I always feel that London is the centre of the world, although I am sure the inhabitants of New York or Paris would disagree. Soho is at the centre of London, and the centre of Soho is Berwick Street. Soho has always been notorious for prostitution, and the southern end of Berwick Street used to be at the centre of this. Not so much now.
There used to be 3 walk ups in Berwick Street. A 'walk up' is a place that some people call a brothel. It is not really a brothel because only one woman works as a prostitute in a flat. That is why walk ups are not illegal. There is also a 'maid' there who looks after the prostitute. She is usually an older woman.
I say 3 walk ups maybe I should say 6. Each doorway leads to two flats on upper floors. Often in Soho there is a shop or restaurant on the ground floor and walk ups on upper floors. Soho is also known for good food. There is a street market (mainly food) at the southern end of Berwick Street.
In Peter Street at the southern end of Berwick Street there were another 3 (or 6) walk ups, and round the corner in Green's Court are another 2. There used to be even more walk ups near the southern end of Berwick Street, before the redevelopment on the corner of Berwick Street and Peter Street. Blore Court had a walk up where some of the best prostitutes in Soho worked, Angie, Ritzy, Sandy/Sandra and Yoko. There was also a brothel called Les Girls in Blore Court. There was another brothel in Duck Lane called Soho Cottage.
70A Berwick Street is where the legendary Italian beauty Claudia worked. The other ones in Berwick Street have closed.
Walkers Court is a sleazy alleyway with sex shops but no walk ups. Nearby Tisbury Court must be the sleaziest alleyway, it had a sex shop, a walk up, and Soho's only remaining peep show (now closed?). Dotted around Soho are other walk ups, including the area south of Shaftesbury Avenue that is Chinatown. In Lisle Street are 3 walk ups - 5 flats in all, probably the sleaziest ones in Soho. The only other walk ups in London are in Shepherd Market outside Soho in Mayfair, where there are just a few.
Brothels can be found all over London but recently there was just one, in Old Compton Street. One area of prostitution I have no experience of is phone card prostitution. You can see in central London lots of cards in public telephone boxes. There is a picture of a scantily clad female (sometimes a transexual male) and a phone number. I know they are more expensive than the walk ups so I haven't investigated this area.
I have had a little experience of the Chinese medical establishments that are found all over London but especially in Soho and Chinatown. They offer herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage. At some places and with some girls for an extra amount of money you can have a 'happy ending' to your massage. The masseuse will masturbate you to orgasm. It is difficult to know where you can get this service and how much you will end up paying.
At most walk ups the minimum price is £20. In some places that is for straight sex. Other services cost more. There is often a list on the wall of services offered and their prices. You could have oral, straight sex with oral, or straight sex in different positions.
In other places they seem to go by time not the activity. £20 will buy you 10 minutes with the prostitute. 20 minutes however could be £50. In my favourite walk up the pricing system is simpler. It is £20 for each 10 minutes you spend, irrespective of the activity.
You will be asked to give an extra £2 to the maid. She will open the door to you. She may sit with you if the prostitute is busy. Or suggest you come back later.
I expect that most men will spend more than this minimum amount. Some men will want to spend the minimum amount the first time they see a particular woman. If they like her they can go back another time and spend more money. If you do your research you can find out which are the ones you will probably like best. Different men will have different preferences. Some may prefer a friendly older woman, some may prefer an energetic young one. A tall slender blonde, or a raven-haired oriental? Something for everyone.
A man may be approached in the street by someone who will offer to take him to a flat where there are girls. These people are called touts. At best they will take you to a walk up and ask you for payment for their service on the stairs. They have no connection to the prostitute in the walk up. Many walk ups have notices saying 'No Touts' and asking men to not hand over any money on the stairs. Money paid to a tout does not pay for the services of a prostitute. It is money wasted, because it is easy to find a walkup yourself. At worst you will be robbed on the stairs or somewhere else secluded.
Another thing to watch out for are the clip joints. These are places where you are invited in by a woman at street level. You are invited to go down the stairs to see a show. I'm not sure if all such places are clip joints, but I'm not going to go down the stairs and find out. They will insist that you buy a drink and charge you a large amount of money for it. If you try to leave without paying them, they will threaten you. There were a couple of places like this in Tisbury Court, and one round the corner in Rupert Street. Soho Live Girls was definitely a clip joint. There are also lots of touts near the corner of Tisbury Court and Rupert Street.
Then there are the clippers. These are women who pretend to be prostitutes. They take men to a doorway and tell them they need to hand over money and meet them later somewhere else. They don't turn up.
It may seem from what I have stated that Soho is full of people trying to rob you. However, I never have any problems in this regard. The women in walk ups are usually friendly and eager to please. Don't accept invitations from anyone you see in the street. You can check on the PunterNet field reports for Soho for recommendations and what suits you personally, or read the Soho Walk Up thread on the PunterNet forum.
If you want to know where Tisbury Court is, there is an Ann Summers shop on the corner of Wardour Street and Tisbury Court, near the western end of Old Compton Street.
Some people think that male touts are pimps, and female touts and clippers are prostitutes. It is an easy mistake to make. People also tend to think that the clip joints and walk ups are brothels. Another mistake is to think that the maids are madams.
This menu is typical of Soho walk ups. If you can't read it clearly, I have replicated the information below.
There used to be 3 walk ups in Berwick Street. A 'walk up' is a place that some people call a brothel. It is not really a brothel because only one woman works as a prostitute in a flat. That is why walk ups are not illegal. There is also a 'maid' there who looks after the prostitute. She is usually an older woman.
I say 3 walk ups maybe I should say 6. Each doorway leads to two flats on upper floors. Often in Soho there is a shop or restaurant on the ground floor and walk ups on upper floors. Soho is also known for good food. There is a street market (mainly food) at the southern end of Berwick Street.
In Peter Street at the southern end of Berwick Street there were another 3 (or 6) walk ups, and round the corner in Green's Court are another 2. There used to be even more walk ups near the southern end of Berwick Street, before the redevelopment on the corner of Berwick Street and Peter Street. Blore Court had a walk up where some of the best prostitutes in Soho worked, Angie, Ritzy, Sandy/Sandra and Yoko. There was also a brothel called Les Girls in Blore Court. There was another brothel in Duck Lane called Soho Cottage.
70A Berwick Street is where the legendary Italian beauty Claudia worked. The other ones in Berwick Street have closed.
Walkers Court is a sleazy alleyway with sex shops but no walk ups. Nearby Tisbury Court must be the sleaziest alleyway, it had a sex shop, a walk up, and Soho's only remaining peep show (now closed?). Dotted around Soho are other walk ups, including the area south of Shaftesbury Avenue that is Chinatown. In Lisle Street are 3 walk ups - 5 flats in all, probably the sleaziest ones in Soho. The only other walk ups in London are in Shepherd Market outside Soho in Mayfair, where there are just a few.
Brothels can be found all over London but recently there was just one, in Old Compton Street. One area of prostitution I have no experience of is phone card prostitution. You can see in central London lots of cards in public telephone boxes. There is a picture of a scantily clad female (sometimes a transexual male) and a phone number. I know they are more expensive than the walk ups so I haven't investigated this area.
I have had a little experience of the Chinese medical establishments that are found all over London but especially in Soho and Chinatown. They offer herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage. At some places and with some girls for an extra amount of money you can have a 'happy ending' to your massage. The masseuse will masturbate you to orgasm. It is difficult to know where you can get this service and how much you will end up paying.
At most walk ups the minimum price is £20. In some places that is for straight sex. Other services cost more. There is often a list on the wall of services offered and their prices. You could have oral, straight sex with oral, or straight sex in different positions.
In other places they seem to go by time not the activity. £20 will buy you 10 minutes with the prostitute. 20 minutes however could be £50. In my favourite walk up the pricing system is simpler. It is £20 for each 10 minutes you spend, irrespective of the activity.
You will be asked to give an extra £2 to the maid. She will open the door to you. She may sit with you if the prostitute is busy. Or suggest you come back later.
I expect that most men will spend more than this minimum amount. Some men will want to spend the minimum amount the first time they see a particular woman. If they like her they can go back another time and spend more money. If you do your research you can find out which are the ones you will probably like best. Different men will have different preferences. Some may prefer a friendly older woman, some may prefer an energetic young one. A tall slender blonde, or a raven-haired oriental? Something for everyone.
A man may be approached in the street by someone who will offer to take him to a flat where there are girls. These people are called touts. At best they will take you to a walk up and ask you for payment for their service on the stairs. They have no connection to the prostitute in the walk up. Many walk ups have notices saying 'No Touts' and asking men to not hand over any money on the stairs. Money paid to a tout does not pay for the services of a prostitute. It is money wasted, because it is easy to find a walkup yourself. At worst you will be robbed on the stairs or somewhere else secluded.
Another thing to watch out for are the clip joints. These are places where you are invited in by a woman at street level. You are invited to go down the stairs to see a show. I'm not sure if all such places are clip joints, but I'm not going to go down the stairs and find out. They will insist that you buy a drink and charge you a large amount of money for it. If you try to leave without paying them, they will threaten you. There were a couple of places like this in Tisbury Court, and one round the corner in Rupert Street. Soho Live Girls was definitely a clip joint. There are also lots of touts near the corner of Tisbury Court and Rupert Street.
Then there are the clippers. These are women who pretend to be prostitutes. They take men to a doorway and tell them they need to hand over money and meet them later somewhere else. They don't turn up.
It may seem from what I have stated that Soho is full of people trying to rob you. However, I never have any problems in this regard. The women in walk ups are usually friendly and eager to please. Don't accept invitations from anyone you see in the street. You can check on the PunterNet field reports for Soho for recommendations and what suits you personally, or read the Soho Walk Up thread on the PunterNet forum.
If you want to know where Tisbury Court is, there is an Ann Summers shop on the corner of Wardour Street and Tisbury Court, near the western end of Old Compton Street.
Some people think that male touts are pimps, and female touts and clippers are prostitutes. It is an easy mistake to make. People also tend to think that the clip joints and walk ups are brothels. Another mistake is to think that the maids are madams.
| MENU | ||
| 10 minute service | ||
| straight sex | £20 | |
| sex + oral | £30 | Extras |
| sex + positions | £30 | Poppers £5 |
| sex + full strip | £30 | Uniform £10 |
| sex + vib | £35 | Position £10 |
| oral | £20 | Full strip £10 |
| hand relief | £20 | |
| water sports | £35 | |
| spanking (given) | £30 | |
| . | . | . |
| 20 minutes | £50 | |
| Dreamtime | £55 | These services |
| 30 minutes | £65 | have the |
| 40 minutes | £85 | extras from the |
| 1 hour | £130 | list above |
| ------- | ||
| All services are with | condom | |
| No anal or french kiss | ing or 69 |
Before 1957 prostitutes were seen on the streets of Soho. After that they had to work from flats. However, there used to be an open doorway in Meard Street in the 1980s where men were robbed. They were told to hand over some money then meet them somewhere else. Somewhere that didn't exist (eg Mountjoy Hotel).
The Gargoyle was a private members' club on the upper floors of 69 Dean Street, Soho, London (at the corner with Meard Street). A second private club became part of the story of 69 Dean Street during the postwar 1940s when an eccentric crowd started gathering in the Mandrake at No 4 Meard Street, a house only a few yards west of the Gargoyle's entrance with its tiny lift. By the 1970s the Mandrake had acquired a new pedimented entrance door on Meard Street, curiously now east of the Gargoyle's, just a couple of yards nearer to Dean Street.
Sebastian Horsley lived at 7 Meard Street. He was an artist and drug addict. He liked to visit the walk ups, especially Claudia in Berwick Street. 43 Gerrard Street was another notorious nightclub. This is now in Chinatown, where a different type of prostitution goes on. Chinatown is still part of Soho.
At 90 Wardour Street was The Marquee from 1964 to 1988. Many important bands played there. The Establishment was a London nightclub which opened in October 1961, at 18 Greek Street, Soho and which became known for satire. Peter Cook began it, and many well known comedians performed there. Dudley Moore played piano downstairs.
