So, what were you doing on the great day, at the time of the big announcement?

In years to come, how will you tell your grandchildren about the magical moment when this feisty old town of ours shook off its shady image and slipped on its rather grander city slicker's robes?

Well, of course, nothing has really changed. This feisty old town has simply become a feisty old city. But, hey! Not a word to a soul about that.

It is strictly between you and me. We love our rather gaudy, hard-earned, honky-tonk image too much to let the Queen or the Home Office or whoever hide it all away under new city glitter.

And where was I for the announcement? It was a memorable moment I am happy to share with you.

I was with my wife at the sea end of a deserted Palace Pier where the theatre once stood. It was our 40th wedding anniversary and this was where we had met, all those years ago, back in the spring of 1960.

A light rain was falling on the wintry Monday this week but from beneath our umbrella, we peered out at that marvellous, unique panorama of buildings stretching from Kemp Town to Portslade.

It is a spectacular view of the naughty town we have come to love, the town which has always had the ability to reinvent itself, the town which may have become a city but which will always flash its knickers at the rest of the world.

Will it all mean very much? Yes, of course I have heard the arguments, the boost to the economy, the wonderful marketing tool, the prestige of "city status" and all the rest of it.

It may even help to calm the angst of those tortured souls in Hove who feel threatened about being subsumed by Brighton.

Perhaps in a decade or so we may look back and see whether the potential for change actually materialised into something more substantial. In the meantime, there could be an earlier indication.

I am delighted the council has taken up my suggestion about bidding for us to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. We do not have to be a city to make the bid but, as Sarah Tanburn, the council director of culture and regeneration has rightly pointed out, the bid will have much more clout now we are.

Incidentally, both she and Cabinet culture councillor Ian Duncan must remember to get their wording right. The name of the title has changed from City of Culture to Capital of Culture - or at least, it will have done by 2005.

Glasgow, the only other British city to win the honour back in 1990, had a successful year in the cultural spotlight.

Just think how brilliantly Brighton would strut its stuff on the European stage!

It is a heady end to the year and I wish us all the happiest of Christmases.