We know there’s a lot of love out there for Janus! Many of the popular online spanking forums feature posts from those who have shared their own memories of the shop and the magazine over the years- we hope the original posters will approve of us preserving their stories on the Janus site. Some of you have also sent us your personal recollections and we’ve included them all below:

“Back in about 86 I had discovered that my uni friend Beverly was somewhat desperate to experience a school caning. So it didn’t take any more encouragement other than telling her where in London she could go and purchase a school cane from. A week later we met at her flat and there and behold she had bought a crook handled cane. I asked her how she got it. She told me the story of her going in disguise, blonde wig, thick make up and choosing the cane. She still remembers it to this day and better still the fact that when she walked behind the black doors she was astounded to discover there were more women in the shop than there were men ! Some 25 years later we had a party in London with some current well known spanking models and I introduced Beverly to them as the girl who, together with Janus, had brought us all together.”

“Years ago while based in East Asia I was sent to work in Sydney for a month, and came across Janus issue 132 in a used bookstore. I enjoyed the story of the village disciplinarian and was captivated by the models, Natalie and Tara, both so utterly adorable. While in Sydney I befriended a pretty young woman and she agreed to a fantasy spanking, her first ever, and was curious about it, plying me with questions. What better way to explain than to show her this story in Janus. At my request she read it aloud, with occasional gasps of amazement and delighted giggles. A happy memory indeed. Thanks so much for that photo story, and for the wonderful additional pictures. Sorry to read that Hilary has passed away. If you are still in touch with Tara and Natalie please pass on my thanks for the sprinkle of magic they gave that fantasy and others they appeared in. Would they be willing to be interviewed, I wonder?”

“My first memory of the Janus Shop is while staying with my aunt who lived in London. I was 17, had just left school and was waiting on my results to see if I could make College. One day while just sight seeing I came across the Janus Shop – as a Dubliner these sort of shops were banned. So I entered to see just what I was missing, within seconds I was drawn by the sight of a magazine picture showing a girl getting spanked by a lady. Something clicked in me and my penis grew almost immediately. It was years since I last found myself being spanked but I bought the magazine went back to my Aunts and quickly started taking pleasure in the pictures. I was in such a trance that I never heard her come home and there I was masturbating over a spanking picture while smacking my bottom. She took over saying if I wanted it that much I might as well have the real thing. That was the first of many spankings she was to give over the next 10 years usually after a trip to the Janus shop. She was to emigrate to Australia in the early 80s and die in the late 90s. Oh memories of Janus and Auntie Eileen.”

“So sorry to see the closure of the Janus shop but delighted to see the brand kept alive on this site. In the late 70’s and early 80’s I was a frequent visitor to London and my visits to Old Compton Street were always the highlight. In those pre-internet days visiting the shop and stocking up on those wonderful magazines was the only way for someone like me to indulge in my fantasies of schoolgirl spankings and the wonderful pictures of those beautiful girls whether in their schoolgirl uniforms, knickers on display or in pyjamas or even nude gave me so many hours of pleasure. As for the booths with those early films what memories. Looking at the magazine covers on your site brings back those times as I recognise so many of them. If only I had been able to hold on to them. Finding out I was not alone in my love of spanking meant so much to me back then. Thanks for that and keep up the great work on the site.”

“Back in the early 1980’s the Janus shop really helped me. I was a twenty something lad with what I thought at the time was a dark secret; I fantasised about caning female bottoms. I had been sexually active for a number of years and even lived with a partner during that time, but I was convinced that my obsession with the cane meant that I was weird, perverted or something, and it really had an effect on my life and relationships. I lived in East London and although I frequently visited the centre of the city I was unaware of the Janus shop and what it sold. One day though I walked down Old Compton Street and by chance discovered number 40, it was to change my life forever. The shelves were adorned with countless magazines containing pictures and stories of girls getting caned. Videos of canings were for sale and at the back of the shop were private booths that for 50p showed you film clips of spankings and canings. Crook handled canes hung from the ceiling of the shop and as with all goods sold could be discreetly wrapped if you chose to purchase one. The shop had a steady flow of customers in all age groups, not all male either and for me it was the place where I realized that I wasn’t the only person in the world who found the cane arousing. I soon became a regular subscriber to the Janus magazine; I also purchased a cane from the shop and a video called The Disciplinarian starring the lovely Antonia du Bois.”

“Back in the pre-internet era, the Janus shop in Old Compton Street was perhaps the first (and often only) place that those of us into spanking visited to buy magazines, books and videos. Certainly for me, finding an establishment that specialised in exactly the stuff that fascinated me was a godsend – one of the earliest things that made me realise that I wasn’t alone in my interests. For a long time in the 90s, it was something of a habit for me to drop into it for a browse whenever I was in London. I have fond memories, too, of visiting the shop more recently with kinky female friends and watching the confused, nay even panicked, looks on some of the customers’ faces (“There’s a woman in here! She’s young! And attractive!” … and, in some cases… “And she’s on the cover of that magazine I was just looking at!”). And then there was the American friend – a student, staying with us – who asked a chap behind the counter, “What does a girl need to do to get spanked round here?” and was told, “Come back at 6pm and come into the back room with me.” A caning duly ensued! The shop’s closure marks something of the end of an era – I do feel rather sad to see it go.”

“I first came across Janus on a newspaper stand at the bottom of Regent Street back in 1979 when I was in London for the first time. I spent what to me was a fortune buying all 6 titles he had on the stand and then read them all back to back, in the back seat on the coach up to Glasgow! It was the first time I’d ever come across any spanking porn rather than just the occasional spanking reference in vanilla publications! Then when I was back in London – oh the agony of deciding whether to venture into Soho at all – let alone into the Janus shop! One guy in the shop tried to speak to me, to ask me if I was interested, and I ran away!”

“Oh I am sad to read the Janus shop is gone. It played a formative role in my first steps from guilty secret fantasising to embracing the scene as part of my life, with all the fulfilment, friends and fellow kinksters that has brought. A copy of one of their Privilege Club spanking mags purchased on that first visit set me on the (albeit frustratingly long!) road to my first actual spanking. At that time it felt amazing to me that there was a real shop that catered for these interests, which until shortly before I had always believed were a unique and unfortunate aberration of mine, and mine alone! I know that my current partner also found it a key to his kinky journey (tales of bunking off A level classes to make furtive trips into London to visit Janus being amongst our shared anecdotes of how we got to where we are now!). How sad that others treading this path will no longer be able to do the same.”

“I have amazing memories of Janus. I used to wander down the street during my lunch hour desperately wanting to step inside but was far too inhibited. However 35 years later I had the experience! All due to ‘coming out’ and finding the most wonderful man to accompany me on the journey of a lifetime. To be inside that haven and wonder about the other people flicking through the magazines was utter bliss. Then a coffee éclair in Patisserie Valerie before home for a sound spanking …”

“I still remember seeing Janus 16 (The Bride issue) when I was 16! I had it on order at the newsagants after that, no idea what the woman behind the counter thought. Lot of water under the bridge since then – I’m grateful to Janus for confirming that I wasn’t alone!”

“I remember the joy of discovering Janus, which specialised in our little quirk. No more having to be satisfied with reading the occasional letter in Penthouse, or the occasional mention in a novel, eg Auberon Waugh -“A spy in the family.” But a whole mag solely devoted to CP and spanking. The best girls were so beautiful, softer and curvier than today, some photoshoots were absolute classics -The Chair for example. It is my great regret that I have lost my very early editions over the years. Also £1 in the early seventies was equivalent in earning power to about 30 today, and they were an infrequent treat to a young man buying his first home.”

“I discovered Janus when I was 17 year old, I drove into Soho for the first time and found the Janus shop (Old Compton St) I subscribed for years and joined the Privillege Club, made my first spanking contact through that! Sadly off loaded the lot when first married, bad mistake, should have off loaded the missus and kept the mags!!!”

“I had my first ever spanking in the Janus shop. I had been married for ten years, was about 30 and desperate to experience being spanked. My then husband was not at all into it, and of course I kept it internalised for years. I wasn’t really prepared to be unfaithful but after a huge glass of wine on a shopping trip to London I went into the shop, cracked a paddle down on the counter and asked Mick, who worked there VERY politely if he would mind test driving it for me. I lifted my skirt, bent over the counter and took a few dozen whacks and a big round of applause. I bought the paddle (which I had to throw away before returning home) and ran out the shop grinning! I still have no idea where I got the courage for that, but I have never looked back since. So thank you Mick and Janus.”

“A few years ago I was in the Janus shop mid-afternoon. A couple walked in who had clearly come from having lunch at one of the local Soho restaurants. They were rather mis-matched. He was a little below average height but powerfully-built. His suit was expensive but he looked as though he might burst out of it – not because he was fat, more that it did not seem to be his natural attire. She was tall and willowy, a “Sloane Ranger” type and obviously younger than him. They wandered around the shop, he smoking a large cigar as he flicked through magazines, she pointing out underwear she liked in the photographs. Eventually he selected a couple of magazines and they made their way to the till. And then he asked for one of the canes hanging there. He gave it a couple of experimental swishes and then handed it to the woman to carry as he paid for the items. A couple of minutes later I left the shop and I saw the couple outside as they hailed a taxi. I crossed the road and looked back to find myself looking straight into the woman’s face as she sat in the taxi. In her eyes I could see that she knew I had seen them in the shop and that I would know that wherever the taxi took them she would shortly be caned… Years later I can still see that look in her face.”

“Janus was for many years the must buy mag for CP afficionados, the benchmark by which others were judged. Paula Russell (profesionally Meadows) was editing its excellent stablemate Februs. As a CP devotee herself Paula brought an enthusiasm and understanding to the magazine which made it much more woman friendly and pleasent to read. Sadly over the passage of years I have lost my copies of the earliest issues that I had …when the numbering was in Volume,Number format. How I wish there was some spanking library where one could go to remind oneself of those pleasures of youth! Those which I have retained seem of an extraordinarily high quality.”

“Like everyone else, I have extremely fond memories of Janus. And I would certainly concur that the standard of photography, writing and Paula’s artwork made it the undisputed leader of the pack. The layout was often better than many mainstream girlie mags which was no mean feat considering they must have had far bigger budgets than Janus and some advertising revenue to play with as well.”

“Like many others I can truthfully say that buying my first copy of Janus (issue 23) was a defining moment. I was about eighteen, furtively trawling the cluster of sex-shops in Walkers Court, Soho, in 1983. Since it was wrapped in cellophane, I didn’t even know for sure that it was a spanking magazine, though the young ladies in school uniform on the cover looked very promising. When I got home and feasted my eyes on Nicola and Priscilla being spanked over their teacher’s knee, I was utterly fascinated. Henceforth there could be no doubt about it: I was a spanker. Thereafter, reading Janus regularly gave me a great deal of pleasure. I have purchased plenty of other spanking titles too, most of which contained some good material at times, but Janus has always been distinguished by its attention to detail and its intelligence.”

“Great to see so many others with happy memories of Janus. I first came across a copy in a newsagent in Islington in the early 70’s. I still remember the front cover with a “schoolgirl” bent over with skirt turned up clearly ready for punishment. I became a regular visitor to both Green’s Court and Old Compton Street, the shop usually was fairly busy with fellow devotees browsing and deciding which issues to buy. I still have many of the early “Volume” and “numbered” series and the quality is excellent. Like several contributors I also found the readers’ letters very enjoyable. While one can now relax at home browsing through spanking material on the internet and even chatting to fellow enthusiasts, it doesn’t have the same buzz as a visit to the shop. Happy days.”

“Hubby and I use to regularly visit the Janus shop in Old Compton St. after work. I was about 20, Hubby 22 or thereabouts. We both worked in the city at the time. I used to love some of the looks other customers would give me as I browsed the mags. It was in this shop that we first picked up a contact mag, Rendevous, (they use to sit on the counter) and found a guy who was willing to meet up and spank me whilst Hubby watched. That was the start of many encounters. We look back on those days with a lot of fondness. The last time we visited the shop, Hubby went in to buy a dvd and I waited outside. Not quite as confident as when I was younger perhaps.”

“I remember buying my first copy of Janus in 1975 in Northern Ireland – then still a very unenlightened place. I had heard of it through the letters pages in Penthouse and was staggered to find a specialist spanking magazine. I took it home and was literally buzzing for days afterwards. I remember visiting London about a year later and visiting the shop – then in Greens Court I think – to buy up back copies. For me the highlight was often the readers letters sections with accounts of true life punishment and humiliation. The golden age of spanking – at least for me – was in the late 70’s and its the magazines and video’s of that period that I keep returning to. I have very fond memories of Janus which was so central to that period.”

Why not share your memories of the Janus Shop and magazine on this page? We’d love to hear from you – click here to submit your contribution.