Do you think it’s the famous groups that make the rare records? Quite the opposite. It’s the obscure groups that make one record and then disband who leave behind the rarities. It’s the companies that fail which I love.”He pulls an umbrella out of the umbrella stand, and unfurls it. Printed on the fabric is the single word, “Consignia”.”Remember when the Royal Mail became, all too briefly, Consignia? It never really traded under the name. It announced plans to do so, and got shouted down, and changed its mind. This is one of the few relics that exist of that era.”He picks up a box marked “Napster” and puts it aside, on top of another marked “Railtrack”, to reveal a huge series of boxes marked “Discontinued Theatre Programmes”.”Ah, the flops!” he enthuses. “This is fun! As soon as I get the hint that a show is fading, I have to dash round and get the programme Sometimes I even see the show.

I must be one of the few people who ever saw ‘Jean Seberg’ …”Jean Seberg?”That was the ill-fated Peter Hall musical at the National Theatre, based on the ill-fated life of the ill-fated actress Jean Seberg … greatest disaster they ever had at the National …”He chuckles. You can tell that the word “ill-fated” or “disaster” is music to the ears of Hugo Blackmore.”Talking of ill-fated …” he says, and he roots around in a bag and produces a set of programmes from the recent ill-fated Savoy Opera series, and then puts them away.”Now, dear boy,” he says. “Can I offer you something to drink? Some Dasani water, perhaps? Or a glass of Cloudy Bay 2001? They’ve stopped making it, you know …”
More from Miles Kington. Age of the hard-working mother – and the new skivvy class

Age of the hard-working mother – and the new skivvy class
Sir: In 1997, as Labour were ushered into power, I celebrated a future with better financial recognition for working mothers. As a recent divorcee on a professional salary, with two toddlers, I didn’t expect much from the absentee father or the Child Support Agency (not claiming benefit), but I did look forward to good quality subsidised nursery places and tax relief on live-in childcare.Seven years on, the promises look like being delivered (” £200 weekly tax break to pay for nanny”, 17 May).

My daughters are now old enough not to need live-in “nannies” with strange culinary habits. This move is a huge step forward because it at last takes professional middle-income mothers who work unsociable hours into consideration. It will finally recognise the significant tax contribution made by working mothers and enable them to afford decent in-home care for their children. And of course thereby avoid some of the black-market alternatives to which we have all had to resort.Or as my daughters would put it: “No more Yorkshire puddings with ice-cream.”LESLEY JOHNSON Radlett, HertfordshireSir: How can Deborah Orr (Opinion, 18 May) appear to champion a system which once again designates women as the best candidates for household chores, washing, ironing, baby-feeding and nappy-changing ?For every liberated diva there is another woman forced to do her dirty work. How can this possibly be liberating for women as a whole? A new class of paid skivvy is being created – and you can bet your ironed shirt that it’ll be a class of females.IAN FLINTOFF London SW6 Feeble Blair and the school bully Sir: What, asks, Michael Moore, is Tony Blair “doing hanging out with a guy like George Bush”? He also makes the observation, “The one thing you can say about Blair is he’s smart.” (“Moore unveils his new film with Blair jibe”, 18 May.)Sadly, our Prime Minster has shown little sign of either intelligence or political vision. All his actions, including his obsequious body language when in the presence of the American President, suggest a weak and intellectually feeble man.