ON this momentously bad day for the chocolate city, it is perhaps a moment to reflect that York's confectionery history is far from at an end.

Terry's may be lost, snatched from us by narrow-minded, cheese-processing, dollar-crazed Chicago shysters. But (Nestl) Rowntree is still going strong.

Earlier this week, the Evening Press celebrated the fact that Chocolate Crisp was 70 years old (its name change to KitKat may have prolonged its popularity).

But that is not the only bar to have reached that venerable age. Aero was launched in October 1935, as "the new chocolate". So tomorrow marks its 70th birthday.

Initially it was only available in the north of England, expanding across Britain the following year, and even reaching New York.

To celebrate Aero's birthday, here are two statistics with which to dazzle your nearest sweetshop owner.

1) There are about 2,200 bubbles in one Aero Chunky

2) More than 300 million Aeros are produced each year, enough to circle the earth two and a half times.

WALTER Wolfgang, the 82-year-old man bundled out of the Labour Party conference for heckling, shouted nothing more biting than "nonsense".

It seemed to us a waste of a good heckle. We would welcome ideas from readers of what they would shout at Tony Blair and co, given the chance. Contact details below.

IT had to happen. The Diary is on eBay.

No, it is not being flogged off cheap by the editor (only because he knows it wouldn't attract any bids).

Instead, our words are reproduced as a testimonial.

Earlier this week the Evening Press reported on the case of Nicholas Benton, a graffiti artist ordered to clean up his paintwork by York magistrates. He used stencils to spraypaint images of ponies and aliens across the city.

A similar stencil kit is now up for sale on eBay. This one will produce a two-tone picture of a cat coming out of a flap, as seen on phone boxes in York - and in the Diary - as an example of graffiti that made a reader laugh.

"Perfect for adding a bit of humour to the streets of your town, looks really good on abandoned doors!" goes the eBay ad. "It's really satisfying seeing all sorts of people from toddlers to grand-parents stop and smile at this art."

To prove the point, the seller says: "I did this stencil on the back of a phone box and a week later there was a really positive article on it in the local newspaper." The Diary report is reproduced for the world to read.

A footnote is added: "Please do not use this stencil on any property without permission from the owner.

"And yes....I did get permission from the owner of the phone box."

Responsible graffiti. Whatever next?

FINALLY, the Diary has been getting our Minster animals in a twist. Apparently the monkey carving in the Chapter House is a "grotesque" not a "gargoyle" (gargoyles are found on the outside of buildings to catch water).

And Scamp, the carved dog on one Archbishop's tomb, is a smooth haired fox terrier, and not a fox haired smooth terrier or whatever it was we said. Consider us in the dog kennel.

Updated: 10:03 Friday, September 30, 2005