What did Magic Circle blue plaque do at Morden & Lea?

The Story

# 17 Wardour Street, Soho Standing before Pinoli's Restaurant on this bustling Soho corner, you're witnessing the birthplace of one of Britain's most enduring institutions—the place where twenty-three magicians gathered on a sweltering July evening in 1905 and decided to formalize their craft into a proper society. This wasn't just another dinner at a fashionable establishment; it was the moment when conjurers, tired of amateur tricksters and charlatans cheapening their art, resolved to create a brotherhood with standards, secrets, and mutual respect. The gas-lit dining room that once hosted this founding meeting would become legendary in magical circles, the spot where an informal network of performers transformed into The Magic Circle—an organization that would guard the integrity of stage magic and train generations of illusionists who would dazzle audiences worldwide. For any magician walking past this address today, the blue plaque marks not just history, but a pilgrimage site: the moment when magic stopped being mere entertainment and became a regulated art form worthy of preservation.