He said: "We don't think there is any ground for complacency. What happened yesterday was deeply damaging and distressing for a very large number of people."The blackout also provided the first real test of the capital's procedures, overhauled after the 11 September attacks, for dealing with terrorist attacks and other emergencies. Stephen Timms, the Energy minister, ordered National Grid Transco to report back as soon as the exact problem had been found. An apology for the "totally exceptional" rush-hour blackout in parts of London on Thursday night, which caused transport chaos and cost the economy millions, was issued yesterday by the National Grid. Claims by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, that the two-stage power failure in south London was a result of under-investment in the system were rejected, as were comparisons with the recent blackout on the east coast of the United States.But the Grid, which is run by a private-sector company, must account to ministers for the failure. Local firms were giving between £1 and £200 to save it and, when that happens in Dundee, you know it's something.". Everyone in the town was so enthusiastic about it when it was found. "It would be an even greater shame if the ceiling were now lost because of a lack of storage space for the heavy crates," he said It's absolutely incredibly beautiful, really gorgeous.
Its jute barons once vied with each other to build elaborate houses, and Carbet Castle was one of the grandest, although few remain.Ralph Henderson, a retired art lecturer, said it was a disappointment that a proper home for the ceiling had never been found, despite many efforts. But he said he hoped someone would come forward with the space to store - and ideally display - the slice of local history.Much of the fortune of Dundee was built on its jute mills and textile industries. But its size and the need for restoration has meant it has languished in crates ever since - with its future now imperilled by the imminent demolition of its current storage space at Dundee University.Jack Searle, of the Dundee Civic Trust, which led the original rescue campaign, said: "It's the last-chance saloon We're not a big organisation, so this is quite tricky. An exquisite painted ceiling that provides a rare reminder of the vast wealth once held by the jute barons of Dundee is threatened with destruction unless a new home can be found within the next six weeks. The ceiling, which measures about 30ft by 16ft (9m by 5m), has been held in storage for nearly 20 years, since it was found in the ruins of a castle, most of which had been demolished decades earlier.A public campaign and support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund raised more than £12,000 in 1984 to save the dining room ceiling of Carbet Castle, which was once home to the Grimond family, of which the former Liberal Party leader Joe Grimond was a member.It was painted in 1871 by the Parisian artist Charles Frechou, who is also understood to have worked on the Paris Opera House. As he says: "Icaria was neither lost nor found, just woven into the fabric of life in Barcelona." The reviewer's book 'Zoomorphic: New Animal Architecture', is published next month by Laurence King.
What does come through is Stewart's love of the place and the curious characters it throws up. Cause and effect are clearer in the case of Monturiol's friend, Idlefons Cerd?who laid out the modern city. If only they were all able to steal away in their submarines!Ultimately, Stewart doesn't make the case that Monturiol was a catalyst of Barcelona's irrepressible modernism rather than just a symptom of it. His ideas spurned, he retired into hack-work as his children died. Though Monturiol was harmless enough, we are left with a hint of the truth that utopians cause the problems in the world. As his schemes grew more ambitious, the one-time pacifist was desperate to interest government (Spanish or Catalan): it would balance power at sea and so prevent war.His end was tragic. He was an internationalist (as any thinking scientist must) rather than a Catalan flag-waver, but when local bards acclaimed his invention, he was subsumed into the nationalist myth.
