IN THE 1970S, I used to love eating at the now demolished Swiss Centre on the northwest corner of Leicester Square. Its restaurant was pricey, but served great cheese fondue and steak tartare. Sadly, the Swiss Centre is no more, but there is a lovely souvenir still standing. It is a glockenspiel with bells and animated models of animals and Swiss farmers, which rotate whilst the bells are chiming. It is a bit kitsch but completely charming.

The original glockenspiel was installed in 1985, then removed in 2008. It was reconstructed in about 2011. It has 27 bells, 2 clocks, and 11 moving figures. The show can be watched once every few hours during daytime. A timetable is attached to the lovely apparatus. Compared to much else that now happens in Leicester Square, the glockenspiel has real class.