View of 434-437 Strand, City of Westminster (north side). A major thoroughfare, the Strand runs east to west from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar. Named from the Old English 'strond', meaning the edge of a river, as before modern embankments and land reclamation it ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. A three-storey terrace with shops on the ground floor, part of a triangular island block of shops and offices between the Strand, Adelaide Street and William IV Street (formerly King William Street). Built in 1830-32 as part of the West Strand Improvements, planned by architect John Nash and executed by William Herbert. At number 434, a K Shoe Shop, founded in Kendal, Cumbria in the mid-nineteenth century until 2003. Number 435, with a cast-iron balcony on the first floor, has a sign for 'Camping Centre. Badges and Equipment, London's Largest Variety of Government Surplus'. Number 436 is 'The Oval Platter' cafe. A side door bears a sign for 'Stella Fisher Employment Bureau' with similar signs on the windows of the upper floors, and signs for 'Duplicating and Typewriting' on the dormer windows in the attic. Number 427 is 'The Strand Contact Lens Centre'. The block is Grade II* listed, number 1237040.