Decline and fall ...

... Anthony Daniels opens his diary. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

... London is still the best city in the world for exhibitions. One of those that I went to was that of the work of Paul Sandby, at the Royal Academy. I was astonished at the picture of Nottingham Market Square in the 1740s: a grand, elegant and even magnificent urban space. How did they do it without town planners? Go to Nottingham now and it is like having your retinas scoured by wire wool.