Andrew Stocker, the duty manager who has worked at the theatre for 30 years and who also conducts tours, tells how one night a security guard was checking the back door in the Pitt corridor was locked when he suddenly smelled lavender perfume waft across his face.

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The taste for ivory and other exotic goods has lured traders, travellers and explorers along this corridor since the 18th Century, when caravans carried cloth and beads, copper and spices, ivory and slaves across the same plains and hills now visited by tourists.

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So as advanced Southern Corridor schemes might appear on paper, the real space to watch is when and how Azerbaijan decides to play their aces.

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