Talking of views - this column's topic last week and now of course on everyone's lips - there really is an extraordinary omission from Sir Trevor McDonald's TV search for Britain's best view, which served to prime the column's thoughts on our scenic jewels.

Durham. Every day I use a tray on which is imprinted the view of castle and cathedral from the railway station. No one who has seen it will dispute that this magnificent panorama, the very epitome of Northern strength, is among the finest views in Europe - the accolade I awarded last week, more idiosyncratically, to the view across Whitby Bay from Lythe Bank.

Almost as good is the view of the cathedral soaring above the river, with a weir and the old Fulling Mill in the foreground. The image most often chosen to promote Durham, city and county, worldwide this is more romantically beautiful than the combination of castle and cathedral dominating the city. But it speaks less of the North as a whole.

To be idiosyncratic again, in days when my drive north took me through the city I always stole a glance at the cathedral across allotments near Durham school. This pleased me as much as any of the classics.

But the truth is that Durham Cathedral looks glorious from almost wherever it appears in and around the city. Which makes it quite unbelievable that the city planners approved a warehouse-style indoor soccer centre that intrudes into the wooded view of the cathedral from the eastern side of the city.

They've now taken a well-deserved rap from the Ombudsman. But not for their colossal act of misjudgement in allowing a monstrosity to mar a masterpiece. Restricted to examining matters of procedure, the Ombudsman found that the council had erred in not informing its relevant committee of its duty, under the council's Local Plan, to "protect and enhance the environment".

Do councillors need a policy statement to pursue this surely fundamental aim? In Durham in particular, if they have to be told of an obligation to cherish the beauty of the city, in which the views of the cathedral are paramount, then, to use a modish phrase, they are not fit for purpose.

While Trevor McDonald is seeking our best views, Robbie Coltrane is attempting to discover the nation's "real heart and soul'' in a series entitled B-Road Britain. Will Robbie notice, as he turns off the motorways and trunk roads, that Britain's B roads are now as traffic plagued as the A roads were not long ago? Even on C roads traffic now hurtles at sub-motorway speeds, which has led the Council for the Protection of Rural England to launch a campaign to Save Our Lost Lanes. If you want to get off the beaten track today you have to go by footpath and stile.

Back on our busiest roads, shed a tear for Eddie Stobart. Taken over by a property firm, Britain's best-known haulier has sacrificed more prestige by emblazoning its fleet with the dread word "logistics". What's wrong with "haulage"or "transport", for heaven's sake? Compounding the blunder, managing director William Stobart burbles: "We believe the future of industrial logistics is about the integration of all modes.'' Yes, Eddie Stobart has seriously lost its way.