PICCADILLY secrets

Piccadilly Circus has long been the nexus of London’s entertainment district, drawing in seasoned locals and fascinated tourists like moths to its bright neon flame. While it perhaps lacks the vaulting scale of similar intersections around the world such as Times Square in New York or Tokyo’s Shibuya crossing, Piccadilly Circus has always had history on its side and with that comes a layer of mystery and intrigue that is unsurpassed.

While the giant TV screens, late-night shops and bustling restaurants create a glow around the main thoroughfares, it is down the side streets, behind the closed doors and even under pavements where the real stories can be found.

Piccadilly Circus was built just over 200 years ago, opening to traffic in 1819 and acting as a rather grand link between John Nash’s George