Explore the real-world places that appear in The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Rye Lane Launderette Quarter (Gary's Peckham), Peckham Library, Peckham Rye Park, Brighton Railway Station, The Hotel Avocado (Brighton Seafront).
Rye Lane, Peckham — the neighbourhood of Gary's flat, Grace and Lassoo
Peckham is home to Gary Thorn, the mild-mannered solicitor torn between his safe life in London and a move to Brighton. Here he shares pies with his next-door neighbour Grace and her dog Lassoo, and here the sinister forces of the story gather in a cloud of launderette-scented vape smoke. The book's exact addresses are Mortimer's invention, so this pin marks the neighbourhood rather than a specific building.
Rye Lane grew as a Victorian shopping street after the railway arrived in Peckham in the 1860s. In the 20th century it became a hub for Caribbean, West African and other immigrant communities. It was long known as one of south London's busiest and most characterful high streets.
Rye Lane is a lively mix of markets, hair salons, African and Caribbean food shops, cafes and bars. Strolling the street gives a good feel for Gary's everyday world.
Visit: Rye Lane (landmark)
122 Peckham Hill Street — a landmark of Gary's Peckham
Peckham Library is the neighbourhood's best-known modern building and fits the world of Gary, a Peckham legal professional. It is placed here as a local landmark of his setting, not as a specific scene from the novel.
Designed by Alsop & Störmer, the library opened in 2000 and won the Stirling Prize in the same year. Its inverted-L shape, copper cladding and coloured glass made it an emblem of Peckham's regeneration.
It is still a working public library with study space, events and a cafe. The upper floor gives views across the south London skyline.
Visit: Peckham Library (library)
Strawberry Road, Peckham Rye — green space for walking Lassoo
Grace's dog Lassoo gives the story a reason for walks, and Peckham Rye Park is the natural green escape for Gary and his neighbour. It marks the gentle London life Gary risks leaving behind. This is an interpretive pin rather than a named scene.
Peckham Rye Park and the adjoining common were laid out as public parkland in the late 19th century. William Blake claimed to have seen a vision of angels in a tree on Peckham Rye.
The park has a Japanese garden, a lake, a cafe and wide lawns. It is a popular spot for dog walkers and families.
Visit: Peckham Rye Park (park)
Queen's Road — arrival on the south coast
Brighton is where Gary's girlfriend Emily is about to open The Hotel Avocado, and the station is the gateway for his shifting between worlds. It is a natural arrival point for the trip to the coast that tempts him away from Peckham. The pin is interpretive.
Brighton station opened in 1841 with the London to Brighton railway. Its curved Victorian train shed and clock tower are among the city's most elegant railway structures.
It is a busy mainline station with direct services to London, and the city centre lies a short downhill walk away.
Kings Road seafront — the imagined site of Emily's new hotel
Emily is about to open The Hotel Avocado in Brighton, and Gary must decide whether to join her or stay in London, knowing either choice will disappoint someone. The hotel is the book's title location and the focus of its romance and planning-application comedy. It is fictional, so this pin marks a plausible seafront location rather than a real hotel.
Brighton's seafront along Kings Road has been lined with grand Regency and Victorian hotels since the 19th century. The town grew into a fashionable seaside resort after the Prince Regent's patronage.
The stretch is filled with hotels, cafes, bars and the beach, and there is no real Hotel Avocado here.
More by Bob Mortimer: All Bob Mortimer books
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