Tuesday 6th January  14:07 pm Good Afternoon

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Nelson's Column August Archway To Organic Heaven 4th August 2006 Food Revolution Slowly Unfolding Across London Speaking to mummy on the phone the other day I was pleased to hear that her runner beans had won first prize in the village horticultural show. I expressed my regret that I had missed her moment of glory. But she told me not to worry – ‘it’s the County Cheese Show next weekend, dear, you can come to that’. So I headed off last Saturday to Somerset where my parents have chosen to see out their retirement. I expected to be free from the thoughts of London for a couple of days, but something happened at the Cheese Show that meant I couldn’t get the big city out of my head. Surrounded by cider drinkers (who think a Magners is where baby Jesus laid his head), huge rotund cheeses weighing more than a Smart Car, and hosts of intimidating bristly sideburns, I struck up a conversation with a lovely old lady about Slow Food Movement. I’d heard the name before but not really known what it was. In a nutshell, it’s about people wanting tasty, naturally-produced food, which in turn protects and nurtures out environment. It’s not surprising that you find supporters of such things out in the country – this is where the producers are based – but what got my mind ticking over was the wholesale infiltration of these ideas into London - redoubt of ready meals, fortress fast food. The past few years has seen seismic rumblings (if not shifts) in attitudes towards food. London’s restaurant scene has transformed from decidedly average, to diverse, exciting and down-right delicious. And it’s thanks to this blossoming array of places to eat out that their customers are being inundated with inspiration. The knock-on effect are some really excellent shops and markets where you can pick up top-quality ingredients to recreate the food at home. Many’s the Saturday that I head down to Borough to scour the market for a particularly heady herb-infused olive oil, some juicy, bright-red tomatoes, or a piece of stilton so smelly it has the neighbours complaining. Borough might be the most well-known market in the capital – in no small part thanks to Jamie Oliver’s vocal praise – but there are farmer’s markets springing up all over the capital from Chiswick to... Archway. Yes, that’s right, it might be little more than a road junction but Archway has its own market! Visiting a friend the other day, as I exited the station I was stunned to discover a petite but perfectly lovely set of stalls doing a bustling trade in fruit and veg, colourful blooms and rustic cheeses. I came home with a bag full of goodies. On top of this you’ve got the organic mini-markets, which range from corner shop plus, to the heavily branded Fresh and Wild (soon to get its very own organic super sister store on the site of the old Barkers department store in Kensington). Whilst I read in the paper every week that by 2020 we’ll all be so fat that the London Underground will be unable to cope with the sheer volume of people (think about it), I really think that Londoners attitudes are starting to change. Now, I am not asserting that London is at the forefront of Slow Food, far from it. Just look at the ranks of battery-charging tasteless fried chicken emporiums, community-stultifying Tesco Metros and all the other crimes against gastronomy that line our streets. But we’re heading in the right direction at least. I am very much looking forward to the Archway Tower hosting the 2020 Urban Cheese Olympiad. Sink or Swim It seems London’s lidos are an endangered species. In the 1920s and 1930s around 50 lidos were built in the capital by the then London County Council. Pushed forward in a bid promote healthier lifestyles and to get more Londoners outdoors, lidos presented the only chance most people had of swimming in the open air. Eighty years on, lidos no longer have such a significant role, although the ones that remain are increasingly popular. Only 12 lidos are still in operation in the capital. In 1980 the lidos were passed from the Greater London Council to the local authorities but with no accompanying revenue budget. Londoners are campaigning for the re-opening of closed lidos. Apparently London Fields is a hopeful so watch this space! The Final Frontier: Can We Bridget? Mankind’s latest attempt to find evidence of Life on Mars has gone on show in London. It’s a six-wheeled robot nicknamed Bridget and is a prototype of the UK developed rover, officially named ExoMars which will jet into space in 2011. The remote controlled go-kart, with a top speed of 150 metres an hour, bemused visitors as it sped around the Science Museum. The onboard technology allows ‘Bridget’ to drill down two metres into Martian soil and test samples for signs of life. In addition, by learning more about the planets' atmosphere and environment, ‘Bridget’ will also have a major role in paving the way for humans to visit the red planet. Launched in 2011 the journey to Mars will take two years and the landing will avoid the planet’s dust storm season. Let’s hope ‘Bridget’ is a more of a success than the doomed Beagle 2 Mars rover than got damaged on landing last year. Thieving Monkeys A man has been charged with the theft of a rare monkey from Chessington World of Adventures. The cheeky squirrel monkey, fondly referred to as ‘SpongeBob’, went missing from the theme park and zoo in July but was later found being played with by children in Clapham. A 22-year-old from Brixton was arrested by police. As for SpongeBob, he has not been able to rejoin his friends at the zoo as yet and is being kept in a separate enclosure. One of the female monkeys bit him and poor SpongeBob is now awaiting surgery. Experts are sure he’ll make a speedy recovery. 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