The replacement of the Lions and Unicorns at the base of the spire of St George\'s Church, Bloomsbury, the restoration of Nelson\'s Column and the restoration and new build at the BBC\'s Broadcasting House. These were the three London landmarks that formed the basis of the Donovan Purcell Memorial Lecture last month (October).

The lecture was sponsored by consultants BRE for the first time and, also for the first time, was held at the headquarters of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in Birdcage Walk, Westminster. The lectures were presented by Tim Crawley, director of stone specialists Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey and the sculptor in charge of the recreation of the beasts that had been removed by the Victorians from the base of the spire of this Hawksmoor church (see NSS September issue). Peter Harrison, from design consultants Harrison Goldman spoke about the work on Nelson\'s Column (see NSS October issue) with which he had been involved with the contractors, David Ball Restoration. And Adrian Paye, chief executive of PAYE Stonework & Restoration, spoke about his company\'s involvement on first the restoration of Broadcasting House and the subsequent new build of an extension to replace earlier extensions (featured in the September issue of NSS).