Pump and Circumstance

An unmitigated disaster of a day out on the Fens. I should have believed the BBC forecast for once and stayed at home, instead of disconsola...

CDC: States making progress toward preparedness

U.S. states are more prepared for an emergency, but still have a lot of work to do before they receive an "A" grade, according to ...

Next wave of infectious diseases likely to emerge from animals, developing countries

Monkeys, chickens, pigs, bats: What do all of these animals have in common? They're all sources of infectious diseases that have proven ...

Stars and Stripes

Staring at my Len Deighton collection this evening, as one does, I looked again at this superb Raymond Hawkey cover for the first Penguin ed...

Remembrance of Tins Past

I went on about this anachronistic shop in the Unmitigated England book, and illustrated my recollections with a selection of pictures taken...

Sunday Talk

How good to see a village chapel still in use for its original purpose, instead of converted into a conversation-piece residence or filled w...

Hero of the Light Brigade

One of my all-time favourite directors of photography, David Watkin, has recently and sadly passed to that big film set in the sky. Hopefull...

Blimey O' Riley

Well, alright, just one more. This Riley was a cut-above the average, the sort of car that could only be driven with Dents driving gloves an...

Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks reminds you to be prepared

When you set your clocks for daylight saving time on March 9, use it as a reminder to make sure your emergency preparedness kit is still sto...

Seasonal flu packing a wallop as strains mismatch vaccine

Got the flu? You’re not alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting this week that seasonal flu is widespread in 44 ...

Sliding Doors

I'm sorry to be continuing this motor show fugue , but don't worry we'll soon be back with rusty Castrol jugs and phone boxes fa...

Husky Voice

We've all been there. Those moments in our lives when we stop and think "Actually, what have I done to deserve this?". This Hi...

Lunchtime of the Hunter

Except it isn't a Hillman Hunter is it, not really? This model is the downbeat version Rootes badged as a Minx, but whatever it is it si...

Creature Feature No 3

Early to Borough Market in Southwark, freezing cold but filled with intense low winter sunlight highlighting the stalls through the glass an...

Kings of Neon

There's something about neon signs. I snapped this one on Friday night inside the Soho Pizzeria in Beak Street, where you can eat Americ...

Can human behavior be blamed for global pandemic risks?

Guest blog entry: Today's blog entry is authored by Trent Wakenight, MA, consortium coordinator of the Global Nexus of Animal and Human ...

Up the Spout

Alright, here it is. I'm not going to say anything more about it, other than to say that I publish it as my Valentine's Day card to ...

This week in pandemic flu, emerging infectious disease: Seasonal flu is here

Seasonal flu cases are mounting across the United States, according to headlines reported by APHA's Get Ready news Twitter . The Centers...

Mustard & Gravy

I am beginning to think that I need to be treated, or counselled, over my O.B.E. Not the gong in its velvet box that Her Majesty is doubtles...

Altar Image

Yesterday was like early summer rather than a week or so into February. I took my boys out into the surrounding countryside (much mud-slingi...

Ginger Bread, Ginger Beer

I love how a detail of a perhaps long-forgotten past can still hang on in there, regardless of everything else that's going on around it...

Railway Echo No 6

Here's a treat for railway buffs. Aynho is in Northants, its station in Oxfordshire, built in 1850 for the Oxford & Rugby Railway. I...

New test promises to quickly tell if you've got seasonal flu

Have you ever wondered whether your cough, fever or achy head was really caused by the flu ? With the help of a new test, doctors will be ab...

Letter from Leicestershire

A whole day out in High Leicestershire, rummaging about in wet muddy lanes. I've known about these red gates with the top rail painted w...

On the Tiles

Not much to say about this really, except that it's yet another reminder of an alternative London that still clings on in odd corners of...

New Get Ready materials aimed at kids

Even kids need to be ready for pandemic flu. That's the message of new materials from APHA's Get Ready campaign that feature informa...

Kid ‘n play

It may not be the most polite conclusion to come to, but most of us think it at one time or another: kids make me sick - literally. They for...

Licensed to Thrill

Yesterday I astonished the known world by both taxing my car and getting my tax return in on time. As I sat outside the post office tearing ...

Snip Snip

In the world of topiary, this must be the evergreen equivalent of the terracotta army. One hundred and fifty yews, painstakingly cut into re...

This week in pandemic flu, emerging infectious disease: Avian flu cases causing concern in Asia

Indonesia, India and other countries in the Southeast Asia region continue to have problems with reoccurring cases of avian flu, drawing con...

Pillars of the Community

More from Exton. Everyone (including me, as you have seen), gets carried away by Exton church and the monuments. Pevsner rushed through, bar...

Exton Jam

Exton in Rutland is a funny old place. At once both quintessentially English and slightly odd to get to grips with, it is a village full of ...

Anniversary of 1918 pandemic flu offers lessons

This year marks the 90th anniversary of one of the worst disease outbreaks in human history: the 1918 flu . From 1918 to 1919, waves of a de...

Wonky Wessex

A wet morning in Dorset, trawling about the exquisite hamlets in the Cerne valley between Charminster and Lyon's Gate. Everything broodi...

Signing Policy

Long Melford has much to please the eye. A big Suffolk wool church, a village green bordered by both a turreted gateway and a gabled garden ...

This week in pandemic flu, emerging infectious disease: Concerns focus on more than just bird flu

While health officials around the world continue to track avian flu cases, they are also keeping their eyes trained for other infectious dis...

Product Support

Since there has been considerable support for my showing-off one of my most treasured Christmas presents, here it is. My neighbour brought i...

Chik fever: Funny name, serious threat

What's in a name? In the case of Chikungunya fever , a mosquito-borne disease that is becoming a growing concern around the world, a fun...

Oil and Gravy

You don't see many of these hump-backed dispensers around much either. For those unfamiliar with their use, a garage proprietor would gr...

Stamping About

I popped out to the next village just now for the paper and a scotch egg. And I thought about how lucky I was to be able to use a country vi...

Creature Feature 2

Cattle markets are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. My local is now a shivering tin hut next to a maximum security prison, when trade o...

The Langton Messiah

One of my favourite local buildings. This is Church Langton rectory in Leicestershire, sitting in front of you as you navigate the village (...

Hot Oil & Blue Exhaust

I include this old boy because there are frequent visitors to this blog (you know who you are) who will get very, very, excited by it. Not f...

To kiss or not to kiss?

Ever wonder whether that smooch you stole from your sweetheart made you sick? Actually, you're more likely to catch a cold or the flu wh...

New podcast helps you get fit, prepared

Hitting the treadmill can be good for your body, your mind and your pandemic flu preparation. Thanks to a new podcast , you can burn some ca...

New research findings on infectious disease

From flu pandemic protection to vaccine development, new research is shedding light on infectious diseases and offering insights into ways t...

Landmark Phone Boxes

Maybe in two hundred years time intrepid travellers will start to wonder why remote crossroads are often marked with a red (or by that time ...

Landmark Firs

Have you ever noticed how many junctions and crossroads out in the English countryside (and indeed elsewhere) are marked with towering Scotc...

Health leaders discuss avian, pandemic flu in India

Avian flu and pandemic flu are both issues of high concern to countries around the world, but the degree to which nations are prepared varie...

Aconite Acolyte

And so here we are. All that Christmas jostling and shoving, and that was just to get to the bar. So we arrive in 2008, and those dull, dark...