IN 1979, aged 20, I took my nephew to see the Christmas lights in Oxford Street. Not because he wanted to see them (he was a tiny baby), but because I did. The fact is that nothing enhances the pleasure of a Christmas treat in London more than the addition of a child or two. The more the merrier, in fact, because they bring a level of excitement, innocence, energy and joy that no adult companions ever could.
Not that they haven’t been mildly troublesome on occasion over the decades. One year, a small child, who shall remain nameless in order to spare his blushes (Jack), disappeared from the Harrods Toy Department (also known as the Seven Circles of Hell), causing the whole shop to be locked down and searched (he was discovered trying on cravats in Menswear).
Another year, an even smaller child (Bert) insisted on inspecting every single item for sale in Hamleys (Hades), which took him three hours on account of his size, before deciding that he didn’t really want a present at all (as I told him, children who receive no presents only have them elves to blame). Then there was the year that my godchildren (Jane, Tom and Cosimo) were delivered to me in such a cake-and- Coke-induced state of hyperactivity that we had to abandon £400 worth of theatre seats. In short, the little angels do require a certain amount of careful husbandry.
Anyway, to mark the 40th anniversary of our Christmas expeditions, I have produced a short guide to the best that London has to offer they h very young and, in my case, the not-so-young.
Eleven ways to keep them busy
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin December 04, 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin December 04, 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds