And the visitor experience could certainly use some improvement!  Today, an overcrowded car park leads to a small, scruffy entrance, where 2 ticket offices struggle to keep up with a peak time total of 9000 visitors per day.  An overcrowded shop, no sit-down café and barely adequate toilets conspire to dampen the enthusiasm of the average visitor.

And yet people still come.  Because the stones themselves astound, through their extreme antiquity and their enduring mystery.  Archaeologists, still busy at the site, broadly agree on when, how and by whom the monument was built.  But no amount of excavation or carbon-dating can tell us for certain why it was built.  It is precisely this lack of knowledge that produces the aura around Stonehenge – the experience many visitors report that, even when the site is crowded, they feel alone and somehow in contact with the consciousness of the stone age builders of this sacred place.  The experience persists despite the closeness of the road, the noisy traffic and the signs of modernity that intrude at every turn.

To English Heritage’s credit, it is this aura that they are trying to preserve and improve in their plans for the site.  Top priority is to close the access road that today passes within yards of the circle.  Visitors will arrive at a purpose-built visitor centre about 2 miles west of Stonehenge and travel to the stones in a land train or on foot.  The visitor centre will provide much more extensive background information about the site (it could hardly provide less).  The intention is that once you know something about the age of the stones, who erected them, and how they might have lived, you can better appreciate the journey across open grass fields to a site which is now more isolated from the modern world.   See more about the proposals here.

The revamp comes at a cost: £27 million for the onsite project alone.  Some concerns remain about the practicalities.  The increase in “dwell time” these new arrangements require have got tour operators looking again at excursions which combine Stonehenge with Bath and/or Windsor.  English Heritage claims the longer time is justified by the additional material and a more meaningful trip up to the stones.  In turn, they are hiking the entrance charge: £13.90 compared to £8.00 today.

All this is due to go live in the last quarter of 2013.  There are still many unknowns, including the exact opening date.  Concerns remain about the capacity of the land trains.  But a thorough rethink was long overdue and this one does seem to be driven by respect for the simple magnificence of the stones themselves.   Let us remember, this is a World Heritage Site.

Perhaps the most surprising addition to this new infrastructure was opened last June, shortly before the Olympic Games.  A cable car line, 1 kilometre (two thirds of a mile) long and 90 metres (just under 300 feet) high flies across the river just East of Canary Wharf.  Opened with great ceremony by London’s Mayor Boris Johnson (who must be sad to see his limelight-flooded year coming to an end), it was hailed as an important addition to the transport system.  Capable of carrying 5000 people per hour, it was claimed to be the equivalent of 30 extra buses.  Better still, it attracted  £36 million worth of sponsorship from Dubai-based airline Emirates.  In return for which they got naming rights.  They called it “Emirates Air Line”.  Someone got paid for that.

Today, however, it is operating at just 10% of its capacity.  The problem is, it takes you from a car park to, well, nowhere in particular.  And back again.  During the Olympic Games, the route made perfect sense.  It swept you from Greenwich (site of the Gymnastics and Equestrian Events) to the Excel Centre (Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Table Tennis, Weightlifting etc.)  Today, it still runs between these two venues: the O2 Arena and the Excel Centre.  But how likely is it anyone will want to visit both in one day?

Next month, for example, you could spend the day at the Excel Centre visiting BETT (“the global meeting place for everyone who is passionate about the transformational power of learning technology”), then take the Air Line to the O2 to see Ronan Keating in concert.  A tiny (and decidedly odd) demographic.

Very few people live near one station and work near the other, hence commuter traffic is negligible.  On the plus side however, the ride is spectacular.  You get great views over most of the sights in East London: the O2 Arena, Canary Wharf, the Royal Docks, the Thames Barrier and (on a fine day) the Olympic Stadium.  It was not a fine day on my last visit – see picture.  Best of all, on a weekday outside rush hour, the chances are that you will get a car all to yourself.  At roughly a quarter the cost of a ride on the London Eye, it is unbeatable value!

Have a look here for more information

With such a demanding schedule it’s important to get enough rest.  So I hope she isn’t being woken up these mornings by the workmen right outside her bedroom window.  And when she opens the curtains to see where the noise is coming from, this is what she sees:

It’s a 20,000-seat stadium erected for the Diamond Jubilee Concert on the 4^th June.  Free tickets have been allocated by ballot and the performers cover several generations, from tweeny X-factor finalists  JLS to alleged Prince Philip favourite, veteran Welsh chanteuse Shirley Bassey.  Four singing knights will revisit the Palace: Sirs Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney and Elton John.

But in her 60 years on the throne, Her Majesty has seen most things, including concerts in her front garden.   It will take something spectacular to beat the highlight of the Golden Jubilee Concert ten years ago: Brian May of Queen, with his Restoration courtier’s hairstyle, standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace playing the national anthem on his Red Special.

See a full list of performers here.  They represent an enormous range of ages and styles and it’s fun to speculate which member of the Royal Family requested which act.  And why…

That was the easy part.  Now for the real work: ticket sales.  Though it’s not the sales that are the problem; it’s ensuring a “fair allocation”.  The numbers are bewildering:

16 days, 26 sports, plus the opening and closing ceremonies translate into 8.8 million tickets.  1.1 million go to sponsors, another 1.1 million go for sale overseas.  That leaves 6.6 million for sale to the British public.  Fair enough – after all, it’s them who have paid for all that stuff in the first paragraph.  And to further ensure fairness, all ticket applications are put into a gigantic first-round ballot.

Round One (April 2011): 1.9 million applications, 1 million of which got zero tickets.

Round Two (July 2011): This 1 million get to apply again.  Most get some tickets this time, though there are glitches.  10,000 synchronised swimming tickets were issued which turned out not to exist.  Disappointed applicants were offered tickets to alternative events.

The 20,000 who emerged from both rounds with no tickets whatsoever are being offered a third chance in the “lucky loser” ballot starting this Friday.  After this there will be a free-for-all for the remaining scraps.

The body responsible for baffling and opaque process, LOCOG (the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games), has been further embarrassed by its flaky ticketing website, its clumsy attempt (now abandoned) to charge for babies being brought to events, and the enormous number of unsold football tickets it is belatedly trying to unload.  No wonder the normally sure-footed LOCOG Chair, Lord Coe, looks shifty whenever the subject of tickets is raised.

Let’s hope this is just a bump in the road which will be forgotten once the games start.

Finally, let’s spare a thought, not for the “lucky losers”, but the “unlucky winners”.  Those who did get something in the first ballot (though far less than they applied for), and who were therefore excluded from the second and subsequent rounds.  Even if all they got was football tickets, which don’t even get you on to the Olympic Park, and which are ten a penny now anyway.  Like me.

Anyone fancy North Korea v. Gabon at Wembley?  There’ll be plenty of room!

The optimists (of which I am one) are represented by this wonderful picture:

260 Guardsmen from the Household Division, who normally guard the royal palaces, pick out the number 100 with inch-perfect precision on Horse Guards Parade (venue for the 2012 beach volleyball).  A good example of the tradition, discipline and dedication which, we optimists believe, will deliver an memorable and successful Olympics.

The pessimists are well represented in the national press, though here we have to distinguish between the Jeremiahs who have prophesied doom from day one, and the more balanced sceptics who point out potential problem areas.  Despite the impressive efforts of the ODA (the builders) and LOCOG (the organisers), such problem areas still abound.  Top of the list comes transport.  Today’s Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/apr/18/london-olympics-2012-hurdles-transport-system) reports on a test journey from the Basketball Arena to the Shooting venue and then on to the Aquatic Centre, using the public transport network which LOCOG are telling us is the ONLY way to travel during the games.  It makes a disturbing read.

Over the past 2 years I have been amazed at the speed and efficiency with which the venues on the Olympic Park have been built.  But my focus has been on how far we’ve come; it takes an outsider to see how far we still have to go.  The word “park” is only figurative: everywhere there are still acres of concrete, piles of building materials, large expanses of brown earth.  And only 100 days to finish planting, landscaping and clearing away the bulldozers.

Well, 99 now.

For the British, particularly those interested in sport, it heralds the start of springtime, and with it a domestic season whose highlights are welcomed for their familiarity: the Grand National, Royal Ascot, the FA Cup Final, Wimbledon, the Open Golf Championships.  This year will, of course, be dominated by the foreign intrusion of the Olympic Games, but soon things will settle back into comforting domesticity.

The start, it has to be said, has been ominous.  Instead of the usual intense but well mannered contest between Oxford and Cambridge’s finest rowers, we had something of a fiasco.  A few minutes into the 20-minute event, the race was stopped to avoid serious injury to a swimmer who suddenly appeared in the river between the two boats.  After the re-start, the boats got too close together, oars clashed violently, and an Oxford crew member was left “rowing” with splintered pole for the remainder of the race, which Cambridge won easily.  To finish things off, the Oxford bow man passed out shortly after the finish and was taken to hospital.  Cambridge’s 81^st victory (to Oxford’s 76) proved a hollow one.

Picking through the entrails, the doom merchants quickly shifted up a gear, predicting all kinds of calamities for the summer.  There is, however, little similarity between the Boat Race and the $14 Billion rocket-fuelled global mega-blast that is the Olympic Games.  One key difference being that the Boat Race is still, wonderfully, an event for amateurs.  Keep calm and carry on.

Fortunately there are many places in the country immediately recognizable as Harry Potter film locations.  London and Oxford between them can offer more than enough to fill a day.  And now there is a powerful new attraction in the Potter universe.

On March 31^st, Warner Brothers will unveil “Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter”.  Based at their studios in Leavesden, where all eight films were actually made, it is a huge collection of authentic sets, costumes, models and props which will have Potter devotees captivated.  Walk through Dumbledore’s office, the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room, the Weasley kitchen and more.  Green Screen technology will allow you to compete in a game of Quidditch, after which you can quench your thirst with a tankard of Butterbeer.

What strikes you most about Studio Tour London is just how much effort has gone into creating this world of wizardry and magic.  Every last detail, from the triple-decker Knight Bus to Dumbledore’s Deluminator, is vividly realised and presented.  You begin to understand just how much talent and work is required for even a few seconds of film.

As studio attractions go, this is one of the best I’ve seen.  Don’t expect a theme park full of white-knuckle rides and simulators.  Warner Bros: Studio Tour London is aimed at the real Potter connoisseur and it is true to the world created by the books and the movies.  It is not cheap: at £28 for an adult it ranks  with Madame Tussauds on price.  But it far exceeds Tussauds in quality.

Please note that you cannot buy tickets at the entrance.  All visits must be pre-booked and you should allow three hours for a full tour.  Be sure to visit www.wbstudiotour.co.uk before you do anything.   After that, just enjoy!

The Routemaster was finally phased out in 2005.  We still have red double-decker busses in London, but they have neither the atmosphere nor the open rear platform of the Routemaster.  However the classic version still runs on two “Heritage Routes”: the number 9 from the Albert Hall to Trafalgar Square, and the number 15 from Trafalgar Square to the Tower of London.

Yesterday, February 27^th,  saw the debut of the brand new hi-tech Routemaster.  A modern reworking of the classic, it tries to combine the best features of the old bus while being cleaner, greener and more accessible.  Have a look at it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2012/feb/27/routemaster-new-buses-boris-johnson-london-interactive

For the time being it is only operating on one route, the 38 from Victoria Station to Hackney.  London Mayor Boris Johnson has been criticised for backing what many see as a personal “vanity project”, having made an election promise to replace the much-loved original.  The prototype was even known as the “Borismaster”.  And it is true that the new Routemaster will cost £1.4 million, as against £190,000 for a conventional London double-decker,  at a time when bus fares have risen 50% in 2 years.

As against this, the new Routemaster is truly innovative, with a hybrid diesel-electric engine delivering twice the fuel efficiency and half the emissions of its conventional counterpart.  And it has two staircases.  And that open rear platform.  Doesn’t it look great?

So it was a surprise when, at the end of that year, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced that he was considering closing some of his shows, blaming the anticipated downturn in general tourism during this Olympic year.   Seasoned observers responded to this statement with scepticism, pointing out that in 1997, Webber threatened to leave the UK if Labour won the general election. They did; he didn’t.

The body which represents the West End, the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) http://www.solt.co.uk/, has taken a much more positive view.  Granted, the experience of Sydney, Athens and Beijing certainly showed a decline in conventional tourism during the Olympics.  But, says SOLT, going to the theatre is a central part of the London experience, which cannot be said of the other Olympic cities.

The hundreds of thousands of additional visitors the games will attract cannot spend all their time watching their chosen sport, and therefore represent a great opportunity for the West End.  Not to mention the even greater numbers who tried and failed to get Games tickets, but who instead would relish the atmosphere of a warm, bustling cosmopolitan evening in the West End instead.

As ever, only time will tell.  Meanwhile, many shows have announced unprecedented extensions of booking periods to cover the period of the Olympic and Paralympic games.

2012 is the bicentenary of his birth, which is being marked by the Museum of London (www.museumoflondon.org) with a special exhibition.  It celebrates Dickens’ relationship with London.  A fascinating and well captioned collection of paintings, clothes, household objects, pub signs and manuscripts illustrate both the noble and everyday aspects of Dickens’ life.  A cell door from Newgate prison reminds us that Dickens’ father was imprisoned for debt.  Dickens himself escaped poverty and a neatly written ledger from Coutts Bank shows his modest expenditure month by month.  Amongst the many manuscripts is the opening chapter of Bleak House.  Its dense scribble, amendments and crossings-out make you wonder how any typesetter could reproduce his prose accurately.

Above all, you get a vivid picture of 19^th century London, then the largest and most overcrowded city in the world.  Charles Dickens was its chronicler.  In Dombey and Son, a character  wonders at all the people who move to the city in the hope of improving their lives:

“Day after day, such travellers crept past, but always, as she thought, in one direction – always towards the town.  Swallowed up in one phase or other of its immensity, towards which they seemed impelled by a desperate fascination, they never returned.  Food for the hospitals, the churchyards, the prisons, the river, fever, madness, vice, and death, – they passed on to the monster, roaring in the distance, and were lost.”

The exhibition runs until the 10^th June and entry costs £8 for adults and £7 for concessions.  If you book in advance you save £1, an act of prudence of which Charles Dickens would have heartily approved.