A walk around Bloomsbury

Pop up from Russell Square station ...

and you're in the heart of Bloomsbury, home to many of London's universities and with a literary history of note.

Most of these pics were taken in and around Lamb's Conduit street, its unusual name acknowledging William Lambe who kindly paid for a water conduit to supply the area in 1577.

The Lamb pub dates from 1779 but has a fantastic Victorian interior. Charles Dickens used it as his local, and Ted Hughes courted Sylvia Plath here ...

The street is known for its collection of eccentric independent shopkeepers and establishments going back many years. Connock & Lockie have been 'bespoke tailors for ladies and gentlemen' since 1902 ...

Coram's fields at the end of the street is seven acres of pretty green woodland and public space ...

 a peaceful place in the middle of London to sit and watch the leaves fall ...

But I was headed for no. 59 Lambs Conduit street, Persephone Books ... independent publisher of "neglected novels, diaries, poetry ... mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to mid twentieth century" (owner Nicola Beauman describes herself as a 'gentler' kind of feminist). 

It's a uniquely English place - a tiny, cluttered, colourful space combining office and shop, crammed full of piles of books in trademark dove-grey covers, along with colourful flowers and vintage war-time posters, old desks and worn floorboards. 

I met blogger and writer Elizabeth Wix here (from About New York and aka mother to Buster, surely everyone's favourite rescued pooch) and at this tea-shop down the road, decorated prettily for Halloween, we spent hours talking over scones and tea ...

(My pics of Bloomsbury were happy-snapped with my little digital camera and then, as you can see, played around with for special effects - vintage looks for a vintage area)