Pimlico emerged from marshland in the 19th century as South Belgravia, broadly along similar lines to its grander neighbour to the north, with garden squares, broad avenues, stuccoed Italianate terraces, the realisation of that master builder’s, Thomas Cubitt’s, vision.
His white canyons still survive but much has changed. After a period of decline the area has been renewed over the last 90 years to become what we find today – a blueprint for integrated inner city living. Driven by a spirit of post war optimism, award winning architects and enlightened planning, Pimlico really is that often touted ideal, a hidden village within the heart of London.
On this walk you will encounter Pimlico’s rich mix of characters, from London cabbies to theatre luvvies, aristocrats and Goths, spies, parliamentarians and sporting legends. Your reservations about local traffic neighbourhoods will be assuaged; you will be astonished by prescient energy conservation schemes; and, perhaps, your scepticism about epithets such as “urban utopia” and “people’s paradise” somewhat mollified.
While the rivers that shaped this area have long since disappeared underground, some of the Modernist monuments have been replaced and even the name continues to mystify, what remains of Pimlico – whether the people, the buildings, the story, the spirit of the place – is vibrant, fascinating, inspiring. Discover all this with me on my Exploring Pimlico walk.
