Walking from Euston Station to South Kensington – and no, I’m not quite sure why I did, either – can take one down Warren Street. Which features a wonderfully eclectic array of shops:
- Samuel French’s theatrical bookshop.
- A shop selling only flutes and flute-related items.
- A supplier of clay-gouging implements for sculptors and model-makers. They also sold clay, I believe, but very little else.
This sort of thing always catches me unawares: that it’s so obvious one is in the capital city of the land. Edinburgh has an obscure antique scientific instrument shop, and another selling wicker products. Glasgow has more limousine companies per capita than anywhere else I know. Leeds has a shop selling exclusively ugly teddy-bears. But only London has all of these on the same street. Remarkable.