I have now been to the launch of a small, but beautifully produced, book called The Essence of Mayfair, published by British Land in celebration of its new building development in Clarges Street. What became clear is that everyone has a different view of Mayfair. For Jeremy King, the proprietor of the Wolseley, it is, not unnaturally, a neighbourhood of grand hotels (The Beaumont), restaurants and fine car show rooms (although the Wolseley was short-lived as a car show room). For Kathryn Sargent, the former head cutter at Gieves and Hawkes, it is somewhere where Terence Stamp might emerge from Albany in his dressing gown to post a letter. For Rupert Sanderson, it was once a neighbourhood for men only – guns, suits and clubs – which is now responding to the invasion of international fashion. There is a sad little note inserted in the book to the effect that Allens, the long-standing butcher on Carlos Place, is moving. So, the question is how long this mixed ecology can survive.