How to be made to feel small

I had to laugh. We went to see Prince at what used to be the Dome last night. I always thought the Dome was an amazing place, its scale and the feeling you get inside it were quite awe-inspiring.

Now, however, it looks like an American High Street. There are lots of food joints (and you know which ones they were as well) in a narrow street with fake trees; insipid, pushover architecture and restrictions to views that make you wonder why you are there.

I wonder what more cultured visitors would think. We appear to design like this because it is a low common denominator, easy to do and not insulting to anyone.

Well, I'm insulted. Where is our aspiration to high culture? Good design? Celebration of space? Ambitions to go beyond the bland?

You cant smoke in the dome, you cant take your plastic pint outside, you cant take cameras into the auditorium- but you can take in your phone (which is a better camera, but they 'trust you' not to use it!). If you buy a bottle of water they remove the plastic lid, presumably so you cant throw it( but you can do what you want with an empty plastic bottle!) . When I went to get my camera back, the lady handed it to the person next to me!

I find myself dumbfounded. I'm not a Tory, or an anarchist. I believe in a mixture of rules imposed for the common good and self-imposed restraints for the same reason. Stupid rules annoy me and whenever I fall foul to one, I always ask 'Why?' (usually loudly). We should all do this.

All in all, Prince was great and the arena is brilliant- big, yet cosy with well raked seats and brilliant views.

The chance to turn the fortunes of the Dome around has, however, been squandered by a lack of imagination and the desire to make as much money as possible.

The YHA and the Cappuccino crowd

Having recently stayed at the Capel y ffin Youth Hostel in the Black Mountains of Wales, on a 'Lads Camp' walking weekend, I have to reflect on the changing nature of even the most philanthropic of our institutions.

This particular YH is the oldest in Wales and consists of several small stone buildings of various low ceilinged, head- smashing propensity and took us all back to rustic YH visits of our childhood and youth. It is cute and cosy and provides the only affordable, heated indoor shelter in the heart of this rugged area.

But it is about to close. The YHA lost a lot of money during the Foot and Mouth Crisis a few years ago and its ultimate, and undeniably modern, response is to close around 30 of the older, less frequented, in need of investment, hostels around the country. This is a sad reflection of modern life, the sacred cow of profit and the demise of those institutions which were set up to achieve a more altruistic, social good that the market could (or would) not provide.

The city hostels are receiving investment as they tempt the younger crowd of backpackers and party -people who wish to dance and drink. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but the facilities in the countryside will suffer as a result. Capel YH was £11 a night and well worth it. Cardiff YH has an offer on of £13 a night, which includes breakfast. I haven't been to Cardiff YH, but I reckon its a much more modern set-up.

Shouldn't the YHA use the urban hostels, which can reasonably charge more than those in remote areas, to help subsidise the upkeep of the less profitable, but no less necessary, facilities?

Once these buildings are gone, they are gone for good, that should not be doubted, but for the sake of modernity and coolness, the YHA feels it needs to enter the 21st Century. Sadly, the work of the 19th and 20th centuries is not finished yet, and more young people than ever are detached from their rural heritage. Giving them a coffee machine and proximity to a nightclub will not alter that. (God , I sound old!)

The YHA seems to have forgotten its original charitable aim of providing access for 'all, especially young people of limited means, to a greater knowledge, love and care of the countryside.....'