At 20 he is too young to remember the first wave but he loves the music It's

At 20 he is too young to remember the "first wave", but he loves the music, "It's rare to get a night like this in London," he says.Punk stalwarts UK Subs are headlining, while London trio The Stains provide support. Having just signed a deal with Dough Joe, a label that also has The Selecter and Bad Manners, The Stains have their eye on success in the States "Punk's in vogue there," says John, the bald-headed bassist "It's also big in Europe. England's the only place you struggle - here it's all trendy pop bollocks."Describing themselves as "old codgers", they are in their early 30s and remember punk in the good ole days. Having been in various band permutations for years, this is the first time it has gelled. Even though they are fans of everyone from Slaughter and the Dogs to "classic Pistols", they insist that theirs is not a nostalgia trip - "If it was nostalgia we'd get up and do a load of old bloody covers," says Simon, a van courier.

"What we do is relevant," chips in drummer Gary (Baldi), a drainage surveyor by day. "We sing about the music media, have a bash at them 'cos we hate them. We also sing about one-sided love affairs, joy riders."Later I see them on stage, guitars slung low Sid Vicious style, clattering drums I could be in a time warp Time to drink up and leave.. TODAY is the last day of National Ski Week and we haven't seen so much as a snowflake Piste off? If so, you'd head for East London's Beckton Alps. They are less picturesque than the French Alps and smaller - they consist of a 200 metre long plastic slope - but they're cheaper, nearer and if you're a ski virgin the instructors don't make you feel like a prat And I should know. In my two sweatshirts, jumper, jacket, scarf, padded gloves, tights and leggings, I felt like the Michelin Man No matter. My protective layers took the edge off my nerves and 20 minutes into my first lesson I realised I was a natural.

I pushed off, and slithered for a full three minutes on the practically-horizontal nursery slope. My skis and poles flew everywhere and I landed in an ungainly heap. My Italian coach Sergio Cis rushed over: "Brilliant!" he beamed, "you were brilliant!" Sergio, 52, is a former Olympic skier and ex-trainer of the English Alpine Squad He's also a dab hand with amateurs. He showed me how to carry my skis without poking someone's eye out, warm up, sidestep, snowplough - all the dull beginnery stuff - with minimum fuss. When we progressed to the ski lift he warned me to watch the moving machinery "or the button chair will hit you - clunk!" I nodded impatiently and a button chair hit me - clunk!We got to the top and I realised that the Beckton Alps (45ft) was, in fact, a huge sheer mountain face. Gibbering with fear I shuffled my way down as Sergio shouted: "Weight on your left ski. Now right! Now left!" My backside hit plastic more than once but after 90 minutes I was swish- swashing quite happily.