Mmm.... Trunk looks nice. It's new too I think. Interesting company for the new John Simons Apparel shop which will be at number 43 I think. Blue frontage. Nice street Chiltern. Looks like many of us will be getting to know it rather well. Decent little cafe opposite the new John's.

TM

The italian barber on Chiltern Street, Mario, was very good. Last time I walked past a couple of weeks ago he wasn't in the shop. I hope he hasn't gone as it is one of the few barbers in London where the practitioners still smoke while going about their business.

The real gem of Chiltern Street is The Blandford Cafe at the Paddington Street end, which has been in the same ownership for decades and provides a genteel version of the Full English which I've dreamt about whilst away from these shores. Celebrity dedications and endorsements on the walls range from a signed photo of Nicholas Ball which has been there since I was a boy, to a more recent Time Out namecheck from none other than Ray Davies. The menu, furniture and fixtures have remained unaltered and resplendent for a long, long time.

Marylebone remains the nicest neighbourhood in the whole of Central London for me. The pace of change has been slower than in other central areas despite some drastic rent hikes on the DeWalden estate over the last decade. Homogenisation of the area's shopping character has taken place to an extent but most of the more recent arrivals have been welcome ones.