Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner (not true) but I did love it during those days.

The clean air act passed through parliament and buildings were pressure hosed back to their magical past.   The West End was just a large village where you met friends, had lunch in Soho and shopped, either in Carnaby Street for boys velvet trousers, they would take the waist in during lunch, or those gorgeous shops, Liberties viyella paisley material or the kids department at Dickins and Jones.   Lunch times took us to a corner cafe in Soho, full of prostitutes, always entertaining or queuing to get into Billy Walker’s Hot potato, still love the style of food to this day, baked potatoes with cheese and bananas and custard.

Now and again we would venture down the King’s Road, full of “beautiful people”, loads of Afghan hounds and two guys who famously would walk their lion cub on a lead. It all appeared perfectly normal back then, now there would be people walking round with poo bags and the lion would definitely be banned.   Did visit Biba a few times, even bought a coat there, but the quality wasn’t great, it was always about good fabric for me .

One night Pat Nichols (Don Black’s secretary) and I had gone to the Cromwellian club, I had an Austin 1100 at the time, just about to get to Hyde Park corner when a huge moth suddenly appeared in the car, I threw my hands up and screamed, stop the car, Pat looked at me in shock and said “Barbara, you are driving”   I managed to park up next to an old green taxi rank, we both ran in for help, half a dozen cabbies came to the rescue killing themselves laughing.

John and Yoko came in with another request, they wanted someone to make dolls to look like them.   Not an easy task, doll manufacturers didn’t want to know, looking back, it was probably quite short sighted of them.   I cannot remember how I managed to find a lady in Broadstairs who was willing to take the challenge on.   The arrangements were made for her to come up to Saville Row and meet them both.    Have to say I was quite nervous, because she was obviously very straight, however my thought were unfounded and they were both very appreciative and made her very welcome.

J and Y decided they needed to straighten themselves out first they tried to stop smoking, all it did was make me have to light two at a time as each one popped into my office for a drag.   Next was a shrink, they came back from a session and told me that the shrink had insisted John tells Aunt Mimi what he thinks of her.  I just looked at John and said, please don’t do it, you will regret that decision for the rest of your life, Yoko was behind him saying he must.   My comment was, Aunt Mimi will never understand, and you will break her heart.    Needless to say, they went down to Sandbanks and on their return I asked the question, John looked at me and said probably one of my biggest regrets.   I felt sorry for them both and seriously would have throttled the idiot who told him.

Paul decided that Apple needed some help from a big business man so he called Dr Beeching, he was the man that closed down most of the branch lines while running British rail.   He duly arrived for a working lunch.   He was a bear of a man, very pleasant, and listened to their problems; I was taking minutes and kept waiting for the Holy Grail that never materialised.   At the end Paul asked him if he would be willing to join the board, I will never forget his reply, “unfortunately your company is far too small for me!”   Needless to say life carried on as usual until the fateful day Allen Klein entered the mix.