennon unt McCartney: then unt nau.

Lennon unt, as I clearly state in the blog post title, McCartney, then unt, as I clearly state in the blog post title, nau, above. John circa Pepper, Paul circa New.

But woooah there Padre! Just you hold on a minute! Who is this little fanny pack?:

Yes, that's right! It's me! (As ye will shurely know if ye read the almost identical post from blahblahblah...)

St Paul's Church, Covent Garden: Paul pops up.

As ye will shurely know by now, Paul done a pop up in Covent Garden today...and I was there! What's more, it was the second time in 3 days that I'd got within pantie-chucking distance of the great man (Errr...are you sure about the "panties" bit? - "Smalls" Ed.), having also been fortunate enough to get in to Wednesday's Maida Vale Radio 6 session (via a jammy mate who'd won tickets).
Lizzie Bravo emailed this morning to say it was happening, and so off I did scoot, pausing only to attend to my appearance; today I brushed all 4 of my remaining teeth. I got to Covent Garden with undue haste, to be greeted by the above scene...and within 10 minutes or so, there was Sir Macca plus band, as follows, running through a nifty 20 minute set:

At the "magic" piano:

The following two quite extraordinary pictures are available for licensing to the major agencies:

...and before ye knew it, over it all was:

I'd also been meaning to get a Nau at the newly re-opened HMV on Oxford Street, and today seemed like the day. Paul, of course, was signing copies of "New" there after the Covent Garden show, and it was all fairly chaotic. Here's how the shop looked when Brian turned up all those years ago, plus the present day consequences:

So, a fairly interesting couple of days then. One of the many good things about Mr Lewisohn's tome is that it treats all 4 of them as equally important to the story; there's no bias. There's no John bias, no Paul bias, no George bias, no Ringo bias. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that there's no bias.
By contrast, it can't be denied that this blog has a certain Lennon-centricity. A Lencentricity, if ye will. But, lest there be any doubt, and to paraphrase someone, if there is such a thing as a genius, then I think Paul is one...and if there isn't, I don't care either.
The Maida Vale gig on Wednesday took place in a small room, and to be 10 feet in front of "THE BASS", and actually hear Paul's superlative playing coming straight out of his amp, to trouser-flapping effect, was a truly fantastic experience. He really is quite good, isn't he? That is all.

Saltney Street/Dublin Street, Liverpool: Bonded Tea Warehouse.

Oh, wot a statement: the four of them pitched up on a patch of wasteland in front of a derelict warehouse, and a very odd sort of glamour, even now. Having made a few desultory attempts to track down this locale, I'd long since given up. Surely it had gone the way of much else immediately north of the Pier Head? Amazingly enough, no. It's still there - the Bonded Tea Warehouse on Dublin Street.
The adjacent Saltney Street was, according to Mr Lewisohn's esteemed tome, the very place where John's Irish ancestors had been domiciled in what were fairly appalling conditions (cholera etc). The housing is long gone, but the arrow marks the warehousal spot: tea, Indian tea, but no biscuits:

So, co-incidentally, here they appeared in late September 1962, and the warehouse has not changed one little bit half a century later:

In the interim, the patch of scrubland (formerly cholera-ridden housing) has been re-built upon, and currently accomodates a motley collection of wholesalers, car part suppliers et al, thus making it impossible to obtain an exact Then unt Nau, but the spot must lie roughly towards the back of this yard:

His Very Bobness also pops up here in 1966, around a fortnight before being captured on film talking shite with John in the back of a car (possibly coming from Kenwood) for Eat The Document:

Note the Brown Cow pub:

The building still there on the corner, next to the warehouse:

There are quite a few great pics of Bob on Dublin Street (a Google search will reveal several more), and one wonders how co-incidental this was. Bob has form, even turning up on a National Trust tour of Mendips a few years back, sly little Beatlemaniac that he is.
Anyway, I was very pleased to discover this not so little relic remains.

Mark Lewisohn's All These Years: 10.5/10.

(I've pretty much finished the trade edition of Mr Lewisohn's tome, and so here are a few mercifully brief thoughts. Before I begin, I should state that Mark is a mate, and a good one, so don't take this as a review, but rather a recommendation.)

It's been called The World At War of rock biographies, in that this is an enormous work of layered history, but what it puts me most in mind of is War and Peace. Obviously, Tolstoy's "whoppa" is historical fiction, and Mark's "bewk" has been written specifically to counteract the various and manifold fictions that have crept in to endless re-tellings of "the 20th century's greatest romance". Yet the structure of the thing, with multiple personal histories unfolding in parallel against the backdrop of a rapidly changing society, really reminds me of Lev's "big-boy". And these books are both, of course, very big-boys indeed.

All These Years is a magnificent piece of work, dense and detailed, but fast moving and, usefully, written free from hindsight-based comment, thus allowing the story to unfold as it happened. Mark's prose is clear, clever and highly readable. The big events are fully explained for the first time, and the small ones are, in many cases also for the first time, err...also explained. I haven't read another book which manages to convey the atmosphere and gathering excitement of those times as well as this.

I only have one real criticism, and, funnily enough, the very same one I'd level at War and Peace: it's too short. (Luckily, this will be rectified next month.)

If you are entertaining any doubts about reading yet another book about the Beatles, then cast these aside immediately, buy a copy and prepare to learn a lot (including why a sandwich would be the best symbol for John Lennon International Airport in Liverpool).

Roll on Volume 2 (no bread based punnery intended).

Kenwood: summer, 1968.

Screencaps filched from further footage, filmed at Kenwood beside the pool and in the sunroom, circa summer '68:

...no doubt the same day as the similar colour footage which has been up on YouTube for a while:

Ya nevah know, some naughty person might put this up one day too.

Mark Lewisohn: new ATY interview.

One month to go...

Hong Kong: Tiger Balm Garden/Mandarin Hotel.

In June 1977, John took Sean to Hong Kong, accompanied by a small retinue. The postcard above captures the location of the Tiger Balm Garden location, as visited by all concerned. The Gardens were a popular tourist spot, featuring, as they did, many gaudy statues, including the wedding ceremony of a pig and a rabbit, and a huge depiction of the 18 levels of hell from Taoist teachings. Inevitably, the whole lot was demolished a few years back in order to put up four skyscrapers, though some of the statuary was salvaged.
Whilst in HK, John, Sean plus all important small retinue stayed in the Mandarin hotel, where John happened to bump into David "Dave" Bowie one day.
Quoth the Dame: "Last time I saw John Lennon was in Hong Kong, we went to a Hong Kong market and there was a stall that sold old clothes and there was a Beatles jacket on the stall, and I did something that is not usually in my character—I asked him to put it on, so that I could take a photograph. I took a photograph, and I still got the photograph. The jacket doesn't fit properly, it looks like John has outgrown it.”
Here's a pic, taken that day in the garden of the aforementioned Mandarin:

Bowie and Lennon were acquaintances in the mid-1970s, of course, and Dave has recounted a couple of amusing anecdotes, to wit:
“It's impossible for me to talk about popular music without mentioning probably my greatest mentor, John Lennon. I guess he defined for me, at any rate, how one could twist and turn the fabric of pop and imbue it with elements from other artforms, often producing something extremely beautiful, very powerful and imbued with strangeness. Also, uninvited, John would wax on endlessly about any topic under the sun and was over-endowed with opinions. I immediately felt empathy with that. Whenever the two of us got together it started to resemble Beavis and Butthead on "Crossfire."
The seductive thing about John was his sense of humor. Surrealistically enough, we were first introduced in about 1974 by Elizabeth Taylor. Miss Taylor had been trying to get me to make a movie with her. It involved going to Russia and wearing something red, gold and diaphanous. Not terribly encouraging, really. I can't remember what it was called -- it wasn'tOn the Waterfront, anyway, I know that.
We were in LA, and one night she had a party to which both John and I had been invited. I think we were polite with each other, in that kind of older-younger way. Although there were only a few years between us, in rock and roll that's a generation, you know? Oh boy, is it ever.
So John was sort of [in Liverpool accent] "Oh, here comes another new one." And I was sort of, "It's John Lennon! I don't know what to say. Don't mention the Beatles, you'll look really stupid."
And he said, "Hello, Dave." And I said, "I've got everything you've made -- except the Beatles."
A couple of nights later we found ourselves backstage at the Grammys where I had to present "the thing" to Aretha Franklin. Before the show I'd been telling John that I didn't think America really got what I did, that I was misunderstood. Remember that I was in my 20s and out of my head.
So the big moment came and I ripped open the envelope and announced, "The winner is Aretha Franklin." Aretha steps forward, and with not so much as a glance in my direction, snatches the trophy out of my hands and says, "Thank you everybody. I'm so happy I could even kiss David Bowie." Which she didn't! And she promptly spun around swanned off stage right. So I slunk off stage left.
And John bounds over and gives me a theatrical kiss and a hug and says "See, Dave. America loves ya."
We pretty much got on like a house on fire after that.
He once famously described glam rock as just rock and roll with lipstick on. He was wrong of course, but it was very funny.
Towards the end of the 70s, a group of us went off to Hong Kong on a holiday and John was in, sort of, house-husband mode and wanted to show Sean the world. And during one of our expeditions on the back streets a kid comes running up to him and says, "Are you John Lennon?" And he said, "No but I wish I had his money." Which I promptly stole for myself.
[imitating a fan] "Are you David Bowie?"
No, but I wish I had his money.
It's brilliant. It was such a wonderful thing to say. The kid said, "Oh, sorry. Of course you aren't," and ran off. I thought, "This is the most effective device I've heard."
I was back in New York a couple of months later in Soho, downtown, and a voice pipes up in my ear, "Are you David Bowie?" And I said, "No, but I wish I had his money."
"You lying bastard. You wish you had my money." It was John Lennon.”
Bowie has also said that he captured some footage of John in 1975, whilst filming test material for a proposed Diamond Dogs film:
"Every now and then the camera catches sight of [John Lennon] in the background, sitting there with his guitar playing hits of the day and saying, ‘What the bloody hell are you doing, Bowie? It’s so negative, all your shit, all this Diamond Dogs mutant crap!’”
As far as I know, this delightful filmic exchange has yet to see daylight.

Kenwood: Vroom etc.

Some photos of John's old Ferrari, briefly returned to Kenwood, in order to publicise the recent sale of same. Above in almost the very spot where cousin Stan posed back in the day. Below, up the drive:

I find these a bit odd, for some reason.:

And there are more knocking about on-line, for them that can be bothered to seek:

Wolsey Road, Esher: Quill Cottage.

John bought several houses for those close to him, including this one in Wolsey Road, Esher, which served as home to Cyn's mother Lilian, for a while at least. The above pic of Julian plus all-important "Nan" was probably taken around 1966. "Lil", however, was out by early 1967, when Terry Doran moved in.
Readahs will no doubt recall the Kenwood bit in Hunter's bewk, wherein Tezza turns up and rolls a few for John, before heading off around midnight. The drive from St George's Hill to Esher is a short one, or an interminably long one, depending upon the strength of the etc.. But I digress.
Presumably this was taken in the back garden:

Here's a wider shot of the house, as it is these days:

Afore ye rush en-masse, ye Lennonites, to visit the above, bear in mind that John may well never have been there in actuality; I wouldn't be surprised if it was all handled via various third parties, as much was in those days. "Lil" or Doran maniacs, on the other hand, have at it!
The above pic taken by Mr Lewisohn, so fanks, as ever, to him. (I wonder if the present owners are aware of any of this.)(Not the photographer, obviously, but the history.)(I digress.)

28 New Row, St Martin's Lane, WC2: The Theatre-Zoo.

MMT: IATW: FFT: Ever wondered where Ver Fabs got those deliciously creepy costumes? Eric Gledhill, that's where, and his Theatre-Zoo in WC2. Close "scritiney" of the invoice reveals the full feral "fundown" (if you will). Clockwise - Hippo, March Hare, Parrot, Walrus:

And, wouldn't yer know it, here's a film of the source, namely the Theatre-Zoo itself, dating 1956. Click on the picture to be "transpotered" to Pathe's page where ye can view the film, and thrill to the very MMT-like creepiness of the cossies:

THEATRE MASKS

Whither the titular Dyke Richens and Eric Gledhill? I know not...but I see that the Beatles only hired their costumes, which means that relatives of one or other of these aforementioned gents might just still have them...assuming they were ever returned, o' course.
(A further invoice from the Theatre-Zoo details the purchase of "17 Bald Pates (charged as 15) at 10 shillings each", destined, no doubt, for Egg-Men.)

Goo-goo-g'etc..

More Quarry Bank: September, 1952.

An anonymous "readah" has very kindly sent a first generation scan of the above pic, providing much more detail. Such as:

In slightly related shiznizzle, a pic of the Old Dutch on Penny Lane, co-proprietor of which was, o' course, for a while, Mr Pete Shotton, and a place much frequented by them Beatles on their way home from city centre gigs:

As previously noted, the sign endures, though little else does.

Quarry Bank: September, 1952.

Ex hoc metallo virtutem, indeed. Above, Form 1R, featuring the infamous Shennon and Lotton, top left. Regulah readahs of this drivel will know of the fondness round 'ese parts for Pete Shotton's autobiography, so I was especially pleased to stumble upon this pic the other evening, as it puts faces to at least a couple of names in the aforementioned tome.
Apparently John, as a youth, would invariably push people to see what he could get away with; the trick, as always, was to push back and Pete, to his credit, didn't put up with any shit from young Master Lennon.
The book recounts a couple of occasions when John took the piss once too often, both times being rewarded with a blow, meted out by the aggrieved Shotton, to his not inconsiderable schnozz...and thus was a friendship cemented. Ahh, schoolboy violence.
Anyway, it's all in the bewk, but following the second such outrage, Pete remained in a state of high dudgeon, such that for a couple of weeks he ignored John and took up with another classmate, David Jones. To wit, circled:

This stalemate was brought to an end by the time honoured remedy of John nicking the unfortunate Jones' bicycle, and appearing before Pete astride the contraband with a cheeky grin. The scamp... and thus was a friendship cemented. Ahh, schoolboy petty larceny.
The most memorable anecdote regarding the Quarry Bank era concerns Pete finding a stash of old dinner tickets, worth a shilling each, which he and John wasted no time in selling to classmates at half price, a lucrative ruse brought to an end only when the school started to get suspicious, and staff began noting down the numbers of any tickets used.
John and Pete managed to buy back all the unused tickets from their classmates in time - except for one, owned by a Donald Beattie, who refused to return the offending item to the pair, and proceeded to use it to obtain lunch.
Our titular miscreants were, naturally, convinced they were about to go to prison, particularly when Beattie was summoned to the Head's office the next day to explain how he had come to use an old ticket. Master Beattie, circled:

As it turned out, Beattie was a bigger wind-up merchant than John, and had only refused to sell it back in order to put the shits up them (to coin a phrase), something in which he succeeded spectacularly. He fobbed the Head off with a story about having had an old ticket left from a prior occasion when he'd skipped lunch, and was rewarded with a suitable display of gratitude from John and Pete...and thus was a friendship etc. Ah, etc.
Pete has rather gone to ground these days. Last sighted living in Paphos, Cyprus, he is apparently badly afflicted by arthritis. Impossible not to feel a deal of affection for him, fanks to the bewk wot he writ, so one hopes he is enjoying his dotage, and still managing to get up to at least a small amount of mischief, despite the maladies of old age.

Wardour Street: 1943-2013.

Very little remains of Soho as ver Fabs knew it, back when blah blah blah. Or so I thought, but having recently been gifted a photocopied London Street Directory ca. 1966, which lists each and every business in central London at the time, it's surprising to note how many premises have maintained some type of continuity - restaurants have remained restaurants (albeit of a different stripe), pubs have stayed pubs (albeit etc.), and so on.
And so to a little corner of Soho: the bit of Wardour Street adjacent to Rupert Court. Above, the aforementioned "bit" as pictured in 1943 (Second World War), 1977 (Punk Wars) and 2013 (My Personal War On Everything And Everyone). Note example of aforementioned restaurant/pizza related continuum (and click on pics for a better look).
So what? No real reason, other than extreme boredom, but, o' course, this "bit" (aforementioned) is also dreeping o' Beatle association.
Rupert Court, as ye will surely know, was where those four cheeky lads with their toe-tappin' chart toppers were captured (not literally) heading along the aforementioned Court towards Wardour Street:

On the corner of Wardour St/Rupert Court stood Garners Restaurant, purveyors of fishy "fud" to Ver Fabs, amongst others, and here it is pictured in 1963, around the same time as the above:

The second floor dining room, circa 1977:

Here they are again. Note dummies on the left, in the window of Kravetz Maurice & Sons, tailors to ladies:

The opposite side of the street, as pictured in 1960. The arrow marks the then future premises of the Kontakt cafe, outside of which did Ringo purchase the ice creams seen above being stuffed in Ver gobs of etc.:

That historic moment, when the course of ice-cream history was changed forever (together with the same spot now):

New heights of trivia:

Returning to Rupert Court, the entrance (oddly) to number 29 Wardour Street, where Dezo used to have his studio:

Some more pics dating 1977 - in the 60s, the first floor housed Kurz A & S (more tailors to ladies), the second was home to a travel agency called Continental Travel Link, whilst the third was where Dezo plied his etc.
That's quite possibly Mr Kurz still there in '77, that might still be a travel agency in pic 2, and the final shot shows the stairs leading up to Dezo (who was still there in '77):

Thanks to Messrs L & C, as ever, and the London Metropolitan Archive.