Leather Lane is west of Hatton Garden and runs from Holborn to Clerkwell Road in London, EC1. It has a weekday market selling food from around the world, flowers, fruit and vegetables, clothing and homeware.
In Troubled Blood
In the early 1970s, it was home to the Bayliss family, Wilma Bayliss being the cleaner at the St John’s Practice. After they have walked through the route Margot would have taken to the Three Kings the night she disappeared, Strike shows Robin a newspaper clipping dated 6th November 1972 which reads:
‘Rapist Jailed Jules Bayliss, 36, of Leather Lane, Clerkenwell was today sentenced at the Inner London Crown Court to 5 years’ jail for 2 counts of rape. Bayliss, who previously served two years in Brixton for aggravated assault, pleaded Not Guilty.’ (Troubled Blood, Chapter 14)
At the same time, Mucky Ricci, gangster and pornographer, also lived on Leather Lane ‘a short walk from the St John’s practice’ (Troubled Blood, Chapter 29).
In The Hallmarked Man
Robin is reminded of Mucky Ricci when Strike mentions on the phone to her that he is approaching Leather Lane. ‘‘Mucky Ricci’s old place,’ said Robin, referring to an old gangster who’d been a suspect in a previous case’ (The Hallmarked Man, Chapter 28).
Strike is on his way to meet Jim Todd, the cleaner for Ramsay Silver, at the Craft Beer Co on Leather Lane.
‘Strike proceeded down the narrow street lined with shops, fast food restaurants and market stalls…’ (Chapter 28).
Jim Todd tells Strike he lives above a Lebanese restaurant a short walk down the road.
Find Leather Lane on the map below.