My post focuses on London Road, which was mentioned in The Man with the Twisted Lip. London Road was south of the River Thames, and is really only distinguished on a map for being close to the Norbury Hill Park. Although London Road does not show up on the Charles Booth Online Archive, the area that was close to it was a middle class area, with some pink, indicating that some families were comfortable.

Majority of the crimes, according to the Old Bailey, were thefts, including violent thefts. There were a small amount of murders; the Old Bailey had 29 records of Killings. I felt that this indicated a sense of relative peace in the area. Although there were thefts, people obviously did not really have to worry about their lives being put in immediate danger.

London Road was not a little avenue, and stretched for quite a bit. Therefore it can be said that London Road served as a major transportation road. It’s only mentioned once in The Man With the Twisted Lip. “We both sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as some city in a dream”. As seen by the above map, London Road was actually far from the heart of London. With the quote, London Road seems to be a clash of city and country, with produce being brought into the city, and invoking the feel of the city. The country carts keep the country feel alive, and the silence create the perfect balance. This goes back to the theme of duality in The Man With the Twisted Lip. Neville had his dual identity, and so does London Road.

Cannon Street Station is a real landmark in London and it is near the river Thames and sits quietly near the middle of the area. The people that live in this vicinity are poor as reflected within the light blue symbols that are coordinated on the map. There are various reports within the Old Bailey  of petty, simple, or grand larcenies, along with robberies, reports on murder, and various acts of deception, such as forgery. The railroad track connects to many different roads and streets in the precinct smack in the middle of the neighborhood. Surrounding St. Michaels, St. Mary’s, and St. Magnus, Cannon station street stands as the epicenter for all of the local churches. Seeing as it stands within an impoverish center, it was a high area of violence, robbery, and oppression as it was an area that was dominated by the poor and within that led to an opium den that happened to be located a few blocks over in upper swan dam lane, so the area was also consumed with people funding over control of opium. Although since upper Swandam lane is located near a pier it is relatively blocked off from the richer parts of London.

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “Man with the Twisted Lip” it takes place in these areas and references the drug cartel and the huge situational obsession with opium and how it changed the lives of the rich Englishmen that are absorbed within its clutches. Although Cannon Street Station is mentioned only once as a place in which Neville is said to get home via that location, it is referenced as a port that connects the other impoverished parts of the city together and it serves as a beacon that transports people from the rest of London, i.e.., the richer parts or middle class, and connects them to the poor district in which the opium and poorer acts are constantly seen. This is reflected as Neville has a nice family and is relatively well off, so as he goes to the poor section of London to intake in opium in the poorer districts, he hides his richer ego aside as he goes into the den to blend in with the poor.

I researched Charing Cross in the Sherlock Stories. In “The Man with a Twisted Lip” Charing Cross is only mentioned when Sherlock says “I think, Watson,  that you are now standing in the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve to be kicked from here to Charing Cross” (Doyle). This is when Holmes has figured out that Neville is Hugh Boone and the mention of Charing Cross is rather brief and insignificant. In “A Scandal in Bohemia” Charing Cross plays a bigger role. The woman at Irene Adler’s house explains that Irene “left this morning with her husband, by the 5:15 train from Charing Cross, for the continent” (Doyle). According to The Historical Eye, at Charing Cross there are “two railway stations within a stone’s throw of each other. One of these is the west end terminus of the South Eastern Railway, and the other is a station on the Metropolitan District Railway” (Historical Eye). Using Victorian Google Maps I could only find Charing Cross Station. However, the tracks appear to lead in the direction of the mainland, so it is likely that this is where Irene and her husband fled to in search of a train. The station isn’t technically on the road labeled Charing Cross. It is on West Strand which connects nearby. The map also shows that several different hotels surround the station, indicating that the immediate area was often full of tourists and travelers.

Since the station played a larger role than road itself I looked more into it. According to the Charles Booth Online Archive, the area around the station was mostly well-to-do middle class or fairly comfortable people. This makes sense considering the amount of hotels (and likely other businesses). Having plenty of people coming and going would be good for business. When looking for information about the station on British History Online, I found a section that explained the havoc that had developed due to the creation of railways. The author quoted a writer of an illustrated newspaper who describes the building of railways rather negatively: “the task of destroying houses, or of snapping off odd bits of streets, and leaving maimed and melancholy fragments—unsightly, untenantable, forlorn débris; then the shapeless scraps of land, unneeded by the railway, and unavailable for other purposes” (BHO). This writer has nothing good to say about the railway and continues his rant by explaining “the abominable bridges that cross the roads at ugly angles; of the viaducts that provide dry arches for the congregation and accommodation of street Arabs and gutter children; of the cucumber frames that supply light and air to the underground traffic; of the colossal sheds of stations, notably those that mar the river’s banks” (BHO). It’s interesting that there was such a negative view on the railways while railways remained so important and relied on. This description of the railways shows that the railways had a double edge; they were useful for people to get around but also made a mess of the city. Unfortunately, these background details about Charing Cross don’t seem to reveal anything deeper about the stories. It’s a rather straight forward situation: Irene is fleeing to mainland Europe on a train which is presumably leaving Charing Cross Station. It could be important that there was actually a train station at Charing Cross. If Doyle had made a place up, or chosen a place where she could not have truly caught a train, it would have diminished the authenticity of Irene Adler, the woman who escaped Sherlock Holmes.

221B Baker Street, the infamous apartment of Sherlock Holmes, is a location many are aware of. The location features prominently in the story A Scandal in Bohemia. The street is nestled in the west end of London in a place called Marylebone. Marylebone is located in the borough of Westminster, the location of Parliament and Big Ben. This area was home to a large population of the middle, and upper middle classes, therefore it was considered a nice place to live. The Baker Street location is situated near two parks: Regents Park, and Hyde Park. These parks are yet another way to distinguish the appeal of this neighborhood. The University of Westminster is also a short distance from Baker Street. The labs of this particular Establishment could have been used, by Holmes, to pursue experiments, and use the equipment on the premises.

One might ask, how does this location add depth to the story A Scandal in Bohemia?  The location of Sherlock’s apartment would have been a reflection of his status in life, and based on the description of Irene Adler’s apartment they seem to be in the same class. That being stated, the fact that the two of them are equals not only intellectually, but also in the social structure would say a lot. Women, at this time, were seen as inferior to their male counterparts, but not Irene Adler. Not only does she outwit Mr. Holmes, but she also seems to have a better apartment, and a better geographic location of said apartment. While Holmes lives in between two parks, Adler seems to live right across the street from a park. It is also suggested the two of them live very close to one another. She follows him to Baker Street, alluding that it wouldn’t pose a problem for her to follow him.

The location of the infamous Baker Street shows how important Class was to the Victorian Era society.