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I'm still trying to find the landmarks!
Am I on the right track with Sloane or Euston?
This is driving me nuts!!

Mjk, yes, you're on the right 'track'. The six extra/discarded letters (referred to in the preamble) show you which of these it is - one of them is 'discounted'. Some solvers got the landmarks from Wiki, using the info you've just referred to. I got them by playing with letters - more time-consuming but I felt it was rewarding!

Just to clarify, the six extra letters give the name of the option to be disregarded.

Nelson, thanks for that - I changed the wording of what I originally typed, only to end up with something slightly ambiguous!

nelson - It's not what I'd call a good endgame - too many leaps - but there's a certain logic to it that, as you say, can't be coincidental.

muraria - There's a similar storyline in an old Sherlock Holmes film (but this really must be a coincidence). Unfortunately, there isn't sufficient detail in the wiki entry, but there is in -
'Sherlock Holmes: The Basil Rathbone Years & Other Films' by Scott Palmer (I've got far too much time on my hands at the moment).
I wouldn't want you to waste any time on it, so here's the gist -
Holmes disguised as the scientist Frederic Hoffner is kidnapped at an address on S S by Moriarty's thugs. As he's driven away he manages to leave a trail for the rescue party to follow.

I'm not spending any more time on it. If this puzzle had demanded any highlighting I'd have been complaining about the time I'd wasted on it. As it is, I've quite enjoyed it.

If any of these speculations are remotely relevant, the two things I don't understand are what precisely is the 'prison' that's holding the setter captive and from which he can see the landmarks (so it must have windows), and why the preamble uses 'lonely' in the last sentence. Normally 'place of captivity' would be sufficient. It is possible to read LONELY on two corners of the are that has been the focus of our attention, but they are not symmetrical and are probably coincidental.

Thanks drxx and Murky,
Some great research going on here! I'll have to look up that SH story....

muraria - I agree, and am getting very little work done as a result.
(Being self-employed though, I have a very understanding boss.)

That was a ridiculously parochial end-game. How on earth are we northern oiks expected to know a sodding department store in a London suburb?

Yes Bobby, how about even more parochial next time - landmarks seen from a station on the clockwork orange aka Glasgow subway? John Lewis from Buchanan Street would work.....and I’d get that one!