The London Nobody Knows

A melancholic air pervades Norman Cohen's paean to the relics of an imperial capital's bygone grandeur. Scripting from his own book, Daily Telegraph illustrator-columnist Geoffrey Fletcher refuses to wallow in nostalgia, as he contrasts architectural and historical curios with the quotidian human tragedies of addiction and homelessness. Starting in the ruins of the Bedford Theatre (once a favourite of music-hall icon Marie Lloyd), James Mason guides us through byways that are a world away from the Swinging London of 1967. There are quirky diversions to an egg-breaking plant, a public lavatory in Holborn, some bustling street markets, an East End eel-and-mash shop, a Salvation Army hostel and Kensal Green Cemetery. Along the way, Terry Maher's camera never loses sight of those who have fallen victim to both neglect and progress. Douglas Anderson retraced Fletcher's steps in his millennial update The London Nobody Knows Now (2014).