OUR thanks to Ron Willis, of Priory Street, York, for sending a copy of his guide 101 Places & Things To Avoid... If You Want To Forget York.

It first went on sale, he tells the Diary, in the mid-Seventies. Designed to amuse it "prompted some editorial mix-up and consternation" at the Evening Press. Such amateurishness has since been banished, of course.

Ron revised and reprinted the booklet in 1990, ensuring it still contained "that which makes York a privileged and treasured experience for me".

Most of his 101 treasures are little changed in the past 14 years. The guide contains lots about the Minster, of course, from those carefree, fee-free days of yore.

But some things have been lost: the York Story in Castlegate had an unhappy ending.

The city's nightclubs have changed too. Does anyone have memories of GG Barnums Discotheque, Clifford Street; Cat's Whiskers, Fishergate; Roxy, Bootham; or Melodies on Wigginton Road?

Alan Stuttle, whose sketches illustrate Ron's guide, has closed his Micklegate gallery. And whatever happened to York Rose Pottery of Minster Gates - famed for its "pottery and prints, crafts and laughs"?

Other venues have set off on a brave new road only to find it brought them full circle. The Cock & Bottle on Skeldergate was briefly transformed into wine bar Villiers before being returned to its original name and pubby purpose.

Ditto the Royal York Hotel, which dallied disastrously with the moniker Le Meridien before bosses came to their French senses and went back to "le square un".

Then there are the items in the guide over which a question mark now hangs heavy, most notably the Mystery Plays (included under the entry for the long defunct York Festival) and swimming baths at the Barbican't Centre.

On the penultimate page we find a final blow. "Terry's Factory - Bishopthorpe Road. World famous company of chocolate makers."

Collectors can grab a free copy of 101 Places & Things To Avoid... If You Want To Forget York from the Blake Head Bookshop and Vegetarian Caf, Micklegate.

What treasures would you nominate?

"DULL, dull, dull." That is the verdict of ex-advertising copywriter turned bestselling novelist Fay Weldon on the new KitKat slogan, "Make the most of your break."

"It takes quite a lot to break a brand preference once it's established - Marks & Spencer are working hard on it: now you lot at Nestl Rowntree seem to be doing the same," she wrote in The Guardian yesterday.

Her suggestion for a replacement slogan will hardly set Haxby Road alight, however. It is: "Taking a breather, sharing a KitKat".

The Diary notes that Andrex has also dropped its long-running slogan, "Soft, strong and long". Perhaps KitKat could nick that.

Though we doubt Andrex could successfully nick Rowntree's discarded motto in return. "Have a break, have a..." No, it doesn't work.

WHAT was the Goodramgate gush all about? For a number of mornings, a jet of water has squirted out of the first floor corner window of the Cross Keys pub, soaking the road below.

When the Diary contacted the pub to find out why, a woman mumbled something about hanging baskets (the water went nowhere near any hanging baskets) and said the landlady was away.

Yesterday the stream had been switched off. Was this the Cross Keys' street-cleaning contribution to York Pride? Perhaps we shall never know.

HAVING read that a satellite TV channel is to employ a stripping newsreader, your Diarist has taken up the idea, and is now sitting here in nothing more than kneesocks with divested clothing all around.

It is one step from here to a new career as a topless barman at the Edward VII.

Write to: The Diary, Chris Titley, The Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN

Email diary@ycp.co.uk

Telephone (01904) 653051 ext 337

Updated: 09:50 Thursday, August 05, 2004