GRAFFITI can be enriching. Hang on to your ASBOs, and let us explain. In the shadow of Monk Bar in York there is a shop. Or rather there was a shop, Beryl's Fabrics.

Quite who Beryl was and what sort of fabrics she festooned on a no doubt grateful city are articles unknown to the Diary. Any information welcome. But it is clear from the dilapidated exterior of the building that Beryl hawked her last yard of chiffon some seasons ago.

One of the ugly boards used in lieu of windows has been brightened up considerably by an artist. A graffiti artist. He or she has painted a bright red heart. Days later, the words "Yeah I know. X" were added.

"This happened a few months back and someone wrote a long quote, I think by Browning, about how we should all be nice to each other," says my Monkgate mole.

"The council (presumably) tore it down, left the jagged window showing for a couple of days then stuck up a new boring, derelict-looking board."

The return of the heart "is hurting no one. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it makes people smile. Every time I go past it, it cheers me up no end. Personally I hope it stays.

"Not all graffiti is bad!"

The Diary agrees. If you have seen uplifting, funny or otherwise positive graffiti, please let us know.

LAST week the Diary admitted our deliberate mistake of moving Barnsley from South into West Yorkshire. But even our correction was wrong, according to Bob Hutchinson.

"You compounded your mistake by saying Barnsley was in West Yorkshire. We all know that there are three 'Ridings' (Thirdings), East Riding of Yorkshire, North Riding of Yorkshire and West Riding of Yorkshire, but no South Riding (no room for a fourth), so consequently no South Yorkshire."

So where is Barnsley, then?

IF York's soldiers wish to really shine on the parade ground, they should take lessons from the barristers and solicitors' clerks at York Crown Court. The legal display of alertness and synchronised standing-to-attention would put many regiments to shame.

Last week, the crowd of lawmen and women were lounging in Courtroom One as they waited for the judge to arrive. A buzz of conversation filled the air while court staff did something complicated on the Bench with the judicial furniture. Then there was a loud bang.

Conversations stopped mid-word. As one, the entire court rose and silently watched the judge's door.

They waited, and waited. After a few minutes, it dawned that the bang was not the usual ceremonial knock on the door to alert everyone to His Honour's arrival, but court staff knocking something over.

YORK may have seen an exodus of footballers leave at the end of the season after City staged a clear-out, but players are queuing up to live in another North Yorkshire tourist spot.

Harrogate, the Diary is assured, is home to three stars from Premiership club Middlesbrough, including striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who recently moved into an £800,000 home in one of the swisher streets.

Former Leeds turned Aston Villa manager David O'Leary still has a home there.

And a famous face from another branch of showbiz, singer Gareth Gates, is said to have eschewed his home town of Bradford for the delights of Harrogate.

What attracts them all to the lap dancing capital of North Yorkshire is beyond us.

Updated: 09:16 Tuesday, May 03, 2005