Life
Frankie gets his last Royal Ascot hurrah – in spades
We all wanted Frankie to have a last Royal Ascot hurrah. In the end he got four, including a ninth…
Canine manners have gone to the dogs
‘Do you want me to put my dog on the lead?’ shouted the woman on her phone, as she came…
The changing face of the Eternal City
Rome To the Eternal City for the saddest of occasions, the funeral of the mother of Taki, 17, and Maria,…
Kiwi life
They closed the schools for several days recently in the small New Zealand town of Opotiki. A gang leader had…
Language
A Speccie reader has asked me for the origin of the expression ‘mumbo jumbo’ – and there turns out to…
Great discoveries
David Hodge is the 2023 British Chess Solving champion, after winning the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in Nottingham last…
Cobb salad: a bright idea for summer suppers
They do salads differently in America. Caesar salad, Waldorf salad, even their egg salads and potato salads: they’re big, they’re…
As good as pub food gets: The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, reviewed
The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, is in the Pewsey Vale on the edge of Salisbury Plain. Wiltshire’s strangeness surpasses even…
Why we all need an Ollie Robinson
It’s a long way from Edgbaston to Karachi, but that’s where my thoughts were turning after Australia’s last-gasp victory in…
How should schools handle ‘furries’?
Last weekend an audio recording emerged of a 13-year-old girl being called ‘despicable’ by her teacher at a Church of…
My night with Rod Liddle
‘I was 12 when I first got laid.’ ‘Where was that?’ ‘In Middlesbrough.’ ‘How the hell did you get lucky…
Aussie life
With the exception of two or three of our tastier fish species, I doubt if anything in Australia has taken…
Language
For a number of years British journalist Philip Howard wrote a weekly language column for the Times in London (he…
The beauty of rosé and roses
What an idyllic setting. We were amidst the joys of high summer in England, with just enough of a breeze…
