Blocks

The last time I was in the west end, I happened to go to Bond Street in Mayfair, home of all the great designer boutiques and also the place where the stars like to be seen. Halfway along Piccadilly I found the pavement was blocked by one of those crowd control ropes outside a big hotel. Obviously some people who were famous were due to stay there. I do not know which comes first – the crowd of admirers or the velvet rope. Maybe tourists look out for the first hint of preparations outside well known celebrity hangouts, such as the unloading of the stanchions. Those, for those of you who do not already know, are the uprights to which the rope is fixed. This is the place where you find out if your name is ‘on the list’ and the staff decide to unhook the rope and admit you. Anyway, on the day when my way was blocked they did not need barricades as there was no hint of any imminent arrival by a famous face.  So I just had to carry on towards Harvey Nicks to check out the new season’s designer bags.