WELL, it's gone so effectively, thanks to computer graphics, that Middlesbrough Council is having to assure anxious callers that, yes, they can still see the Transporter bridge as it ever was.

On screen, thanks to Oz and his mates, it's about to be rebuilt across an Arizona canyon and their humour, plus, it seems, their strongly moral attitude to support for each other and the less fortunate, have wiped the Forsyte Saga off the screen for viewing figures. Another series is planned.

What will they do next? Might Spectator suggest they tackle the future of Wembley Stadium? In the news again this week, with a future as uncertain as ever, it could provide a strong storyline, with Wayne's son on his home patch and the provincials taking on London. Remember, you read it here first.

Well worth it

AMID rumour and counter-rumour surrounding the early sound-bites from the RAC's report on the future of traffic, the phrase toll roads reared its head. Predictable responses followed, but it seemed to Spectator the idea wasn't such a bad one and perhaps could be given a positive spin. It is a viewpoint that we only appreciate what we have paid for, and any tourist board worth its salt could have sold the privilege of driving between Croft and Northallerton last Friday. Hedges were gaily decked with the white May blossom and larger trees made sparkling focal points. Verges bright with cow parsley - or as the gardening programmes now have it, Queen Anne's lace - lined the road and all was punctuated with the freshness of spring growth and overhung with a blue and white canopy. Perhaps in our northern theme park, the road could be closed to "ordinary" traffic for a while and hired out for visitors to amble along. Not a serious idea, but it serves to remind us of some of the pleasures of our part of the world.

It's the limit

WOULD South Otterington consider staggering the speed limit at the Northallerton end of the village? Trying to be law abiding is made especially irritating when cars tear past while we stick to the limit leaving the village. It is easy to see why the limit begins where it does when entering Otterington, but if it ended 50 yards or so earlier as one left there would at least be fewer drivers breaking the limit. And yes, the cars bore local registration plates