
October in Bedford Square
George Salter (active c.1956–1959)
Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre

detail from Leicester Square proposals from Illustrated London Life xxx
I looked last week at the fate of London’s squares during wartime, and one might have thought that things couldn’t get much worse. Unfortunately, as in many other areas of post-war life they did. There was no quick recovery and austerity hit harder than bombs. Part of the problem was that in the drive to rebuild, the normal standards of care and concern didn’t seem to apply. Economic growth and regeneration and the need to rehouse large numbers of people took precedence over most heritage and environmental issues. And leading the way in all that was dependence on the motor car. Many London squares were on their metaphorical knees at the end of the war and continued to have a rough time at the bottom of the priority list for decades….