Proper Hamburgers

This one is for Aliscotia who remembers the ground floor of this building as a Pizza Express. It is now a Byron, “Proper Hamburgers”, and very popular it is too! We tried to get in there last week, but the queue for tables was too long.

It is the prettiest Victorian building in Cowcross Street. Its fancy red, yellow and grey brickwork was already old-fashioned by the time it was built in 1880 for Charles and Anthony Beckman, frame manufacturers. The four upper floors have been converted into flats, and the top one has a terrace with olive trees peeking over the parapet.

Cowcross Street has a much more ancient history than this. PaulaJ might be interested to know that it was once a droving route! Just north of the horse and cattle market at Smithfield (which existed by 1123) there was a separate cow market. Cowcross Street was named after its market cross, and it was used for droving to these markets. It was part of the route to High Barnet and the north generally!

Today is the last day I’ll be taking photos on my “One Street” until September as we are setting off tomorrow morning to drive back to Italy.