Fire in the cathedral close...

[sawyl]

Walking into town to go to the supermarket, I noticed a definite smell of smoke in the air. Trying to cut through the cathedral close, I discovered the cause: a huge fire that was in the process of spreading through the Royal Clarence. Avoiding all the closed roads, I went round Musgrave Row to the Guildhall. In the perhaps ten minutes it took me to do my shopping, the view from Queen Street had changed with the smoke suddenly much darker and flames pouring up from the buildings to the south.

The news reports say that everyone was evacuated in good time, but it looks like the buildings are going to be badly damaged. It's all very sad...