HOW'S this for a nightmare journey?

On Wednesday morning Graham Ware, who runs Chantry Kitchens based at Tockwith, near York, was travelling to London to see his mother.

York Railway Station car park was full, so he headed to the council-run one at Nunnery Lane. This was near deserted, which chimes with the fall in car park revenue we disclosed this week.

Graham soon discovered why it was empty. It would cost him £9.50 to leave his car for the day - even more than at the station car park. And there you can pay by plastic.

As Graham says, not many people have £9.50 in loose change about their person. So he hared off to Micklegate and became the fourth person in the same pickle in the post office that week. Buying a stamp and collecting his shrapnel he dashed back to Nunnery Lane, paid, displayed and made the train - with seconds to spare.

The return journey was a much more leisurely affair. Unfortunately.

Graham's GNER train was held up by two hours because of a lightning strike (of the celestial, rather than trade union, variety). That meant he finally reached his car at 11pm. At least it hadn't been clamped.

Extortionate parking, technologically backward ticket machines, and a train line which can't cope with weather.

It's a wonder anyone gets in or out of York at all.

FUNNILY enough, it was a year ago today that the Evening Press launched its campaign against more and higher parking charges. "They are forcing business people out," one trader told us then.

"My husband and I often came to York on an evening for a stroll around our beautiful city but the charges have put us off," said a Tadcaster couple. Has anything really changed?

FURTHER to our request for a York national anthem, Dale "Minnie The" Minks suggests a somewhat saucier version of the Grand Old Duke Of York as penned by Spike Milligan.

But in light of recent sad events, we respectfully suggest another idea. Yorkshire should replace the somewhat parochial On Ilkla Moor Baht'at with... the Countdown theme.

Short, sweet and instantly recognisable it would be a lasting tribute to that unique Yorkshireman Richard Whiteley.

Now we need some words. It wouldn't be fitting to stand up on Yorkshire Day and sing: "Dink-a-dinky-dink, dink-a-dinky-dink, dadda - dadda - diddly-dee. Pow!"

Suggestions warmly received.

WHATEVER you say about the future of the Barbican't Centre, and an awful lot has been said, at least the new development has green credentials.

City of York Council is rightly trying to persuade residents to recycle more. So the Diary asked how much of the old Barbican will be recycled if the plans go ahead.

"The main Barbican Centre will not be demolished so nothing will need recycling," a spokeswoman told us. "We have already taken out as much equipment from the swimming pool as can be reused and any salvageable materials will be salvaged."

But will York's sports and leisure reputation be salvaged too?

Updated: 12:11 Friday, July 01, 2005