WHERE are York's worst eyesores?
The Diary would like your nominations for the most neglected, dilapidated or plain ugly corners of York.
We will pass over all suggestions to a group of civic-minded citizens keen to do something about them.
The other day, the Diary idly wondered what had happened to the people behind the Rainbow Peace Hotel, which was disbanded a year since.
They had taken over what was previously known as the White Swan Hotel, and turned the derelict, empty blot on Piccadilly into a sort of impromptu commune-cum-arts centre.
After legal wrangling they were kicked out. But their work was enough to shame the absentee owners into at least tarting up the exterior of the building.
One of the Rainbow Hotel squatters, Gareth Spidaz, probably not his real name, called in to our luxurious Walmgate offices to bring us up to date.
He has been working as a musician. Meanwhile the group has regular get-togethers, most recently outside the 24-hour Tesco at Clifton Moor.
As well as partying, they also remember three of their group who have died since the Rainbow closed: Ruby Robinson and her three year old daughter Sky Sunshine, who were killed in a house fire; and Lara Saunders, who fell from a fourth-storey flat window in Bootham.
The remaining members of the 30-strong group, which Gareth has decided to call the 13th Tribe, are now looking for other places to do their thing.
"We have always got our eyes out for other buildings, other cases that are going to benefit people in the community,"says Gareth.
"If anybody gets in touch with us we can consider an appropriate plan of action for the benefit of the people of York, and for the civil liberties of all people."
Sounds like an offer not to be missed.
So where does your vote go? Contact the Diary, details below, and we will pass your nominations on.
A HOTEL which deserves to be named and shamed is the one which once hosted actor John Rhys Davies.
In a questionnaire for the travel section of the Daily Telegraph, the man who played Gimli in Lord Of The Rings was asked: "Which was the worst hotel you've stayed in?"
"Many years ago I booked a room for a week in a York hotel," he replied. "It smelt rather stale so I opened the windows but woke up at 2am overwhelmed by a stench.
"The cold, damp air had activated uric acid crystals in the bed and the room smelt like a urinal."
Not fit for a Hobbit. This experience prompts two questions. Is the hotel still going? And have they washed the mattress yet?
OUR declining postal service is still causing much angst, as the letter published opposite attests.
John Robson, of Dringhouses, York, has his own experience to relate.
"I thought you might like to know about the video my wife sent to our grandson in Edinburgh," he writes.
"I posted it on Tuesday, May 4, and he did not receive it until Wednesday, May 19. The subject of the video (would you believe it?): Postman Pat.
"By contrast, earlier this year we sent a similar video, which arrived the day after I posted it. The subject of that video - it was a story about Spot, a cartoon dog.
"I think there is a moral there somewhere - but it eludes me."
Updated: 09:24 Thursday, May 27, 2004
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