The reason for saving hedgerows isn’t because they have been there forever and ever, but because they clearly and unequivocally enhance the landscape. They are a central part of what makes England England. Without them, it would just be Indiana with steeples.

I shuffled along it looking for a café or bistro, but, with the exception of a couple of truly dumpy discount-woolens places where the goods seemed to have been drop-kicked onto display counters, Princes Street appeared to offer nothing but the usual array of chain stores...