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THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW

The girl in the white nightdress who looks down from the upper storey of the Newman Arms.

COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME

By Richard Jones

The Newman Arms, on Rathbone Street, is one of those London pubs that battles to keep the 21st century well and truly on the outside.

It is a pub that exists purely for the simple pleasures of drinking and conversation - oh and for enjoying some of the best pies in London.

A CURIOUS GLIMPSE UP AT THE PUB'S PAST

One of the curiosities of this Fitzrovia drinking den is easy to miss on account of the fact that it is located high up on an outside wall so that only those who take the time to stand across the road and crane their necks in an upward and awkward motion stand any chance of seeing it.

But, if you perform the aforementioned neckrobatic, you will be rewarded with a tantalising glimpse of a nightdress clad girl who wears a mob cap atop the flaming tresses. of her flowing red hair.

One hand is tucked neatly behind her head, the other rests decadently on the frame of the open window.

She leans slightly forward, gazing down on passersby, apparently urging them to "come up and see me sometime."

But who was she and why is she here?

A RICH AND VARIED HISTORY

Well, tradition maintains that the building which now houses the Newman Arms - which was built in the 1730's - enjoyed several incarnations before morphing into the cosy hostelry that greets thirsty, footsore travellers today.

A tallow chandler, or candle maker, was the first to do business from the premises. He was followed by a relatively mundane succession of everyday jobbing tradesmen, the sort you'd find on many London streets throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

But then, immediately prior to opening its doors as a drinking establishment, the building was home to a brothel, and the girl who leans suggestively and seductively from the painted dummy, upper window is intended to present passersby with a depiction of one of the long ago residents who once plied her trade - perhaps in similar fashion from this very window - on the premises.

So, the next time you happen to take a stroll along Newman Street, be sure to look up and wave to the girl at the window or, if you're feeling particularly amorous, blow here a kiss and let her know how much you appreciate her efforts at ensuring that a little slice of bygone London is not forgotten!