London’s West-End by Bob Hyde
Cambridge Circus c.1965
These photographs were taken by Bob Hyde who was always taking photos and never without a camera. He studied and then taught at St. Martin’s – perhaps where he was when these were taken. From the mid-sixties until his death he was a senior lecturer at Wimbledon School of Art and lecturer at the Royal College of Art where he helped establish the Environmental Media Degree with Sir Hugh Casson. In 1966 he devised and directed a ballet for ITV involving two dancers and projected images. 1969 he designed Play Orbit, an exhibition organised jointly by the ICA
and the Welsh Arts Council for the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales.
This exhibition invited one hundred British artists to create a toy or game.
The photos lay undiscovered in a box for years.
Charing Cross Road at Falconberg Court that came off Sutton Row. Gave access to the Sundowner dance hall. The Astoria was to the left.
Blake Bros on the corner of Old Compton Street and Charing Cross Road.
Looking down Charing Cross Road from the roundabout on Cambridge Circus
Great Windmill Street
Ambassadors Theatre on West Street where the long-running Mousetrap was on.
Jellied Eel stall
Piccadilly Circus
Photos courtesy of Shima Banks
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