LOCK, STOCK AND 200 YEARS OF SMOKING BARRELS

I have some peculiarly vivid memories of my childhood. Being bollocked by the vicar for messing around with my twin brother at church, hiding in the laundry bin while playing hide-and-seek with my siblings — normal childhood stuff. Another memory that has stood the test of time is that of my father returning from a 24-hour absence wearing a country-checked shirt, plus fours and large woollen socks with garters dangling down. He was also clutching a brace of birds that he would hang out by the back fridge to be plucked and eaten. At the other end of the house was a cabinet, out of our reach, where my father kept his cavalry sword from his army days and his shotguns, which included a pair of Purdeys.

While my age — and the lack of an appropriate invitation — forbade the use of the guns, like the shoes in my father’s cupboard, the Rolexes on his wrist, the guidons in the has worked with many country-sports goods and gun manufacturers over the years, but my eye has always drifted up Mount Street in Mayfair to Audley House, the home of Purdey.