Latest news with #GriffRhysJones
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
This disastrous development could threaten every great building in Britain
Not for the first time, I find myself thinking about London's Liverpool Street station, a great Victorian building that Network Rail seeks to destroy by putting a horrible skyscraper over the top of its concourse. The City of London's planning authorities have already vetoed one unsuitable idea; now a less radical, but still aesthetically destructive, blueprint by the architectural practice Acme has been prepared, and has passed the first hurdle with the City's planners. Largely because the leader of the campaign to save the station is Griff Rhys Jones, the celebrated comedian – and he is leading it superbly – some in the media have been keen to describe what is going on as a battle between him and a rapacious developer: a prism further distorted recently by the fact that the developers have hired a lobbying company run by a former adviser to Boris Johnson. Given how ignominiously Johnson ended up, one might have thought they would have looked elsewhere; and it has been found that the lobbyist has resorted to using employees of the developer's architect to write on social media in support of the project. It is patently very hard to find members of the public who wish to profess their admiration for the swamping of this fine Victorian building by a vast skyscraper. The station is perfectly all right as it is – I use it two or three times a week for return journeys from Essex – and this proposal is mainly about the exploitation of real estate. The Eastern counties are becoming more populous and the station may well need more capacity; how this is achieved by putting a skyscraper over it is beyond most people. In fact, the real issue about Liverpool Street is that if the latest plan were to go ahead, it could put every great building in the country at risk. The Victorian edifice and train shed at the station are Grade II listed: if a skyscraper is allowed to be built over the concourse between them, then what does that say about the protection of the country's architectural heritage? We are taken back to the relentless decision in 1961 to destroy the Euston Arch, and to an era in which little value was placed on fine 19th-century buildings. Network Rail is preening itself about the contention that its new proposals do not impinge on the Victorian building. But what is now proposed would violate the environment of these great buildings, and it should be rejected to preserve the City's character. You wouldn't stick a skyscraper over the top of a fine Grade II-listed church or fine house, so why is it all right to stick one over Liverpool Street? We as a people have become enormously protective of our architecture, perhaps in response to the ruthless and ignorant demolition of fine 18th- and 19th-century buildings in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The listing process was meant to put a stop to that. More than 2,000 people and almost every relevant heritage body in the country objected to the last plan, and it was discarded. This new plan is in some respects worse than the first, because of some of its intrinsic silliness – i.e. its pastiche entrance arches. And one can intuit all one needs to know about it in a remark by a Network Rail official that the proposed development would create an 'accessible and inclusive space', whatever that means. The logic of proceeding with these plans for Liverpool Street is that the City's planners allow such skyscrapers over and around every fine listed building in the Square Mile. A few minutes away on the Elizabeth Line is Canary Wharf, with so much free office space that some of it is being converted into flats. They want to build new retail space at Liverpool Street when all over the West End shops are empty. The increase in working from home and the ubiquity of online shopping have rendered plans such as Network Rail's utterly superfluous. The City authorities should reject it accordingly.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Griff Rhys Jones declares Not The Nine O'Clock News deserves more respect
Griff Rhys Jones believes his iconic comedy series 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' has been erased from history by the BBC. The satirical sketch show was broadcast on BBC Two from 1979 to 1982 and starred Griff, Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson and Griff's late comedy partner Mel Smith, who died from a heart attack in July 2013 at the age of 60. At its peak it was attracting up to 18 million viewers an episode, but it is never repeated by the BBC and Griff says it's because the corporation doesn't want to pay him and the writers. Appearing on the 'Who's Tom and Dick' podcast, he said: 'The funny thing is it's not repeated. I don't think it's so topical that's it not. 'I think the reason is that it's written by a lot of people. The BBC finds it easy to repeat things like 'The Young Ones' now and the history of comedy is slightly being re-written as a result of that. 'People say, 'Oh Griff, you're amazing, you were in 'The Young Ones' playing Bambi, you know Bamber Gascoigne.' I go, 'Yeah, I think that's was an afternoon of my life, I don't remember much about it.' 'The thing is we were in a show that was 10 times the size of 'The Young Ones' at the time, absolutely massive, but it was written by so many people that the BBC have now sort of wiped it. They don't want to get involved in paying the rights of all those people. 'In fact, they went through the Millennium or some sort of thing of BBC Two and they didn't even mention it, it's just crazy because it was huge. It was like 18 million people watching at one point and that was with a difficult, edgy show. You're not talking about just a family favourite, you're talking about the one that kids said, 'Mummy, daddy, I want to stay up and watch it.' 'No, you can't, it's not for you.' 'It was a huge thing and lasted in people's memory for a long time but it was so long ago.' And Griff doesn't believe that 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' is snubbed from the repeat schedule because it is politically incorrect. The comedian - who went on to create 'Alas Smith and Jones' with Mel after 'Not the Nine O'Clock News' - said: 'Going back we laughed at gays, not offensively, but it was a sort a thing. We dressed up as women, but everyone did. They're all coming on dressed as women, Dick Emery, Les Dawson, every single sketch they were dressed as a woman. 'When we didn't have enough women I was dressed up as a woman, so I was the other singer in ABBA, but we had Pamela so it wasn't very often. But it was a bit more trans, I was expected to be a convincing woman, not a Les Dawson woman, or a Monty Python woman or even a Dick Emery woman.'
ITV News
23-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Why actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones wants to preserve a Norfolk Kwik Fit garage
"Once it's gone, it's gone forever": Russell Hookey met with the great-granddaughter of the architect behind the building The actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones is warning that one of the oldest reinforced concrete buildings in Britain is under threat unless it is better protected. The building, 33-39 St James Street in King's Lynn, is currently a Kwik Fit garage and has been added to this year's Top Ten Endangered Buildings List, which highlights buildings under threat. According to the Victorian Society, the building is an "extraordinary example of modernist design and concrete construction". The society's president Griff Rhys Jones said, "It's extraordinary, it's a very early modernist building, and as such it might be of European significance." The Grade II-listed building, built in 1908, was designed by Norfolk-based architect A.F. Scott. It was listed in 2019 on the advice of Historic England and because of its clean lines and lack of decoration, it is considered a precursor to the post-First World War European Functionalism movement. Scott had already designed the now-demolished Chamberlin's factory in Norwich in 1903, which was the first reinforced concrete building in East Anglia. His great-granddaughter, Judith Merrill said that Scott was "very much one of his kind." "He was an individualist" she said. "He rode a bicycle - it's said he had the first pneumatic tyres in Norwich and cycled miles around Norfolk in them. "He was well ahead of his time, and it needs preserving, because once it's gone, it's gone forever." The St James Street building is now leased by Kwik Fit, although according to the Victorian Society a large part of the building is in long-term disuse and deterioration. The society is now urging the investment company which owns the building to take action to protect it. 'This bold and brilliant building is an unheralded but pioneering example of early modernism" said the society's director, James Hughes. "It deserves urgent attention, not just to preserve its fabric, but to celebrate its place in European architectural history," he added. A spokesperson for Kwik Fit said the building is "structurally sound" based on inspections which are carried out at least once a month. "Naturally we would prefer the property to be fully utilised, but our operations don't require the entire building," they added. "We have attempted to let out the space we do not use.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Penarth: Derelict Victorian hotel on most-endangered list
A Grade II listed hotel has been placed on a list of the 10 most endangered buildings in the Hotel in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, dated back to about 1865 as part of the Mercantile Marine Offices and played a central role in the town's industrial, maritime, and social the surrounding area's transformation into a thriving marina and past proposals for redevelopment, the hotel remains derelict. Now on sale for £2.25m, the Victorian Society, which compiled the list, said it may be the "final opportunity to restore a vital piece of Penarth's maritime and architectural heritage". Griff Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society, also expressed disbelief that the "handsome hotel" in a "posh and sought-after" area still awaits restoration. He said the "elegant" building was a valuable heritage asset in need of care. According to Mr Jones, Penarth's rise as a prosperous Victorian town began with the construction of its docks in 1865, which also helped it thrive as a seaside resort. Built at the same time, Marine Hotel served dock workers, tourists, and likely Allied forces during World War since the early 1980s, the once-grand Grade II listed building has remained derelict for over 40 years as previous redevelopment plans, including a £6m boutique hotel scheme, have failed to materialise. James Hughes, Director of the Victorian Society, said Marine Hotel is an "irreplaceable link to Penarth's proud dockside past". "After four decades of decay, this sale is a last chance to bring the building back from the brink and give it the future it deserves," he said.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Call to preserve historic Methodist hall that housed the Que Club
A listed Methodist hall that had a second life as a music venue for famous acts in the 1990s and 2000s has been placed on a list of endangered Methodist Central Hall, a red brick and terracotta building in Birmingham's city centre, first opened in 1903 and became the Que Club in club hosted gigs by David Bowie and Blur, as well as acid house rave nights, before it closed in Victorian Society has put the local landmark on its annual list of endangered buildings, voicing concern that it had "slipped into decline" since the venue closed and faced an "uncertain" future. "The old Que needs a new life," actor Griff Rhys Jones, the society's president, said in a charity campaigns to preserve Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales, as well as advising planning authorities on proposals that could affect listed buildings from those eras. Around 100 Methodist Central Halls were built between 1886 and 1945 in cities across the UK in order to create venues where concerts, films, comedy events, and prayers were on offer, according to the Victorian halls were part of a drive to steer city-dwellers away from pubs and alcohol, the society Grade II-listed hall, on Corporation Street, is partly known for the terracotta reliefs around its porch, which depict scenes from the life of Methodism's founder, John Victorian Society said the building was currently on the market after a project to convert it into a hotel had stalled despite receiving planning permission in 2022."It needs friends and it needs some noise," Jones building is also on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, which notes that the building is vacant except for retail businesses on its ground floor and its "condition has deteriorated following recent storms".Others on the society's list of endangered buildings include:Bosworth Park Water Tower, Market Bosworth, LeicestershireTorquay Pavilion, Torquay, DevonBirley Spa, Hackenthorpe, Sheffield33 – 39 St James Street, King's Lynn, NorfolkFormer Marine Hotel, Penarth, GlamorganGibson Street Baths, Newcastle-upon-TyneAldermaston Court, Aldermaston, BerkshireEdgerton Cemetery Chapel, HuddersfieldGwalia, West Derby, Liverpool Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
