"Nick P" wrote in message
...

It still is. Maybe not as much as you recall but the 20+ bookshops I
passed last week seemed to be doing quite well and I saw a few music and
instrument shops down the sidestreets.

The music shops are mainly in Denmark Street - the British 'Tin Pan Alley'
to the older ones among us! ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Street

Ian