Fortnum and Mason

 Fortnum and Mason.

Summer is slowly sinking into a golden sunset. August is bidding its farewell to the massed West End of London throng down below and shortly autumnal mists will remind you of grey curtains. Yesterday my lovely wife Bev and I ventured into the capital city for one tantalising glimpse of summer sunshine. The traffic on the roads was flowing freely, the modern day Red Routemaster buses were gliding past our vision in much the way they've always done and Green Park was naturally at its greenest.

If you were to believe some people the whole issue of environmental awareness is such a hot topic of discussion and green energy is something we've grown accustomed to in recent times. Climate change will be around in the news agenda for some considerable amount of time and the eco warriors will doubtlessly bang the drum for cleaner air, less pollution and healthy living for quite a while. But yesterday Green Park was at its most verdant, the formidable trees in one of London's finest parks still standing tall and proud while around them the kids are on their school summer holidays and their doting parents will be there to accompany them.

At this time of the year, the children of the world are smiling and laughing quite uninhibitedly since school is certainly out for the summer, the gates are firmly shut and they'd love to spend the rest of the day in the M and M sweet shop in Leicester Square or the relatively new Lego store where plastic bricks abound in some profusion and life is just perfect. Then it's off for a whirlwind tour of the museums, Hamley's legendary toy shop in Regent Street before running off excitedly to the Oasis Lido swimming pool in High Holborn. The kids have never been happier and yet we all know the reason why.

Yesterday my wife and I converged on one of the most glamorous and striking of all department stores. Its facade is now as familiar as the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. It has the old fashioned glamour and charm of one of the most attractive buildings you're ever likely to see. There is a vivid grandeur and style about Fortnum and Mason that shouts history and heritage. Fortnum and Mason was built in the early 1700s so you could say that it's rather like a well established member of our family who always seemed to be there for us. So we greeted it like an old friend and smiled at its stunning architecture.

The idea of course was to buy something special for a wonderful member of our family. We knew what they wanted and nobody would be disappointed. For yours truly this was my first time inside the hallowed surroundings of Fortnum and Mason. Outside the shop a light turquoise colour reminded us of green once again but once inside we set about pottering about a couple of floors of sheer beauty and sophistication. This felt like a voyage of discovery, a wondrous realisation that we were among some of the most beautiful merchandise in one of the most luxurious of London department stores 

Our intention was to buy coffee for my wife's cousin whose birthday it would be shortly. Shortly we were confronted with green tea and coffee caddies, whole collections of tins were spread liberally around the floor piled neatly on top of each other. There were stands of tins, different coffee beans from around the globe, weighing machines behind the counters and yet more homages to ceramics. You felt extremely privileged and honoured to be walking in the footsteps of the super wealthy elite and the good, respectable folk who just fancied a spot of  window shopping. Nothing wrong with that.

So we walked past one of the most expensive and elegant hotels in London and blinked in the sun. It was too good to be true and yet it was. The Ritz has been putting it on for centuries now and yesterday it stood there steadfastly rather like its neighbour Buckingham Palace. It occurred to you that even a cup of tea in the Ritz would have seemed like the fondest dream. Then you remembered that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had sadly died in the Ritz and it was like walking amongst giants. But of course the Ritz is stylish, magnificent and dominant, almost imperturbable .

Then we wandered around the whole of the West End. Green Park led almost naturally into Piccadilly Circus where the statue of Eros continues to be one of those appealing tourist landmarks that will always be endearing. There were the interactive images that once extolled the virtues of Coca Cola quite prominently, Timex with precise timing, Spearmint chewing gum and Bolivar which seemed to have been there for decades. Now modern technology had replaced the old school of advertising. For the traditionalists this probably came as a shock to their system but progress is inevitable.

During the 1960s, my lovely dad had given me my first introduction into the world of the West End of London. It must have felt like a spiritual home for my dad because he never tired of its shops, department sores, the hotels, cafes and restaurants and those brightly lit theatres that glowed in the wintry darkness of a Sunday afternoon and then came alive. You can still hear him waxing lyrical about the size, shape and design of every establishment in the West End. 

For my wonderful mum and dad, the pilgrimage to Lyons Corner House in Marble Arch, the most imposing restaurant of them all, was always anticipated with much pleasure. It was the West End of so many guises, mannerisms and eccentricities, the historic books in Charing Cross Road, Tin Pan Alley musically riffing in Denmark Street, the music sheets, pianos, trumpets and saxophones from the many jazz clubs including probably the best Ronnie Scott's, the Aberdeen Steak House with that eternally red glow and the exotic restaurants that once presented a Chicken in A Basket followed by the glorious Black Forest Gateau cake.

But here we were again once again back in the West End that looked so heartbroken and bereft during the pandemic. Fortnum and Mason demands the utmost respect, a cultural institution that has rarely changed throughout the decades. It has the stamp of royalty about it that few can match. Then you stopped for a moment or two and found yourself surrounded by soothing muzak inside Fortnum and Mason with equally as pleasant birdsong in the background. It was the kind of sound that you might have thought you were imagining so idyllic was the setting.

So we left with the coffee in beautifully prepared boxes and sachets. It was time to leave one of the most desirable looking shops in the West End of London. My wife and I were definitely pleased with this shopping expedition because Fortnum and Mason has served both the public and those celebrities in the public eye with little fuss and enormous dignity. It's almost a permanent fixture in our lives and long may it serve us all.