Stop 5: Wright’s Dairy - Daydreaming on the King’s Road

High up on the corner of the building at 69 King’s Road is a cow’s head. Proudly protruding from the red brick wall, it was there to promote Wright's Dairy that used to occupy the property. Like much of London until the 19th century, King’s Road used to be countryside with many farms in the area, though only a few survived into the 20th century. Wright’s Dairy opened here in 1796, with a shop and a pasture behind their headquarters on nearby Old Church Street (where another cow’s head can be found). The cow’s head is both a memento of the 50 or so cows that used to graze here as well as the elaborate signage typical of the era. You can find another property marked by animals just down the road at the Pheasantry (152 King’s Road). Once occupied by the game dealer Samuel Baker who provided pheasants for the royal household, the Pheasantry’s elaborate archway and courtyard was created when it became home to interior designers Amédée Joubert & Son in the late 19th century. For a time, there was a ballet academy in the basement where Dame Margot Fonteyn trained, and flats above where the model and actress Eleanor Thornton lived. Later, it was home to Eric Clapton with a club below hosting acts like Hawkwind, Queen and Lou Reed. It's now a pizza and jazz restaurant.