Town Mouse

Shopping hell

IT has been some consolation for the family’s Covid-enforced stay in London over Easter that the weather has been so consistently beautiful. Once everyone had recovered, it was possible to walk into town every day and enjoy the sunshine. London has been busy and crowded to an astonishing degree throughout the holidays; a happy return to activity after such a long period of relative quiet. One barometer of the change has been the steadily growing attendance on the Mall to watch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

The crowds, of course, are welcome, but inconvenient. One of our walks took us to Oxford Street for the practical purpose of preparing for the new school term with clothes, shoes and even a violin string (the loss of its predecessor when tuning has conveniently precluded much holiday practice). Dodging down the pavements and past bustling shops made me think wistfully of the complete silence that engulfed the West End during the lockdowns.

Shopping reverses the usual dynamics of family outings: I assume the role of a child asking irritably whether we were nearly finished and when we might take a break for coffee and cake. In the end, I was summarily dismissed to visit the Wallace Collection. It was a relief for us all.