simon
Very much as Chris has said re 16d. I would only add that the solution is not a person, but neither is it a location. It is however a means of getting to one very specific location. I fear that that might not help much!
Yes, jono, it’s one of those things that one sees quite often in crosswordland, and I kicked myself when I tumbled to it. My only excuse is that I was blindsided and exhausted by so much Enigmatic misdirection!
Okay I'm all done except for that Pearce clue, 16d. I think the final letter depends on how I spell 27a, but either way the unparsed answer I can see doesn't really mean dominant partner to me so I think it must be wrong. Any small further hints possible??