I think it’s rather odd that, when I was growing up, there was so much talk in the media about the construction of what was then called The Millennium Dome. In my early teens, I remember they decided to build a wonderful new building down in London to celebrate the coming year 2000. At the time, I wasn’t that interested: it was a long way away, and I didn’t think I would ever see the place. Why would teenage me give a rat’s ass about a strange new building in London? Frankly it seemed like a huge waste of money.

The odd thing is, how much that building is now a part of my life, playing a huge role in my local geography. Of course, North Greenwich tube station is just outside the Dome, so I go up there quite frequently. I came back that way on my way home yesterday, and was up there again today for a stroll. It was heaving with people shopping this afternoon; you have to wonder whether the guys who originally designed the building could ever have seen it becoming the cultural and retail hub that it is today. Then, of course, there are all the amazing events that I have attended there over the last thirteen years, not least watching Monty Python Live. Whenever I go, though, I still think of the news reports I saw growing up: of the controversy, of the stupid amounts of money going into building the place. I find it strange how something once so distant, unnecessary and weird, yet which played such a role in the national discourse of my formative years, has now become such a part of my almost daily life.