Royal Albert Hall

The Proms, where standing in the arena costs less than a sandwich

Built in memory of Prince Albert and opened in 1871, the hall seats more than five thousand under an oval glass dome that had an echo so notorious that a hundred and thirty-five fibreglass discs were hung from the ceiling in 1969 to cure it. They worked, and they look like flying saucers, and nobody wants them removed.

For eight weeks every summer it hosts the Proms, a festival founded in 1895 on the principle that a standing place should cost about the same as a pint. It still does, which makes the cheapest tickets in British classical music available on the day, every day, for two months.