A version of this review appeared in later editions of yesterday's paper.. They have staged some of the country's most memorable moments in theatre and their boards have been trodden by some of the most famous names in the business. They have staged some of the country's most memorable moments in theatre and their boards have been trodden by some of the most famous names in the business. But some of our most historic and best-loved theatres are uncomfortable, unsafe and downright dangerous, says a report from the Theatres Trust. If the industry is to survive, it says there is the "greatest need for change", not least in the West End of London.The rest of the country is no better. In a damning paragraph, the trust's annual report states: "In countless towns around Britain, theatre audiences still sit in uncomfortable seats with poor views and spend the interval in queues for the toilet or crushed in a bar, while performers and theatre staff continue to work in conditions that would long ago have been condemned in most other professions."The trust suggests these are among reasons why many theatre people want to take their work outside traditional venues to less formal settings.In the West End, the trust's director, Peter Longman, said: "The sites are under-exploited, theatrically the range of sizes and types is too narrow, and nearly all the buildings need improving to meet modern standards of comfort and safety."Theatre, at least in the West End of London, and particularly in the unsubsidised sector, is going to have to make the best of its existing sites. This may well necessitate major alterations, and could lead to conflicts with English Heritage, and its counterparts, and with planning authorities. In some instances demolition and replace- ment has been contemplated."Outside London, it has sometimes been possible to find additional space on which to expand [but] high property values in the West End generally make expansion impossible."He added yesterday: "At many theatres you have the choice in the interval, 'Do I go to the loo or to the bar?' There is no time to do both.

At the cinema, in a modern multiplex, there are no such difficulties.The trust's stand is being supported by Lord Lloyd-Webber, who owns a dozen West End theatres He wants to demolish and replace the Apollo and the Lyric. André Ptaszynski, chief executive of Lord Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Theatres group, said: "I applaud the open-mindedness of the trust's approach."The second-largest West End owner, Ambassador Theatre Group, is making improvements to the Piccadilly and Albery theatres. Its operations director David Blyth said: "We are only too aware of these issues. There is a heavy demand made on limited resources in providing top quality productions within state-of-the-art buildings."The Theatres Trust was set up by Parliament in 1976 to promote better protection of theatres. Mr Longman said: "We have often remarked how performers and audiences still tend to prefer the atmosphere of the traditional auditoria, but the contrast between new and refurbished lottery-funded buildings and the majority that have not been touched since the 1970s, or even the 1900s, has now become rather too telling."The trust is encouraging the Society of London Theatre to prepare test cases on specific theatres to explore how much could be altered within planning rules. Rupert Rhymes, the society's chief executive, said the matter will discussed at the industry-wide theatre conference in London in March.. The decline of Christianity in Britain is obvious.

Only about 8 per cent of the population attend a service regularly; churches are being converted into restaurants and galleries. Even though some people still put in an appearance at church at Christmas, the festive season is dominated by Santa Claus and his gift-bearing reindeer. As we enter the third Christian millennium, Britain is becoming one of the most secular societies in the world The decline of Christianity in Britain is obvious. Only about 8 per cent of the population attend a service regularly; churches are being converted into restaurants and galleries.

Even though some people still put in an appearance at church at Christmas, the festive season is dominated by Santa Claus and his gift-bearing reindeer. As we enter the third Christian millennium, Britain is becoming one of the most secular societies in the world. But, in charting the death of Christian Britain, Callum G Brown challenges the conventional theory that sees secularisation as an inevitable process that began with the Enlightenment, which, it was thought, was inherently hostile to religion. Brown, however, points out that during the early 19th century, evangelical religion flourished; that there was an almost unprecedented growth of institutional religion in Britain between 1945 and 1958; and that secularisation did not take firm root until about 1963, "Between the end of the Chatterley ban/ And the Beatles' first LP", as Philip Larkin so felicitously put it.The reason for this marked decline, Brown argues, was not the triumph of scientific rationalism, but the huge transformation of the role of women that began during the Sixties. He shows how piety had become feminised during the 19th century. The woman was seen as the guardian of faith: the angel of the house, who presided over the less reliable religiosity of her menfolk.