Letter from London

摘要

The awful and unnecessary death of Francis Golding, another victim of London's inadequate rules, conventions and infrastructure in respect of cycling, made last Sunday's military memorial particularly poignant, a reminder of what we face when confronted by premature death. Francis was not young, but was still working and contributing to improve the architecture and public realm aspects of many varying developments across London at the time of his fatal collision with a coach in Southampton Row. His acerbic wit, powers of analysis and fundamental honesty will be much missed, diminishing the small band of administrator gurus who ran the Royal Fine Art Commission in its heyday under the chairmanship of Lord St John of Fawsley.