Pimlico has a rather nice ring to it, the sound of the word is rather jolly and light-footed. It’s an area right in the middle of London and really very posh, but also with some interesting seedy elements. It’s right next to Belgravia, surely the poshest London neighbourhood where the international ‘B team’ (billionaires) used to inhabit (sporadically) before they decided to move on to greener, less taxed, pastures, such as Marbella and Dubai.
Pimlicans (my new word) inhabit a part of town bordered by Chelsea to the west, Belgravia to the northwest, Victoria to the north and Westminster to the east. Its southern border is the River Thames, the ‘dirty old river’ (thanks so much Ray Davies for Waterloo Sunset), crossed notably by Chelsea Bridge, immortalised by Whistler. Myriad railway lines also cross the river as they grunge their bendy ways into the colossus of Victoria railway station and its environs of construction works, new office buildings and a rather sterile shopping centre, albeit a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, no less.
I’ve spent about 40 years trying to figure out Pimlico. It’s almost defined by what it isn’t. It isn’t Belgravia. It isn’t Chelsea. It isn’t Westminster. What exactly is it?
It’s a kind of demilitarised zone, a buffer zone but hold on, I’m being unfair, unkind.
After all, without Pimlico we wouldn’t have had one of the best Ealing Studios comedies, ‘Passport to Pimlico’ (1949), wonderful post-war farce entailing Pimlico being proven to be part of Burgundy by virtue of a royal charter of Edward IV. This resulted in Pimlicans declaring that they were not subject to HM Government restrictions such as post-war rationing and purchase tax. The film served to give Pimlico the status and respect that it clearly deserved.
Although just north of Victoria station, 46 Lower Belgrave Street is where Lord Lucan lived and where the extraordinary drama played out, the murder of Sandra Rivett, and from where Lucan fled, never to be seen again. For more on this fascinating case, go to the films and/or books on this subject. The general feeling at the time was Lucan killed his nanny (Rivett) by mistake, thinking she was his wife. Have I got that right?
Anyway, with or without Lucky Lord Lucan, let’s look more closely at Pimlico.
Apparently there was a chap called Ben Pimlico who was famous for his nut-brown ale. If this is true we have a clear link between the neighbourhood and inebriation, so I suppose we should start with watering holes. According to people who know, or according to the pubs paying the most for publicity, the five best pubs in Pimlico are The Marquis of Westminster, gastropub, The Queens Arms, good for cocktails, the Cask Pub & Kitchen, with plenty of taps, The Warwick, also including a gastro, and The Constitution, which has a good food offering, including pies (a personal favourite). Do you like pies?
I have to mention Dolphin Square. It’s extraordinary. It was built in the 1930s and was the largest self-contained block of flats in the whole of Europe. It had 1,250. It covers a significant area of Pimlico and is/has been the home of innumerable MPs and Westminster and Whitehall types. It’s split into 13 blocks, ‘houses’, named after seafarers, Nelson, Drake and others.
There are art deco facilities within it, open to the public, such as bar and brasserie, gym, swimming pool and so on. I used to go to the cocktail bar years ago. Might well be worth a visit.
Apartment 807. That’s where John Vassall, Soviet spy, was arrested in 1962. John, did you really think you could get away with it?
Boring fact: there is a tube station, not surprisingly Pimlico Station, which is quite new (1972) and on the Victoria Line.
More interesting fact: Tate Britain is on the edge of Pimlico and offers Pimlicans and others a chance to wander, roam, view stuff (sometimes of a quite dubious nature but including the brilliance of Turner), have a coffee, lunch or tea in stately surroundings, and feel slightly connected with the pulse of the art scene. If you can, try and avoid ridiculous videos but if you get caught out and find yourself in a video ‘environment’ try and look as if you know what’s going on.
As for the centre of Pimlico, can someone tell me where it is? There is no Pimlico High Street. But don’t worry, there are plenty of local, handy stores and nice restaurants of various stripes. Plus pleasing London squares, Eccelstone, Warwick and St George’s. There are rows and rows of rather elegant Georgian terraces, the next level down from Belgravia, lots of small hotels, and generally offering a very practical and sensible alternative to the vast, unaffordable expense of Belgravia!
Look at this way, if you live in Pimlico you really are in the centre of town, by the river, right by Westminster and Buck House, and a hop, skip and a jump from Victoria, with all its attractions and transport connections.
