The clubs and nightlife of London – Part 6

London, the city of many faces and many peoples. Never is this so evident as after dark, when places which appear dull by day come alive, fill with people and throb to music and the sound of voices.

Covent garden is a great place by day – buskers entertain, cafes and pavement eateries provide good food and the Apple Market is open for business with its stalls, diverse goods from different cultures and families flock there.

Covent Garden at night is another world. Doors which are shut during the day open to reveal hidden restaurants, welcoming and buzzing with life. Buskers still trawl for trade but they are of a different kind, no more kiddies’ entertainers and clowns but musicians, playing punk or rock and roll. The Punch and Judy pub, overlooking the Apple Market and the square opens its doors to the youth and not-so youthful and is full of people of all kinds, from business men to people who have just seen an opera at the English National Opera, still wearing their finery. All classes, dress and styles rub shoulders with each other, jostling for the best view over the square.

The Hay Market spills its theater clientele into its streets after dark and the small bars fill with enthusiastic critics, all trying to tell each other about the play they have just seen. Suits mix with jeaned youngsters wanting a taste of the atmosphere.

The Hippodrome doors are open, with bouncers prominent,keeping the trashy youths out and selecting those who have dressed up for the evening to enter and see the band or dance to the intoxicating music.

The more up market Limelight opens with the queue stretching round the block. Tickets only, but many will still try to get in past the wise bouncers who check their names against the invite list.

Then there are other areas, away from the bright lights and money where it is not wise to be after dark. Seven Sisters, a decent place by day, takes on a menacing atmosphere by night. Few people are out and about and gangs of youths gather seemingly at every corner. Shops – open by day- are shuttered tight and graffiti adorns the shutters. Shadowy people flit in the shadows and if you find yourself here, you only want to get back to lights, people and noise.

Night buses ply up and down Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road and take people safely home. On these buses you will meet many different people as they are popular and relatively safe. Mini cabs ply for trade – unlicensed and unmarked, they pull up at kerbs and ask if you want a lift. Black cabs also ply for trade -a far safer option and the prices, though more expensive after midnight, are reasonable if you are in a group.

Soho opens its clubs – a less salubrious area where you can find either a high class drinking club where a hostess will join you and charge 100 per hour for her company, or sleazy strip joints, open to all where you can view women in various stages of undress for anything from a pound to fifty pounds.

China Town is wonderful at night. Chinese never sleep and here you will find many restaurants and shops open till very late – shutting only when the last punter leaves for home.

Tube travel is a different experience at night. Gone are the families on London Day Out tickets and they are replaced with scruffy , jean clad , slightly threatening individuals who travel the tube for hours at night. Buskers wait at the bottom of every escalator and play songs on old battered sound systems, accompanying them with scratchy guitar playing, demanding cash as you pass.

London has many faces by day and many different ones by night but she remains a living, breathing, if sleepless city and her people make it so.