National Trust
Sir Tony’s doomed crusade in the Holy Land
It amuses me that the two main parties most averse to the idea of honours, monarchy, chivalry etc are led…
The art of dining
Ivan Day pulls out an old Habsburg cookbook from his library. The 300-year-old volume is so thick it’s almost a…
Letters: The case for ‘raves in the nave’
Reality check Sir: While I share Mr Gove’s diagnosis of lodestar-less Starmerism (‘Cruel Labour’, 5 April), I cannot share the…
The National Trust’s plans for Clandon Park are a travesty
In April 2015, a fire raged through Clandon Park, destroying much of the 18th-century Palladian mansion’s prized interiors. Contrary to…
The National Trust took the knee
In a recent interview, Hilary McGrady, the director-general of the National Trust, complains that ‘The culture wars we’re trying to…
The joy of our village Christmas play
We are just recovering from the village play. This annual Christmas event was taken over last year by our son…
British architecture according to the Great Man school of history
Simon Jenkins seems excessively preoccupied with the flamboyant houses of the privileged, leaving his narrative tottering beneath the weight of gaudy swank
Do you have a ‘story’?
As someone who worked full time in the office for 24 years and has now worked full time from home…
Best of the Blob
Who would be picked for its 1st XV?
The Spectator’s Notes
At the National Trust’s annual general meeting last week, the voting was much more unusual than the public will have…
The Spectator’s Notes
On the one occasion when I spent any time with Angela Rayner, she was funny, direct and friendly. We were…
High life
Memories for me are like beautifully edited copy: all cleaned up and retaining only the good parts. The wife tells…
Talking to a brick wall at the National Trust
Press officers, breathe easy. This is not another column attacking the National Trust. Actually, I tell a lie. It is.…
The Spectator’s Notes
In deciding whether or not to wear a mask after 19 July, I am sure Boris Johnson is right that…
The Spectator’s Notes
Is Winston Marshall — guitarist, banjo player, composer of Mumford & Sons, and father of the west London ‘Nu-Folk’ music…
Real life
The woman sat alone and stony-faced in the passenger seat of the car as it blocked the road. She was…
The Spectator’s Notes
If it is true, as Lords Hall and Birt told a Commons committee this week, that Martin Bashir succeeded in…
Letters
A new prescription Sir: It is maddening to see the British people being refused face-to-face GP appointments and subjected to…
Letters
Trust us Sir: I refute Charles Moore’s assertions (‘Broken Trust’, 5 June) that the National Trust frowns on local expertise,…
Oak, not woke
The National Trust now has the chance to return to its roots
The Spectator’s Notes
It is poetically fitting that the resignation of the chairman of the National Trust, Tim Parker, was announced on the…
The Spectator’s Notes
There should be more ‘religious literacy’. So says the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media, chaired by Yasmin…
