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The Flight From Bootle

THE FLIGHT FROM BOOTLE

Lonely in the Regent Palace,
Sipping her 'Banana Blush',
Lilian lost sight of Alice
In the honey-coloured rush.

Settled down at last from Bootle,
Alice whispered, "Just a min,
While I pop upstairs and rootle
For another safety pin."

Dreamy from the band pavilion
Drops of the 'Immortal Hour'
Fell around the lonely Lilian
Like an ineffectual shower.

Half an hour she sat and waited
In the honey-coloured lounge
Till she with herself debated,
"Time for me to go and scrounge!"

Time enough! or not enough time!
Lilian, you wait in vain;
Alice will not have a rough time,
Nor be quite the same again.

John Betjeman

Regent Palace Poem by Ken Drive

REGENT PALACE

by kendrive ^Pro @ 2007-09-07 – 07:08:29

I don't know how many of you Londoners know the Regent Palace Hotel, just off Piccadilly Circus and on the edge of Soho.

It was built for J Lyons and Co Ltd and opened on May 16, 1915. At that time, it was the largest hotel in Europe with 1028 bedrooms.

Over the years the hotel became rundown and shabby and suffered from the fact that very few of the rooms had ensuite bathroom facilities. A trek down the long corridor was required.

It also had a reputation for being used by 'ladies of the street'.

In recent years it was rated with only 2 stars and accommodation was available from £25 per night.

The Regent Palace closed on the 31st of December 2006, as it had become increasingly uneconomic to operate to the standards required by a 21st century clientele.

At the moment the building is boarded up and bears notices stating that it is permanently closd. It is obviously a valuable redevelopment site.

However, in Betjeman's day the hotel was very busy and popular with tourists who were looking for a cheap stay in the capital.

Such a person was Lilian, who has come down from Bootle in Lancashire (now Merseyside), with her friend Alice, for a little excitement!

Regent Palace History-Demolition

Regent Palace History-Demolition

First Concrete Poured for New Regent St Building

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Contractors have begun pouring concrete to form the new structure that will replace Regent Street's 94-year-old Regent Palace Hotel.

The hotel is currently being demolished to accommodate the new building, which will feature seven floors of offices, a ground floor of shops and nine residential units. 

The new structure will include 35,000 tonnes of concrete and 5000 tonnes of steel. 

As the demolition and concrete pouring continue above ground, temporary works are also underway at basement level to ensure the building is stabilised as its remaining floors are levelled.

Historic facades and art deco features are being retained as part of the redevelopment.

Stanhope project director Paul Hargreaves said:  "The works are progressing well on site.  The temporary works should be finished in four to six weeks and demolition is scheduled for completion in mid-Summer."

Stanhope is overseeing the redevelopment on behalf of the Crown Estate.

Complex Tunnel Excavation Complete

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Excavation for a tunnel linking two Regent Street sites formerly occupied by the Regent Palace Hotel and the Café Royal is complete.

The tunnel being built beneath Glasshouse Street will allow goods and materials to be ferried from a new 12,000 sq ft service area being created on the Regent Palace Hotel site to the new luxury hotel replacing the Café Royal.  The creation of this single service yard will free up space for the public realm improvements that are a vital part of the Crown Estate's plans to open up this end of Regent Street.

Now the excavation to 7.5m below road level is complete, work will begin building the tunnel and reinstating a Victorian sewer that had to be demolished as part of the excavation.  Sewage running along the Glasshouse Street sewer was diverted along Air Street during this time.

The excavation has been complicated by unforeseen challenges, primarily the discovery of a large number of unrecorded services below the road.  These included extensive fibre optic cabling, a cast iron pipe from circa 1830 that is likely to have been part of a hydraulic power system used to run lifts, as well as what may have been two old gas mains feeding gas-powered lights in the early 1900s.  The discovery of the extra services forced a redesign of the temporary works needed for the excavation.

Stanhope project director Paul Hargreaves said:  "The services ended up covering 75 percent of the width of the tunnel, posing the design team a considerable challenge in finding a way to install the temporary works without disturbing any of the cables or pipes.  That they were able to come up with a workable solution is a testament to their hard work and resourcefulness."

The reformation of the road above the tunnel is due to be completed by the end of the year (2009).

Stanhope is overseeing the development on behalf of the Crown Estate, while Sir Robert McAlpine is the construction manager.