Southbank Poster

Here is the new artwork to promote the Southbank. I like the Southbank. It has the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall for concerts, it has the National Theatre and The Old Vic for theatrical productions, it has the Hayward Gallery for art, it has the British Film Institute and the giant iMax cinema and it has eateries and shops. It has the Big Wheel (aka The London Eye). It also has the River Thames and a stunning walk along the south bank of the river, majestic bridges and the beaches at low tide. It has the best railway station in the world in Blackfriars, built in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge that presents amazing views of Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral when you get off the train. It has buskers and living statues and a magic roundabout and Udderbelly every summer and Jubilee Gardens where I took part in the Rain of Poems.

I served as a London Ambassador on the Southbank during the 2012 Olympics when London was pretty and its denizens all wore smiles. We had the sun and summer heat back then. And every winter it has an ice-rink, a Christmas market and lights in the trees and, when we're lucky, snow.

At the moment the views from the Southbank are rather splendid with the nights drawing in, walking east and seeing the lights of the skyscrapers in the City on the other side of the river. Even better to be in the middle of Waterloo Bridge and to look at the lights on both sides of the river. A magical sight.

As Ray Davies sings, 'Waterloo sunset's fine...'. And rather beautiful too, I would add.