For the ‘Talking Trees’ column in the latest issue of Broadleaf, the magazine of that great organisation the Woodland Trust, I was asked to write about planting some trees in the corner of a field. Remembering my little arboreal adventure, I realised how important trees are to my daily life, past, present and future. Is… Continue reading Want to feel better? Plant a tree
Read moreAt first glance, an invitation to write about a favourite book for a blog would not seem to be the most onerous of gigs. After all, there are times when the internet seems to have been largely invented for people to list and enthuse about what books they  have read – only porn and mad ranting… Continue reading Want to know what the late 20th century was all about? Meet Philip Roth’s Mickey Sabbath
Read moreThis column may soon become more openly aggressive. It will scythe down opposition with a brisk ruthlessness. It will be populist and controversial, but then will unexpectedly quote Nietzsche and Orwell in order to justify its position. The football club I support seems to be about to buy Joey Barton, an eccentrically-coiffed midfielder who confusingly… Continue reading When my team do better, so do I
Read moreIn a flat on a scruffy housing estate, the Problem family are watching telly. Grandpa Problem is in his usual chair. Nearby, Mummy Problem has the latest addition to the family on her lap, while other young Problems of assorted ages are running about the place. The doorbell rings, and one of the children opens… Continue reading Politicians as family mentors: what a good idea
Read moreGentle hilarity has greeted the spectacle of smartly dressed members of the royal family mingling sympathetically with the looted and burned-out people of Tottenham. Those who have little time for the Windsors have chuckled at the sight the heir to the throne and his wife, arriving in a chauffeur-driven car to offer anguished condolences, and… Continue reading National service is the answer – but not as we know it
Read moreThere will be a few novelists, artists and songwriters around who will be tempted to steal the idea behind a new exhibition which has just arrived in London. The Museum of Broken Relationships takes up residence this month at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden. Based in Croatia, the show has become something of… Continue reading Love that doesn’t last still has value
Read moreAt the end of a difficult week for those of us who like to believe in the forward progress of human evolution, some small comfort is to be derived from Hollywood. In the latest outing of the Planet of the Apes franchise, there are definite signs that, even in popular culture, a more grown-up attitude… Continue reading At last, we’re growing up about animals
Read moreNow at least we know why it has been difficult to find a hotel room on the Suffolk/Norfolk border recently. Apparently, there has been an invasion of women anxious to catch a glimpse – or more – of my neighbour Julian Assange, currently in residence at Ellingham Hall. “We definitely had a problem with groupies,”… Continue reading Inappropriate flirting – the great modern sin
Read moreIt is as reliable a part of high summer as farmers grumbling about the harvest. At the moment when pasty-faced politicians, civil servants and journalists are leaving their desks in London to spend a couple of weeks reading Ian McEwan by a swimming pool, there is a brief spasm of concern about the countryside which… Continue reading The Tories are out to wreck the countryside
Read moreThe good news is that the practice of “irrigating” the colon, an undignified procedure once popularised by the Princess of Wales, has been shown to be a harmful bit of nonsense. Having a tube inserted into oneself in order to flush out toxins turns out to have been every bit as silly as it sounds.… Continue reading Time for us all to de-clutter our brains
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