Escorts in Oxford Street, W1: who is close, and how soon
"People think of Oxford Street as the least green address in London," says Sylvie, who runs the office, "and it has a royal park at one end and a garden square a street or two back along most of its length." She is right. Hyde Park begins across the road from Marble Arch, and between there and the Tottenham Court Road end the side streets open onto Portman, Manchester, Cavendish and Hanover Squares, with Soho Square near the eastern end. For escorts in Oxford Street, those squares are the quiet half of the district. Nobody on the board lives on the street itself, but Marylebone to the north and Mayfair to the south are both home to names on it.
On the ground
Oxford Street in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameW1B 1JA, W1H 7DL, W1H 7FD, W1H 5DN, W1H 7TW.
Nearest stations
Walking timeOxford Circus, 1 minute. Bond Street, 3 minutes. Marble Arch, 6 minutes. Tottenham Court Road, 6 minutes.
Getting there
W1Travel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to Oxford Street
Who works here
On the board in Oxford Street
The eight prints above are a first shortlist for Oxford Street tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
Hyde Park at the Marble Arch end
The western end of the street runs out at Marble Arch, the white triumphal arch that was moved here from Buckingham Palace in the middle of the nineteenth century and now stands on an island in the traffic. Across the road is Hyde Park, and its north-east corner, the first ground inside the railings, is Speakers' Corner, where anyone may stand up and address whoever will listen; Sunday is its traditional day.
From there the park opens out: long paths under the trees, Park Lane along its eastern edge, and the Serpentine further in. At dusk the lamps come on along the main paths and the noise of the street drops behind you surprisingly quickly. The park stays open well into the night, long after the gated squares have closed, which makes it the one green space here that fits after dinner as well as before it.
Note 03
Squares north of the street
A street or two back from the north pavement lie three squares, each with its own character. Portman Square, near the western end, keeps its garden for keyholders behind railings, a rectangle of lawn and trees best enjoyed through them. Manchester Square is smaller and quieter, and on its north side stands Hertford House, home of the Wallace Collection, a free museum of paintings, armour and French furniture that is one of the calmest places in the West End to spend an afternoon hour.
Cavendish Square, behind the department stores at the Oxford Circus end, is the most public of the three: a garden of lawns and trees open to all, laid out in the early eighteenth century, with a car park hidden beneath it. Harley Street, which like the square takes its name from the family who built this estate, begins on its northern side, and from there the streets of Marylebone lead on towards its high street and the village feel that sits so close to the busiest shopping street in the country.
Note 04
Squares south of the street
On the south side, just below Oxford Circus, Hanover Square was laid out in the years after George I came to the throne and named for the new royal house. It has a statue of William Pitt the Younger at its southern end, looking down St George Street, and one of the entrances to the Elizabeth line on its edge. Its garden is open to anyone, and it is one of the few places near the Circus where it is possible to sit down away from the crowds.
Further west, off Duke Street towards the Bond Street end, Brown Hart Gardens is one of the oddest green spaces in London: a raised, paved garden laid on the roof of an Edwardian electricity substation, with planters and benches a storey above the pavement. Beyond it lies Grosvenor Square, larger and grander, the garden at the heart of Mayfair.
Note 05
Soho Square, and fitting green into an evening
At the eastern end, a short way south of the street near Tottenham Court Road, Soho Square has a garden of lawns and plane trees around a half-timbered hut, built as a gardener's shed, and a weathered statue of Charles II. It is public by day and locks its gates at dusk, so it belongs to the early part of an evening, a place to sit before dinner in Soho.
Put together, the green around Oxford Street shapes an evening simply: a square in daylight or on a long summer evening, a walk in Hyde Park after dinner once the gated squares have shut, and the lights of the street in between. From the office's confirmation it is usually about an hour until she is with you, longer on a busy shopping evening, and the rates hold every length.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for Oxford Street
Asked most often
Oxford Street, asked and answered
Is there anywhere green close to the Oxford Circus end?
Are all the garden squares open to walk into?
Is Hyde Park open for a walk after dinner?
Which of the squares north of the street is the quietest?
Where is Speakers' Corner?
Is Regent's Park within reach?
One zone either way
Next along from Oxford Street
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.