Nicholas Cox muses on the revival of the notorious Colony Room Club, a legendary haunt in Soho, now reincarnated as the Colony Room Green in Mayfair…
Last year, I was working on a construction project below Kemp House in Berwick Street whose most famous resident Jeffrey Bernard, was a patron of a private members’ drinking club, the Colony Room, a fact commemorated on one of the hoarding panels designed by the talented LCF (London College of Fashion) student Nerea Gomez Martin.
I retraced his footsteps to his favourite Soho watering hole. Leaving Kemp House, he would have turned right down Berwick Street then left into Peter Street, crossing Wardour Street into Meard Street, crossing Dean Street and turning left, he would have entered 41 Dean Street. Upstairs where the club was, is now residential. The ground floor is now a restaurant called “Ducksoup”.
From Soho to Mayfair
Recently, I was back in Berwick Street meeting My Soho Times’ editor Kai outside The Blue Posts. We walked west along Broadwick Street, through Kingly Court, along Tenison Court, crossing Regent Street and as we did so, we also crossed the border, leaving our favourite district of Soho for posh Mayfair. We turned down Regent Street, right into Heddon Street and found ourselves outside 3 to 9 Heddon Street, the site of The Cave of the Golden Calf nightclub. Opened in 1912 and closed by the First World War, Frida Strindberg set it up as an avant-garde and artistic venture, attracting the wealthy and aristocratic classes, as well as bohemian artists. A decade ahead of its time, it was the template for the Soho clubs of the 1920s Jazz Age. Immediately opposite, at 4 Heddon Street is Ziggy Green – our destination.
Colony Room Green
Down a flight of stairs led to a door with a sign reading, “Colony Room Green”. We stepped through and if it hadn’t been for the smell of fresh paint, I’d have sworn that we’d travelled back in time to the original Colony Room Club.
Were we in a private members’ drinking club? No, it’s free to enter with no reservations.
Were we in a speakeasy? Not quite, for a start, there’s no expensively priced cocktail menu.
Were we in a museum or art exhibition? Almost – people were taking photos of the impressive exhibits, but the atmosphere was completely wrong for a museum or gallery.
It was only after my first drink that the penny dropped, we were standing in the middle of a performing arts venue during a live performance, we were the artists, and we were taking part in a happening.
The term “happening” was first used by Allan Kaprow in the 1950s to describe art-related live events and was developed into the “société du spectacle” theory by Guy Debord, who described situations as actively created moments using spectacular images and language to disrupt the flow of the spectacle.
So, what sort of artists were we?
If the founder and one-time proprietress of the Colony Room Club, Muriel Belcher, had witnessed our performance, I know exactly how she would have described us, “You’re just a bunch of piss artists!”, but people don’t speak like that anymore, do they? Especially not in posh Mayfair!
Would Muriel have approved of this homage to her humble establishment? “Oh, do dry up dear!”, of course she would.
Written by Nicholas Cox @njcoxx
📍 Colony Green Room, basement of Ziggy Green | 4 Heddon Street, Mayfair W1B 4BS. Walk-ins only.
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