Wednesday 7th January  10:38 am Good Morning

on today on tomorrow other dates...

Nelson's Column January Moby Sick 20th January 2006 Wayward Whale Breathes his Last in Thames In a month where Pete Burn deemed animal welfare passé by flaunting an (allegedly) monkey fur coat unashamedly around the Celebrity Big Brother house, Londoners proved they still care about the natural world. Not one of us can have missed the drama and ultimate tragedy of sightseeing whale, Wally, as he journeyed up the Thames last week. And it wasn’t just the capital getting involved; Sun readers from around the country clubbed together to save his remains for display in the Natural History Museum, and the world press picked up on the story with reports all over the US and as far as Turkey, Malaysia and Chile. Crowds of Londoners lined the banks of the Thames as Wally crept up stream, past the Houses of Parliament, all the way to Battersea. It was the first time a whale had been spotted in the Thames in nearly one hundred years of records, so people were keen to get a piece of what was likely to be a one-off chance. London’s got plenty of parks and a famous zoo – but there’s nothing quite like seeing a majestic animal like a whale in the wild. Remember - people pay thousands to go on whale-watching trips. Like Haley’s comet, we’re unlikely to see such a sight again. Perhaps it was the incongruous juxtaposition of Wally in front of our famous landmarks which captured the imagination so firmly. However, in amongst all the warm feelings Wally brought to the surface, he also provoked some cynical laments: ‘It’s just a bloody whale’. ‘Who gave a second thought to the plight of whales before we had one in the Thames - and who will care next week?’ ‘Was Wally simply a blinding excuse to leave the office?’ I must confess to agreeing on all counts. Yes, it’s only a whale and not a very impressive one compared to what I’ve seen on TV. And no, I haven’t given much thought to whales since I watched Blue Peter 15 years ago. And, yes, if truth be told, I was in the middle of a mind-numbing bit of copy-editing when Wally popped up, a welcome distraction. A part of me wants to throw all the schmaltz right out of my seventh-storey window, but I loved Wally. There’s something magical about a whale – friends who’ve actually been whale watching tell me it will bring tears of joy and amazement to your eyes. Wally wasn’t a killer whale or anything, more understated, dignified, very British in many ways. How and why he got here we don’t know. Sent of course by navy sonar equipment? Heading west towards the Atlantic unfamiliar with the concept of rivers? Who knows? But he’s not the first. London has had some strange visitors in her history, most recently a giant turtle was spotted in East London and a piranha was discovered in the Thames in 2004 - but none have been welcomed as warmly as Wally, since perhaps Paddington Bear when he arrived from Darkest Peru. It’s just a shame he had to stay permanently. Walk-In Wounded Plans have been unveiled to install doctors' surgeries at four of London’s busiest train stations. King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Victoria and Canary Wharf will all house a state-of-the-art NHS Walk-In centre offering commuters the chance to see a doctor on their way to or from work. Thief Gets Time Reggae star, Beenie Man, lost his £90,000 diamond-encrusted watch to muggers while attending a record store opening in Brixton. Loyal fans, however, leapt to the rescue, overpowering the thief and returning the timepiece to the Jamaican dancehall legend. Red Cuba Simply Red frontman, Mick Hucknall, is hard at work transferring his hit singles into a hot musical for London stage. The production, ‘Simply Cuban’, tells the tale of a Caribbean love story. December 2008 23rd December January is on the Horizon 20th December Merry Christmas 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!