I go to the Grosvenor House Hotel to attend the British Construction Industry Awards as the guest of one of the sponsors – Anthony Oliver – the Editor of New Civil Engineer.

These dos (and this was about 1500 people) are almost all men. One brave one actually asked me out – didn’t know whether to be horrified or flattered. Usually they are too scared of me.

Anyway – John Humphreys was the compare for the awards and Charlie Faulkner the guest speaker. They were both brilliantly funny and a lesson in after dinner speaking.

A piece of road won the main prize. Whilst Anthony tried to explain to me that it was about teamwork and construction criteria, my aesthetic taste would have gone for something more tangibly elegant (such as last year’s winner, the Tate Modern).

However, it was a very successful occasion for the industry and for New Civil Engineer.