Columbia Road Flower Market.

One of my filial duties was to take my mum there two or three times a year. She was in her element, haggling with East End stallholders while her “boy” ferried the foliage to and from his Cortina. My wife took over this tradition and I had to perform pretty much the same tasks for her this morning. I love the atmosphere but have no interest in horticulture. I’d prefer “Columbia Road” if it were a market dedicated to selling old 45s on Columbia – the UK’s biggest record label in the 1950s and 60s. I could add to my already sizeable collection of singles by Helen Shapiro, Frank Ifield, The Yardbirds, Herman’s Hermits and Cliff Richard & The Shadows. This morning, I might have bought an original 1967 Columbia copy of this. Probably the nearest I’d get to buying flowers.