wandering women of soho
Reema Assaf + Shereen Saif
From discovery to belonging.
Wandering Women of Soho is a site-responsive project rooted in the history-laden streets of Soho. Through an audio walk series and writings, it traces the stories of women who have shaped the neighbourhood. The project also reflects our own journey of finding a sense of belonging to Soho through the simple act of spending time and wandering its streets.
A Diary of Moments and Musings
wandering women of soho
by Reema Assaf + Shereen Saif
From discovery to belonging.
Wandering Women of Soho is a site-responsive project rooted in the history-laden streets of Soho. Through an audio walk series and writings, it traces the stories of women who have shaped the neighbourhood. The project also reflects our own journey of finding a sense of belonging to Soho through the simple act of spending time and wandering its streets.
A Diary of Moments and Musings
In Feminist City, urban geographer and writer Leslie Kern admits something many of us quietly know but rarely say aloud: we live in a city built by men for men. The streets we walk, the public spaces we move through – they were never really designed with women’s bodies or daily realities in mind. And so, there is that familiar female fear, lingering at the edge of our everyday decisions, shaping the quiet calculations we make: which street to take, whether to walk home alone, how late to stay out.
Soho, one of London’s most vibrant square miles, is no exception. For us – two women of colour new to the city – it carries both the thrill of discovery and a quiet undercurrent of uncertainty. How does one begin to dispel that anxiety? Perhaps by searching for the stories of women who walked these streets before us.
Many of those women are long gone now, their stories barely held in memory. Yet once we began to listen and look closely, ghostly traces slowly came into view.
Soho, it turned out, has long been shaped by women who made their mark on its narrow streets: Muriel Belcher, the formidable impresario of the Colony Room; the voices of the Swinging Sixties and Seventies – Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon and Joan Armatrading; and even the novelist Frances Burney, aka Madame d’Arblay, who never lived in Soho yet, perhaps as a token nod to inclusion, has a street named after her – the only street in the area named for a woman.
Their presence lingers in anecdotes and fading photographs, their voices echoing through bingo halls and nightclubs, in recording studios, and along the very streets they once walked.
Searching for these quieter histories, we step into the role of two flâneuses – wandering women of the city – moving through Soho with curiosity and care. From this wandering emerged four audio walks that blend fact and fiction. Each begins in Soho Square and follows the story of a different woman.
Every journey eventually leads to the same destination: Violet’s on Berwick Street, a restaurant frequented by the colourful local character Violet Trayte. Known affectionately as the Queen of Soho, she was a bingo caller, connector and neighbourhood fixer who seemed to know everyone and everything. In her own way, she unwittingly created a semblance of a feminist city – a place where people gathered, talked and felt, however briefly, that they belonged.
In Feminist City, urban geographer and writer Leslie Kern admits something many of us quietly know but rarely say aloud: we live in a city built by men for men. The streets we walk, the public spaces we move through – they were never really designed with women’s bodies or daily realities in mind. And so, there is that familiar female fear, lingering at the edge of our everyday decisions, shaping the quiet calculations we make: which street to take, whether to walk home alone, how late to stay out.
Soho, one of London’s most vibrant square miles, is no exception. For us – two women of colour new to the city – it carries both the thrill of discovery and a quiet undercurrent of uncertainty. How does one begin to dispel that anxiety? Perhaps by searching for the stories of women who walked these streets before us.
Many of those women are long gone now, their stories barely held in memory. Yet once we began to listen and look closely, ghostly traces slowly came into view.
Soho, it turned out, has long been shaped by women who made their mark on its narrow streets: Muriel Belcher, the formidable impresario of the Colony Room; the voices of the Swinging Sixties and Seventies – Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon and Joan Armatrading; and even the
novelist Frances Burney, aka Madame d’Arblay, who never lived in Soho yet, perhaps as a token nod to inclusion, has a street named after her – the only street in the area named for a woman.
Their presence lingers in anecdotes and fading photographs, their voices echoing through bingo halls and nightclubs, in recording studios, and along the very streets they once walked.
Searching for these quieter histories, we step into the role of two flâneuses – wandering women of the city – moving through Soho with curiosity and care. From this wandering emerged four audio walks that blend fact and fiction. Each begins in Soho Square and follows the story of a different woman.
Every journey eventually leads to the same destination: Violet’s on Berwick Street, a restaurant frequented by the colourful local character Violet Trayte. Known affectionately as the Queen of Soho, she was a bingo caller, connector and
neighbourhood fixer who seemed to know everyone and everything. In her own way, she unwittingly created a semblance of a feminist city – a place where people
gathered, talked and felt, however briefly, that they belonged.
come wander with us
Discover Soho through fresh ears with these audio walks.
Route 1. Evelina
5 minutes, 48 seconds
Starts at Soho Square and ends at Violet’s on Berwick Street, via D’Arblay Street.
“Unused to the situations in which I find myself… I seldom discover, till too late, how I ought to act.”
– Evelina by Frances Burney
This saunter through Soho follows Evelina, a young Arab woman trying to make London her home. Inspired by the heroine of Burney’s 1778 novel, who shares her name, she moves through the streets reflecting on awkward encounters, social expectations and the subtle unease of feeling like an outsider.
Along the way, she finds small rituals of reassurance: in the sculpture of Selene, in the hum of Berwick Street Market, and in the sound advice of women like Violet, who help her feel less like an imposter.
.
Route 1. Evelina
Route 2. Petula
5 minutes, 20 seconds
Starts at Soho Square and ends at Violet’s on Berwick Street, via St. Anne’s Court
“I thought I was ‘Super Woman,’ and for a while I guess I was… It’s not easy but that’s what I was doing.”
– Petula Clark
This walk drifts back to the sounds of Soho’s Swinging 60s and 70s, when the neighbourhood pulsed with new music and restless energy. Passing through St. Anne’s Court, we pause at Trident Studios. A blue plaque marks that David Bowie recorded here but says nothing of the many female artists who also walked through these doors.
This snappy, podcast-style audio walk celebrates singers who held their own – Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon, and Joan Armatrading, voices that helped shape the soundtrack of an era.
Route 2. Petula
Route 2. petula
5 minutes, 20 seconds
Starts at Soho Square and ends at Violet’s on Berwick Street, via St. Anne’s Court
“I thought I was ‘Super Woman,’ and for a while I guess I was… It’s not easy but that’s what I was doing.”
– Petula Clark
This walk drifts back to the sounds of Soho’s Swinging 60s and 70s, when the neighbourhood pulsed with new music and restless energy. Passing through St. Anne’s Court, we pause at Trident Studios. A blue plaque marks that David Bowie recorded here but says nothing of the many female artists who also walked through these doors.
This snappy, podcast-style audio walk celebrates singers who held their own – Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon, and Joan Armatrading, voices that helped shape the soundtrack of an era.
Route 2. Petula
Route 3 – part 1. violet
6 minutes, 24 seconds
Starts at Soho Square and ends at Dean Street.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
– William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
This gentle amble begins with a search for tenacious little violets, small but determined signs of spring in the city. We pause in Soho Square to look for them before drifting towards Dean Street, noticing the other wild plants that push up through cracks in the pavement, quietly sharing the streets with its people. And then, just as the wandering settles in… an interruption.
.
Route 3 - Part 1. Violet
Route 4 – part 2. violet
3 minutes, 04 seconds
Starts at Dean Street and ends at Violet’s on Berwick Street, via Old Compton Street
“Violet doesn’t pay.”
– Violet Trayte.
A walk that recalls the formidable woman they called the Queen of Soho. With her well-groomed silver hair and red nails, Violet was a striking and familiar presence on Berwick Street. A no-nonsense character, she was known for walking into any bar and never being charged. Sharp-tongued and unapologetic, she might greet you with a line like: “’Ere! You’ve put on some weight—you need to take the stairs!”
Beginning on Dean Street, the walk winds its way to Violet’s on Berwick Street – Ali Aksu’s café, named in honour of his dear friend and one of Soho’s most unforgettable characters.
.
Route 4 - Part 2. Violet
Route 4 – part 2. violet
3 minutes, 04 seconds
Starts at Dean Street and ends at Violet’s on Berwick Street, via Old Compton Street
“Violet doesn’t pay.”
– Violet Trayte.
A walk that recalls the formidable woman they called the Queen of Soho. With her well-groomed silver hair and red nails, Violet was a striking and familiar presence on Berwick Street. A no-nonsense character, she was known for walking into any bar and never being charged. Sharp-tongued and unapologetic, she might greet you with a line like: “’Ere! You’ve put on some weight—you need to take the stairs!”
Beginning on Dean Street, the walk winds its way to Violet’s on Berwick Street – Ali Aksu’s café, named in honour of his dear friend and one of Soho’s most unforgettable characters.
.
Route 4 - Part 2. Violet
site map
Three routes. One destination: Violet’s.
Choose your path and listen.
