Friday 5th December  7:32 am Good Morning

on today on tomorrow other dates...

Nelson's Column June The End of an Unsightly Era 17th June 2005 The Curtain Finally Falls on a London Landmark A few years back, I was showing a university chum round the sights of London. We’d done the Tate and Shakespeare’s Globe and we were pottering up the river towards London’s greatest centre for the arts. "Bloody Hell!" she exclaimed as we arrived "...what a dump! I might as well have stayed at home." Since her home was in the middle of one of Coventry’s least attractive post-WWII concrete architectural disasters, this was far from being a compliment to the South Bank Centre. Described by Prince Charles as a "Monstrous carbuncle", it’s a remarkable example of brutalist 1960s architecture. Although a few of the very trendiest Londoners pretend to love it, most people’s reaction is total amazement that anybody could have thought it was a good idea. Even in the 1960s, they can’t have been THAT stoned, surely. Actually, most people’s reaction, at least the first dozen times they visit, is "Where the hell am I? Why does this staircase appear to go nowhere? What am I doing in this car park full of skateboarders when I'm supposed to be watching Macbeth?" But that is part of the joy of the place, and one of the things I will miss most when the £91 million rebuilding of the Royal Festival Hall is finished in 18 months. It may not have been deliberate, but putting these great cultural gems at the heart of a terrifyingly ugly maze made them seem so much more valuable. The labyrinth is being opened up, the madness refined away, access to the arts improved. And I for one will be a little sad. Londoners hate the mainstream: we want our culture tough, obscure, and underground. Putting it in a concrete complex that was half council estate, half skatepark was the ideal way to give an edge to the arts. The hoardings are up now, and the building underway. Arguments over the London Eye, as well as the multi-stage, multi-architect, half-assed nature of the planning all suggest the results are going to be pretty bad, but they surely cannot be as stunningly dreadful as the original. One of the world’s greatest architectural follies is disappearing, and I’m sure I won’t be the only Londoner to shed a tear. Life's A Beach Lambeth Council’s planning committee have finally approved a bid to transform part of the South Bank into a beach. A series of delays in making the decision (which was due to be announced a month ago) could, however, make it impossible for the project to open in time. Organisers have less than a month to turn Hungerford Coach Park and part of Queen's Walk into a sandy riverside paradise. Watch this space. Travellers Tapped by Topped-Up Traffic Toll London’s Congestion Charge is set to rise from £5 to £8 on the 4th July. Mayor Ken Livingston says the £45m raised by the increase will help cut traffic levels and improve public transport. Opponents to the scheme believe the charge will have a negative impact on city businesses. The Heir of Shares Prince William will join the capital’s rat-race this summer when he begins work experience with a large financial institution in the City. The 23-year-old heir, who has just graduated with a 2:1 degree in geography, hopes the experience will help him with charitable fundraising in the future. November 2008 26th November All The World's A Stage 20th November Surviving the Crunch October 2008 24th October Boris v Jingjing 17th October Soaps in Pole Position September 2008 23rd September Chips too Chavvy for Chelsea 16th September The London Restaurant Awards August 2008 26th August No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues 20th August The Olympics July 2008 24th July Sandwiched Out 17th July The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3 June 2008 26th June Love All at Wimbledon 16th June Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant May 2008 27th May Booze Banned on Buses 20th May Same Again? April 2008 23rd April By George 11th April Back to the 80s March 2008 28th March How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea? 20th March Flight Fantastic February 2008 20th February Dark, Satanic Turnmills 6th February A Diamond in the Drink January 2008 21st January People Wanted for Plinth 14th January Boo! Hiss! December 2007 28th December Tate That - A Hirst for Art 20th December Christmas Shopping November 2007 27th November Mind the Gap 26th November London On A Tray October 2007 26th October Leaving the Station 14th October The Sky's the Limit September 2007 26th September The Play Within A Play 19th September Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks 12th September Saying Tanks for the Mammaries August 2007 24th August Heathrow under Siege 17th August Gormless 10th August Losing Face July 2007 24th July Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 13th July Red Ken versus Blonde Boris June 2007 22nd June Last Orders at the Fag Machine 11th June London the Musical May 2007 21st May What Lurks Beneath 10th May The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of April 2007 27th April London’s Walk on the Wild Side 20th April Stand Behind the Yellow Line 13th April Like Water for Chocolate March 2007 23rd March So, Another Magazine 16th March Avoiding iContact February 2007 23rd February Sex and Art... 16th February C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government 9th February Live Earth London January 2007 26th January A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain 18th January Carriage on up the West End December 2006 29th December Food for Thought 22nd December A Poisonous Marketing Campaign 15th December In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds November 2006 17th November Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold 10th November Failing to Save the World October 2006 27th October Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps 20th October Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk 13th October Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street September 2006 16th September Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back 9th September Of Poles and Twiglets August 2006 25th August Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable 11th August London Friendly 4th August Archway To Organic Heaven July 2006 21st July London - Celebrity Frat House 7th July Out of the Galleries into the Streets June 2006 23rd June Mayors, Nightmares and Marias 16th June Downright Rude in Paris and London 9th June Enter the Inferno May 2006 26th May Curvaceous Border 12th May Vegging Out April 2006 21st April The Camden Crawl 17th April Down the Pan 13th April I Want to Break Free 9th April Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere 7th April Don't Box Me In March 2006 24th March Political Correctness Reaches New Heights February 2006 24th February A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West 17th February Modern Musicals are Rubbish 10th February The City-Side Alliance January 2006 20th January February Sales 20th January Moby Sick 13th January Glass Half Full 3rd January Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers December 2005 22nd December January Bites 16th December A Remarkable Year November 2005 25th November And a Partridge in a JCB 11th November Driving Miss Sadie 4th November Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin October 2005 28th October Trick or Treat? 21st October We Don't Mind a Little Delay... 14th October Final Resting Place for Young British Artists September 2005 16th September Just a small urn for me, please barman 9th September DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! 2nd September The Free Tenor August 2005 30th August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium