Life
Never pass up a chance to ski
The snow is deep and crisp and even, the sky bluer than blue, and beneath my Black Crow skis there’s…
Is it time for me to renounce the Devil?
As I spent much of January in dry dock in Tommy’s hospital (‘dry’ being doubly appropriate), other avocations were needed.…
Meghan is a woman much misunderstood
Lying in bed with a swollen face, I decided that the best thing to do was nothing, so I ended…
White working-class boys are being left behind
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the publication of the report of Lord Sewell’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic…
Dear Mary: Is my dentist profiting from my gold filling?
Q. I went to stay in the new house of a close, but not very close, friend. She put me…
Why engineers beat lawyers
I once asked my friend, the engineer Guru Madhavan, why engineering faculties at most universities were outliers in containing more…
Spectator Competition: Budding poets
For Competition 3442 you were invited to supply the opening of a memoir that would discourage the reader from reading…
Aussie life
As any arborist with a swimming pool will tell you, money really does grow on trees. And if I had…
Language
When I discover a new word I am delighted. ‘Autochthonous’ is one I have seen occasionally, but which I have…
Spectator Competition: Budding poets
Comp. 3441 invited you to use the opening of Philip Larkin’s poem ‘Trees’ as a starting point for your own.…
I love Cheltenham… but there’s only so much chaos I can take
Flipping heck! Thank goodness the Cheltenham Festival only happens once a year. There’s only so much chaos and controversy my…
Nothing beats a posh hospital room
The private hospital room in Chelsea was so relaxing I would have stayed for a week if it was affordable.…
The Epstein Files, the naked communist, and me
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I was parked up in the Land Rover Defender on the narrow road that runs alongside the…
In days of war, we need trifles: Mezzogiorno reviewed
Mezzogiorno is a very serious, golden Italian restaurant inside the Corinthia London Hotel on Northumberland Avenue. Restaurants are increasingly gold…
