Life
High life
Gstaad I had the rather subversive idea of offering a six-figure sum to Oriel College, Oxford. On one condition: that…
Long life
I am sure that the Queen disapproves of litter as much as anyone else, but she’s hardly ever exposed to…
Long life
I am sure that the Queen disapproves of litter as much as anyone else, but she’s hardly ever exposed to…
Low life
The hotel reception was lit by three gloomy low-wattage light bulbs. It should have been six but the management was…
Low life
The hotel reception was lit by three gloomy low-wattage light bulbs. It should have been six but the management was…
Beware
My husband pointed with his stick, which he carries not to steady himself but to cudgel pedestrians out of his…
Real life
After the £1,100 quote from the vet in London I drove down the A3 and out the other side of…
Would I break my neck for a bit of TV fame?
Not long ago I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Channel 4 reality show called The Jump.…
Would I break my neck for a bit of TV fame?
Not long ago I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Channel 4 reality show called The Jump.…
Tax me more, but don’t touch my dishwasher
There was a big fuss a year or so ago about a book by a French chap called Piketty about…
Wild life
Nairobi Nairobi’s old avenues were designed to be wide enough for a wagon and several span of oxen to U-turn…
Bridge
It’s got to be the most bizarre news story of the year: last week, no fewer than 50 Thai police…
The King of Greece tells it like it really was
Athens Viewed from Mars, this is a sunny, peaceful city. Up close, however, things ain’t what they used to be.…
Even a Cambridge-educated spook couldn't make me believe in ghosts
Denis was my guide to and from the new out-of-town Lidl superstore at Salernes in Provence. I drove. The road…
My speed awareness course might push me over the limit again
If these speed awareness courses get much more entertaining and informative they might become a dangerous incentive to break the…
Hot tips for next month’s Cheltenham Festival
Racing Life is all about judgment and I got one thing right at Cheltenham last Saturday after the overnight rain.…
Bridge
The Brits have done brilliantly in Icelandair’s annual bridge festival in Reykjavik and this year was no different. The winners…
Irresistible force
Alexander Alekhine was one of the immortals of the chessboard — world champion from 1927, when in an epic war…
No. 394
White to play. This position is from Alekhine-Flohr, Bled 1931. White has a positional advantage but can you spot the…
Woe is me
In Competition No. 2933 you were invited to submit a blurb for a misery memoir. Thanks to Tom Dulake for…
2246: Where’s Maggie?
Unclued lights (including one of two words and three pairs, 37 doing double duty) are characters in a play. A…
To 2243: Obit III
WARREN MITCHELL (42/43), STAR (39) of stage and screen, died on 14th November 2015. He won an Olivier Award as…
Who speaks up for poor white boys when it comes to their education?
David Cameron can be a frustrating figure at times. He wrote an article for the Sunday Times this week in…
Battle for Britain
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John Terry’s ‘farewell’ is a load of hypocritical old tosh
Just when you were thinking that the Premier League had become a much nicer place without José Mourinho in it,…
