No gritting for White Grit

Heather Kidd , the Liberal Democrat councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, has been making waves in the Shropshire Star. According to the pape...

Robert Palmer: Some Guys Have All the Luck

He helped to define that odd era in the Eighties when pop stars wore suits, but Robert Palmer had been around for a long time. In particular...

England's cricketers are not the problem: it's the people who run the game

View image | gettyimages.com Nich Hoult writes harshly bur fairly about England's disarray against Australia today: At the moment it f...

The same novelist wrote Planet of the Apes and Bridge on the River Kwai

Thanks to Will Howells for giving me my Trivial Fact of the Day. The films Planet of the Apes and Bridge on the River Kwai were both based ...

Why everyone always receives a great reception on the doorstep

Nothing is more tedious than those tweets telling you that campaigners from every party have just received "a great reception on the do...

Madam C.J. Walker

We were watching Antique's Roadshow (as one does), when a copy of "Text Book of the Madam C.J. Walker Schools of Beauty Culture...

Seasons, Silliness And Something Special

Without question I am considered an ardent fan of winter.  Hiking or snowshoeing through the woods or across an open field with my canine pa...

Thomas Cromwell: "Myself for Launde"

© Stephen Craven From English Buildings back in 2008: Launde Abbey was originally an Augustinian priory founded in the 12th century. Beauti...

Common Sense Gardening: Five outdoor tasks you can do right now

The recent unseasonably warm weather is allowing for more opportunities to get outside and do some yard work. You may be wondering what kind...