GO on. Open it. Unfurl this Evening Press centrespread to its maximum, hold it out and size it up.

And... relax.

She's a whopper, ain't she?

When extended to her fullest, the Evening Press resembles a half-tog duvet.

Well, the long and the short of it is that today's is the last big one you'll ever get to grapple with. From Monday we go compact six days a week.

The Diary likes to assess the pros and cons of major decisions.

Here is the list concerning the change to the Evening Press:

Pros

Will never again elbow neighbouring passenger in the chops while trying to turn the page on a bus/train/motorbike and sidecar

Much easier to roll up for the purposes of hitting wasps and passing children

Any worries that the tabloid size will lead to a tabloid mentality are eased by the discovery that the phrase "the compact Evening Press" is an anagram of "prevents comic pages then".

Cons

We have only been broadsheet for most of our 122 years - isn't this decision a bit rushed?

Two years ago Murphy the guinea pig, of Doe Park, Clifton Moor, York wrote to us pleading for the paper to stay broadsheet "because it makes an excellent tunnel for me to run through. Tabloid size just falls flat, so I don't have as much fun". How can we disappoint a cute little cavey?

GOOD news: on this scientific analysis, it's 3-2 in favour of the compact.

NATURALLY the Diary's man in the field, Dale "Minnie The" Minks has his own take on this historic moment. He has been busy with the felt tips to create a parody of our "Easy to pick up... hard to put down" advertising campaign for the new-look paper, "as a tribute at the passing of a 'giant in journalism'". Left is Dale's "easy to pick up" illustration, captioned: "'Keep it light...' says Gas-Lamp Lily". We have no room to publish the "hard to put down" part which involves a policeman and Hong Kong Phooey. Obviously.

YORKOPHILE Ron Willis has also been musing on the milestone. "With the Evening Press poised to become tabloid on September 6 (hooray!) it is an appropriate time, surely, to trace its Diary's line of compilers and its changes in form through the years," writes Ron.

"For starters:

"Samuel Pepys (?); Chris Brayne; Bill Proude; George Brock (the brilliant); Dick Turpin; Robert Beaumont; Chris Titley (the tantaliser).

"Some gaps above for sure. Over to Chris to fill 'em in." Ah. Could do with some help here: anybody?

FINALLY for this size, I am grateful to David Thompson of Walmgate for bringing me up to date. "Welcome back," he emails.

"While you were away there was a bit of a contest going on in Greece. The UK won 30 medals 19, of which were won from a sedentary position.

"Does this say something about the British way of life?"

Write to: The Diary, Chris Titley, The Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN

Email diary@ycp.co.uk

Telephone (01904) 653051 ext 337

Updated: 09:28 Friday, September 03, 2004