Just around the corner from where I live there is a shop called G A Moore Menswear. It takes its extraordinary place alongside the Edwardian shopfronts of the very attractive and much-loved Myddleton Road, an area that is gradually being revived, brushed up, renovated, restored to its Edwardian splendour. But not G A Moore’s.
Instead, this menswear shop has been untouched since Brian Moore, son of the original Mr George Moore, shut up shop one day in 1999, went upstairs to his flat above the shop and just left his window display to melt into the future, complete with mould, must and memories. He’s still up there.
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I saw him out there the other day cleaning the place out - you could smell if from miles away!! (slight exagerration....) I must pop down and see how he is getting on!
Very interesting and I bet the new proprietor will have lots of cleaning to do.
In some ways, that's quite sad. We'll never get to see how it looks in another decade of decay.
Well there is now an update. I walked past the other day and a young man had the door open and was clearing out the stuff. The smell was incredible. He's going to open a bakery! So I am not sure if the owner is still up there now. Everything will go to landfill but won't take long to rot down! It will be the end of a unique London landmark! But it's time has come.
I somehow missed that Brian was still alive. I was reading this entire thing with a sense of morbid reality, thinking he was up there in a similar state to the front window... ish.
Hello Emma - So glad you enjoyed the article and I do so agree with everything you have said about Hamlet! I too remember it as a favourite in those teenage years because it seemed very relevant to all that angst!
Oh, brilliant! That's a great idea! :)
Danielle just gave me an idea and I sent a Tweet off to a contact who specialises in writing about/publicising quirky London sites. Thanks to both Kathleen and Danielle for that.
Mira - Thanks so much for your comment. :)
That's a great saying. And you made me realize that it may not be just a whim or an art project to him, it may actually have deeper meaning. It sort of changed the whole thing for me now.