When I lived in London I used to enjoy the city in high summer. London's West End looks deserted in August as residents take their scions to faraway places for the obligatory dose of sun, sea and sand.
In Victorian and Edwardian days most of the houses were boarded up as their owners followed the example of Bertie, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and retired to their country seats, effectively closing the capital's short social and sporting season.
These days, the Queen and members of the Royal Family move to Scotland during August and September where they can enjoy the rural delights of the Highlands at Balmoral, while Prince Charles and his Lady, The Duchess of Cornwall, move into their Scottish home left to him by the late Queen Mother.
As a Londoner, I happen to like the capital in August and I have often urged visitors to visit London during this time. But that was before the 7/7 bombings which paralysed London's public transport system. City life changed on that day and will never be the same again. Nothing will ever persuade me to travel on London's Underground now and I cannot honestly suggest that visitors travel on the system while an estimated 3,000 potential terrorists and their radical mentors remain at large, free to come and go through our porous borders as they please.
Having said that, there are good reasons for visiting London if you are prepared to travel by taxi or River bus on the Thames, (visiting the Tower of London, Greenwich Palace and Hampton Court Palace), and are not disconcerted by the sight of so many policemen toting automatic rifles.
Theatreland thrives with Billy Elliott the top musical favourite at the dear old Victoria Palace, closely followed by the hugely successful Mel Brooks musical The Producers at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. And of course Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap continues its run of over half a century at the St. Martin's Theatre. I don't think any of the present cast were born when it had its first performance on 25th November, 1952!
The annual
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