Notes on…
The festival where Henry VIII and Francis I made their peace
This week marked 500 years since the beginning of the two-week festival of jousting, feasting and general splendour that came…
Nothing brings people together like a coach holiday
Amid all the Covid-19 coverage, it’s hardly surprising that the collapse of a coach-tour operator last week didn’t make too…
From ABBA to Pet Shop Boys: how bands got their names
You wouldn’t have thought that Starbucks’s pricing policy could influence rock history, but that’s what happened. In the early 1990s,…
Bats don’t deserve all this bad publicity
‘You’d like me to write about bats? I’ve not held one in earnest for years,’ I said, although I did…
Is pasta puttanesca the perfect lockdown dish?
The lockdown could have been the moment I was waiting for: a chance to make those long, slow recipes whose…
Even the owl in my garden is self-isolating
My tawny owl has been self-isolating. I say mine but in truth she chose the nest box in my neighbour’s…
What do your lockdown slippers say about you?
Tartan, monogram, moccasin, clog. What do your slippers say about you? Trick us all you like with your office Manolos,…
Why beards of convenience are a bad idea
Viewers of the BBC News channel, now that Zoom shows talking heads in their own homes, want before anything to…
Is this the end of the wine bottle?
Picture the world before the invention of the bottle: if you wanted a nice glass of claret at home, you’d…
I’m walking round Britain – in my back garden
What’s the best way to keep in shape during the lockdown? That’s the First World problem I’ve been using to…
The oddest thing people are stockpiling? Hens
Is there nothing people won’t panic-buy during this crisis? Having stripped shelves of food and toilet roll, shoppers are now…
How to work from home (according to Churchill, Einstein and Napoleon)
Working from home has been on the rise for years. No one expected the latest surge to happen in the…
We’ve been told not to go to pubs – so why are they full?
Pubs are fascinating at the moment. On the day that the Prime Minister advised us not to attend them, I…
No blues, just reds and whites: the Oxford vs Cambridge wine-tasting
The cellar room is almost silent save for the sound of slurping and spitting and the odd gentle sigh. One…
Is there any better place for an EU-subsidised arts festival than Galway?
I was still digesting my delicious breakfast (kippers, poached eggs and soda bread — all local) when the sad news…
‘Desolate, despairing and awful’: Britain’s uninhabitable island
In 1978, an invitation was sent to some 200 members of Oxford’s Dangerous Sports Club, which simply read: ‘Tea, Rockall,…
How political is your bread board?
It’s not known which inspired Victorian first had the idea to take a chopping block and carve it into a…
The fight to save G. K. Chesterton’s home from demolition
It’s a quiet Wednesday afternoon in Britain’s most expensive market town, and there’s a sense of foreboding in the air.…
Is Monopoly feminist?
I’ve been playing a lot of Monopoly recently. My son got his first grown-up set for Christmas and, even after…
Why does Big Ben bong on the radio before it does in real life?
The debate over whether Big Ben should bong to mark Brexit isn’t the first time the famous bell has caused…
Will Kent conquer Champagne?
Driving home through Kent the other day, I was struck by how much the topography has changed. When I was…
What is the only London Underground station to share no letters with ‘mackerel’?
Don’t worry, this isn’t a piece about fishing quotas. It’s about the word ‘mackerel’ itself. Specifically, the fact that St…
The faded charm of the Isle of Wight
I was worried my first trip to the Isle of Wight might be too late. These days, a holiday island…
Away from the manger: the holy relics of Bethlehem
‘No crib for a bed,’ says ‘Away in a Manger’ rather puzzlingly, since a crib is a manger. ‘No one…
Is St Edmund’s body buried beneath a Suffolk tennis court?
Here in St Edmundsbury cathedral, a bunch of clerics and local bigwigs are preparing for a most unusual anniversary. Throughout…
