Bedroom secrets
IN common with most folk of a certain age, I remember winters in unheated bedrooms where you would wake to find ice patterns on the inside of the window and … Continue readingBedroom secrets
A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
IN common with most folk of a certain age, I remember winters in unheated bedrooms where you would wake to find ice patterns on the inside of the window and … Continue readingBedroom secrets
TOWARDS the end of 1913, a young Cambridge graduate named Arthur Grimble was nominated to a cadetship in the Colonial Office. This meant he would serve a three-year probation period … Continue readingOur Man in the South Seas
DURING this spell of freezing weather I thought we would look at a bird that is well adapted to these conditions, the ptarmigan. More properly called the rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), in … Continue readingThe ptarmigan’s ptrousers
A WHILE ago I waxed lyrical about the magnificent market hall in Budapest. A smaller rival to its charms is the Mercado dos Lavradores, a fruit, vegetable, flower and fish market in Funchal, the … Continue readingPassion at a price
ON FRIDAY night we had the first hard frost of the winter. I thought it would be the end of my geraniums which I have not got in yet, though … Continue readingThe plants with built-in antifreeze
WHEN I started out in national newspapers 45 years ago it was still the custom not to publish on Good Friday. That left Maundy Thursday free for journalists and print … Continue readingA naked woman on my knee
MY husband Alan regularly takes our young labrador Teddy up on the nearby fells and often sees ravens, which I never see at lower levels. The common raven (Corvus corax) is the … Continue readingThe raven, a magnificent flying machine
A FEW years ago during a chat with a film-loving colleague, I asked him to nominate his favourite actor. He came up with Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for Tender … Continue readingWho’s your least favourite actor?
This week I am handing over the main part of the column to BRIAN MEREDITH for his account of a traditional British pursuit: point-to-point racing. AT MY age it’s not … Continue readingA day at the races
ONE of the most galling incidents in Bertie Wooster’s life is recounted several times in the Wodehouse oeuvre. It happened in the Drones Club, was perpetrated by Hildebrand ‘Tuppy’ Glossop, … Continue readingDastardly deeds at the Drones Club