A collection of photographs taken almost 40 years apart show how London’s streets have changed. (Or in some cases, hardly at all) In 1973, civil servant John Hutchinson photographed areas in London which were under threat of redevelopment. He feared the Victorian buildings that had survived the Blitz would be lost forever, so he set out to photograph them for posterity.
The modern photos at the same locations were taken by Rosie Hallam / Barcroft Media.
South side, Piccadilly Circus.
North side, Piccadilly Circus.
Romilly Street, Soho.
Covent Garden Market interior.
Tottenham Court Road, under redevelopment in 2013.
The Trocadero building, Coventry Street.
Gerrard Street, Chinatown.
Old Compton Street, Soho.
Rules, the oldest restaurant in London. Covent Garden.
The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus.
The Coliseum Theatre, St Martin’s Lane.
Covent Garden Underground Station.
Cecil Court, WC2.
beetleypete 
Many of them I’m familiar with. It’s good to see that some of the old buildings still look much the same. Thanks, Pete!
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Yes, during those 40 years, much had remained unchanged.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I enjoyed this, Pete. Quite a contrast. Thank you.
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As a Londoner, it struck me how little had changed during my time there.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great comparisons, Pete nothing has altered much maybe cleaned up the masonry or pedestrianised but overall pretty much the same 🙂 x
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Yes, changes of use in some examples, (Covent Garden Market in particular) but all still reasonably familiar to anyone alive after WW1. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Great before-and-after photos! I especially love seeing the buildings that really haven’t changed much over the years.
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Many areas of London haven’t changed that much since 1900. It was mainly the WW2 bomb-damaged areas that saw significant re-development in the 1960s.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I was in London in 2011. I do recognize several of these places. Warmest regards, Ed
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Glad to hear that, Ed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great idea, Pete, putting the two photos side by side so we can see the changes…not always for the better.
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I try to find these on Pinterest, Don. It’s always pleasing when I do.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Picadilly Circus’s façade was once cluttered with signs, and the Trocadero building was grimy back then. Now, they both have a clean look that’s really nice!
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Many building owners had the stonework cleaned in the 1990s, David. All those years of traffic pollution took their toll.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wow! Most businesses have changed but some buildings seemed to have stopped aging… I have something similar happen to my hometown. There was once a lot of trees and open spaces. Now, there are only buildings.
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Much of Central London remains unchanged, Shaily. Since the war damage was rebuilt in the 1960s, it is mainly the financial district that underwent drastic modernisation.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pretty nice clean up and as others have said, so much nicer without the hoardings!
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Many of the buildings had the stonework cleaned after decades of traffic pollution.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The Coliseum Theatre is a splendid building!
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It was built in 1904, and has had many uses. I saw ‘Cinerama’ films there in the 1960s, and it is currently used as a theatre and ballet venue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Coliseum
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s good that it’s being used as a venue for the performing arts.
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Cool contrasts for sure, Pete. Back in 1973 I was stationed in Iceland and took a three day R&R to Scotland. Never made it to London back then.. but Glasgow was so cool. I was 23 at the time and thought those three days were super cool given my affinity for the Brits… and just being on British soil was a kick for me given all the history. Your pics illustrate to me what once was at a time I can identify with. Now I feel old. 🙂
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I was 21 in 1973, and felt very ‘grown up’ in London at the time. It always felt like a cool city to live in, right up to the time I left to retire to Beetley.
Best wishes, Pete.
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How’s the real estate values there in Beetley, Pete? If I wanted a place your size how much would that cost me these days?
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We have a 3-bed detached one-level house (bungalow) with a smallish garden, garage, parking for 3 more cars off-road, kitchen/diner, one bathroom. It is currently worth around £302,000, more if we modernised the bathroom. (We paid £147,000 in cash for it in 201l)
These are some houses for sale locally. Compared to Greater London/Home Counties, they are probably one third of the prices 120 miles or more to the south.
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/property/beetley/?beds_min=3&q=Beetley%2C%20Norfolk&results_sort=newest_listings&search_source=for-sale
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Thanks for the link! Interesting that our values are quite similar given the type and size of property (in other words, pretty pricey). Although… I can see there are a number there of what we here might call the “quaint country cottage”, although it seems by you those are actually refurbed and quite nice looking. Here that definition is a bit questionable at times. Thanks for that.
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Something similar closer to London would be £1-2 million pounds, Doug.
Beetley is considered ‘cheap’ by southern counties standards, but ‘expensive’ by Norfolk standards. 🙂
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I’d be having that barn conversion!
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Not far from where we live, but two things I don’t like.
1) It’s on the 70 mph main road that leads to from Dereham to Holt.
2) It is semi-detached, in a small complex of coverted farm buildings. I wouldn’t want to pay half a million for semi-detached.
Lovely inside though.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh no that wasn’t so apparent, I withdraw my offer 🤣
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Wow! That’s 3+ crore in Indian money. We are currently building house and it seems to cost around 20 lakh (20,000 GBP). It is a smallish piece though set in the heart of the city.
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£20,000 would not buy anything to live in in the UK, Shaily. Not even a small caravan or mobile home.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Glad to live in India then 😀
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Glad to see the majority of these buildings still exist. My ‘foodie’ cousin took me for lunch in Balans Cafe a couple of years ago. Very expensive and not really my thing – I’d have been happy with a couple of ham sandwiches.
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I have been to Balans a couple of times. (It also struck me how many of those places look just the same, even if the use of the building had changed.)
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very interesting! I’ve never been to London, except through a great many movies. It is nice to see all the buildings that DIDN’T change, and how some have actually been improved (less signage; foot traffic only, etc.).
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So much of London has remained unchanged since late Victorian times, Patti. Most of the areas that have changed completely were as a result of the heavy bombing the city sustained during WW2.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Interesting. I’m not upset to see the removal of some of the advertising hoardings & neon signs, Pete: they spoiled some lovely buildings. Cheers, Jon.
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Yes, advertising was often vary garish in the past, I agree.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Fascinating to see how cities change over time….good collection chuq
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I always enjoy finding these comparisons, chuq.
Best wishes, Pete.
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