Perhaps it's thinking about England in the summer, perhaps it's the sounds of the river at night but my mind wandered back to the place of long afternoons, listening to Pink Moon and Lay Lady Lay.

She was devoted to duty even amid appalling conditions and earned herself the nickname "Lady of the Lamp" for her habit of doing the rounds late at night.

Then last night, the daughter of the crocodile-bag lady, who is something of a fashion insider, telephoned me.