Devon
How Damien Hirst ruined Devon
There are few better locations to resist la rentrée than the wilds of Exmoor. The late August heather and gorse.…
Disregarded for decades, Jean Rhys stayed true to her vision of life
Jean Rhys lived a vagabond life – but she wrote about gloom and squalor with luminous purity and a poet’s care, says Lucasta Miller
The call of opium-based analgesics and introspection
On the morning of my last day in England, I drew back a curtain and there in the garden, browsing…
Elegy in a country churchyard
‘I love this old watering can,’ said my sister, sprinkling the miniature rose. ‘Though I do worry about soaking Mum.…
More than one bad apple: the sorry demise of English cider
Can you imagine if, in the 20th century, wine producers in France had switched from a product made (almost) entirely…
Why Sodom and south Devon are a million miles apart
We gathered around in the sunshine and watched the coffin being lowered into the freshly dug trench. Stratifications visible on…
What does Totnes think of Sarah Wollaston, its defecting MP?
‘Totnes? It’s hippie central.’ A friend warned me what to expect when I visited the affluent, left-leaning town in south-east…
Like Soho House in the country – but marginally less hateful: The Pig at Combe reviewed
The Pig at Combe is a restaurant in a country house hotel in a valley in Devon. I actually went…
A lament for the best pub in Devon
We had a hyperbole competition, the taxi driver and I, over the climbing full moon, clearer and brighter than either…
Low life
My grandson and I are reprising the 1968 film The Swimmer. Burt Lancaster is an advertising executive at a pool…
Something nasty in the woodshed
I’ve diagnosed myself with early onset cottage-itis. It’s not supposed to happen for another decade, but at 29 I dream…
Tessa Hadley's masterful new novel of missed opportunities
In The Past (set chiefly in the present) four middle-aged siblings spend an eventful summer holiday in the Devon country…
Tristram Hunt’s diary: The rainy glories of Devon – and a cold political climate
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
From conspiracy to childhood secrets: a choice of recent crime fiction
The act of reading always involves identification: with the story, the characters, the author’s intentions. Renée Knight takes this concept…
To Land’s End and beyond: footsore but bravely coasting along
It’s a real skill, writing about a journey where nothing ever happens. We shouldn’t be surprised that Simon Armitage is…
That’s another year gone and, against the odds, I’m still here
A fruity voice on the train’s announcement system said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, make sure you have all your belongings, family…
A road trip in the company of Long John Silver and an exciting pair of thighs
I live in south Devon. Last week I went up to north Devon, to visit a friend who was renting…
I am walking to the Spectator party — sober, clean and in all my finery
They do love a party at The Spectator. I was invited to four in ten days last week: the Apollo…
