A Visit To Wembley Stadium

It's great having time off at Easter and being able to take your children out to see the sights of the capital.

A few days ago I visited Highgate cemetery by accident, after getting lost looking for the car park at London Zoo.

So when this time I decided to take Augustus to see the new Wembley Stadium I was careful to take a map with me so I wouldn't get lost again. I must confess I was a bit surprised to discover that the new building was a mile or so away from the site of the (now demolished) original, as I had mistakenly thought it was being rebuilt on the same site. Still, Neasden's not far away and it looks like a much better location for access on match days.

I was very impressed by the edifice which greeted us.

I knew nothing had been spared in constructing a majestic new home for England's number one sport, but even I was surprised to see towering spires, gold leaf, marble, limestone and alabaster everywhere. Intrigued to discover more about the building, I found a helpful man by the name of Mr Jitu Patel, who explained how the new Wembley had been constructed so opulently within a total budget of just £138.96, all of which had been donated by football worshippers. According to Mr Patel, things were not going well under the original project manager, Mr Jagdeesh Singh, but once an injunction had been served on "the trouble-maker", the project was quickly put back on schedule.

Augustus was keen to interrogate Mr. Patel about the economics of the stadium and managed to extract the following information (albeit after threatening the poor man with "poo poo"). Built on 1.5 acres of prime development land in north-west London, the new stadium incorporates:

• 990m³ (2,828 tonnes) of cream-coloured Bulgarian limestone,
• 700m³ (2,000 tonnes) of white Italian and Indian marble,
• 43m³ (127 tonnes) of Indian granite,
• 92 farmed Burmese teak trees (I didn't know they still had trees in Myanmar),
• 226 English oak trees (replanted in the Outer Hebrides on a 10-for-1 basis),
  
• 194 concrete piles;

and its construction involved:

• 1,695 craftsmen (many of whom volunteered their services entirely free of charge, after nothing more than the very gentlest encouragement),
  
• 10,000 football fans on community service orders,
  
• 1 supermodel called Naomi (equipped with a mop),
  
• 12,000,000 part time volunteers on a youth work experience scheme, all of whom were over the age of 18, even though admittedly quite a few of them did look a lot younger.

Wow. You learn something every day. Augustus and I were very impressed and I'm looking forward to taking my son to a home international in Neasden next season.