Brunel rises to the birthday occasion

Isambard Kingdom Brunel not only had a magnificent moniker but he was also, as every schoolboy knows, a great Victorian.

Next month sees the 200th anniversary of his birth, and by way of celebration the Royal Mint are to produce special &£2 coins featuring the man and Paddington station.

A somewhat more irreverent way of celebrating his birthday has been dreamt up by developers flogging apartments at Paddington Walk.

They have come up with a couple of virals, one featuring a Brunel lookalike being pounded into the ground by the hydraulic rolling bridge at Paddington Basin.

The other features a comely lady parading sexily over the same bridge, and causing something of a reaction.

Quite what Brunel would have made of it the Diary could not possibly guess, but the virals can be watched at www.paddingtonwalk.co.uk.