* The London locations -“Then & Now” – Re: the closing credits the “Minder” TV Series

This is probably up there with being one of ‘Shoes more quirkier blogs.

It’s a very simple topic – but it had Shoes having to do a bit of exploring and pound a few pavements throughout the ‘smoke’, in order to track down the various locations required.

Throughout the 70’s & 80’s, I used to really enjoy tv progs like ‘Minder’ & ‘The Sweeney’ – because theses series were based in and around London and so the backdrops and locations were familiar to me – more so than if they had been filmed in another city.

These types of tv programs are still popular today, and I often find myself watching re-runs of programs such as ‘Minder’ – and they are still enjoyable.

One of the things that interest the geek in me is trying to guess where certain scenes etc were filmed. Quite often there will be a road name sign or a building name that will come into shot – and I find myself doing stuff like searching Google Maps to find out if the street or building is still there…..bonkers, I know, but that’s the way I’m wired.

Anyway – I was watching an episode of ‘Minder’ the other day, where the opening credits to the prog show Arthur Daly (played by the late George Cole) meeting Terry McCann (played by the recently departed Dennis Waterman) outside Wormwood Scrubs, on the day of his release from ‘chokey’ (eg slang for prison) – and then the credits move on the Arthur & Terry in the courtyard of Arthur’s car lot.

But it has always been the ‘closing credits’ to Minder that have intrigued me – where they show Arthur & Terry leaving what looks like a Club of some sort – then it shows them trying to straighten up a wonky lamppost – then the credits finish with them both having a beer on a balcony of a pub, overlooking the Thames at Hammersmith.

The ‘Minder’ series on Thames Television, ran from 1979 to 1994 and as I say, I’ve always been intrigued as to where exactly these closing credits were filmed, and whether the locations are still around today.

So – my quest for this blog was to do a bit of research, and then track down these locations – and then obviously do a bit of ‘then & now’ comparisons.

First off is the closing credit photo of the sort of Club, that Arthur & Terry are seen walking out of.

This was an actual club that was called the ‘New Rockingham Club’ in the late 1970’s.

It is located in the deepest and seediest part of Soho in London’s west-end, in a small little alley/passage called ‘Tisbury Court’ – just off of Wardour Street, where I coincidently, worked between the years 1974 to 1978. (not the Club you understand….I worked in a bank)

At the time of the ‘Minder’ series, the New Rockingham Club was a popular drinking den for London’s gay community – which had no relevance to the Minder storylines.

The old New Rockingham Club venue is still there today, as is the entrance that Arthur & Terry are seen coming out of – however – the venue is now called the ‘White Lily Spar-Massage Parlour’ – still in a very seedy part of Soho.

Amusingly – having located the site, and whilst taking photo close-up – the doorman obviously thought that I was a potential punter looking to gain entry and kept asking me what it was that I ‘wanted’ and ‘how much’ was I willing to pay !!!

So – that was the first Minder site sorted. The second location was half way up Tottenham Court Road, and again in a tucked away alley.

My quest was to find the spot where, in the closing credits, Arthur & Terry are seen trying to prop up a wonky lamppost.

In the late 70’s when Minder was filmed, the bent lamppost was located in ‘Newman Passage’  – a narrow alley that runs down the side of the ‘Newman Arms’ pub, and leads into a slightly larger backstreet area type alley.

Newman Passage dates back to 1764, when it appears on local street maps. Its claim to fame is back in the 19^th century when it housed a kitchen for communist refugees.

Today – the bent lamppost in the Minder closing credits, which became a tourist attraction – no longer exists – it was removed in the late 1980’s – there’s a normal lamppost in its place.

However – the buildings that surrounded the bent lampost, are still there, albeit changed in décor from the time of the Minder photos.

One very nice little touch about Newman Passage, that I felt quite emosh about – is that along the wall of the alley, there is displayed a promo photo of Dennis Waterman, as Terry McCann – from the original Minder credits, when the prog used to go to the adverts – and on that promo photo, someone has written ‘Rest in Peace Dennis’ – what a lovely kind respectful thing to have done.

So – having taken a few photos, my next port of call was to leg it down to Hammersmith and in particular, Hammersmith Bridge, which features at the end of the closing credits to each episode of Minder.

Hammersmith Bridge happens to be one of my favourite London bridges – even though it is now falling to bits and closed to the public.

It was designed by Joseph Bazalgette, the man who designed and built London’s sewage system in the late 1800’s – the same system London uses today. Hammersmith Bridge had (had) real class in my opinion – and I can’t understand why our current London Mayor– Mr. Khan, hasn’t bunged money at it so that all the necessary repairs can be done and the bridge reopened – enabling folk to cross over at that point of the Thames!!!

Anyway – just a few yards down the riverbank from Hammersmith Bridge, sits the ‘Blue Anchor’ pub – and it is on the balcony of this pub, overlooking the Thames – that there is the famous closing credit shot of Arthur & Terry having a beer together. 

The Blue Anchor is steeped in history and could be a blog topic in its own right. This magnificent Georgian building was first licensed as a pub, way back in 1722 – and it is still going strong some 300yrs later.

Its famous ‘River Room’ upstairs is where the balcony is situated – but the staff there, on the day of my visit – would not allow me to go upstairs and venture out onto the balcony…shame, as I could have replicated the ‘then & now’ photo.

Never mind – because while I was there I took the opportunity to have a ‘cheeky’ beer outside the pub, overlooking the Thames – where the closing credit shot would have been done if Arthur & Terry had been refused access.

So – that’s the closing credits of Minder for you….from a ‘then & now’ perspective. A bit geeky I know, but very enjoyable from a Shoes perspective – and I hope you enjoyed this little unusual escapade.

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See below the full gallery of photos taken to accompany this blog