Listening to tales told by his blacksmith grandfather in the semi-darkness of his fire-lit forge, Alan Garner absorbed the Cheshire folklore that…
Pee for the Planet Despite having a woman as its Director General, the National Trust has issued some surprisingly sexist advice on…
Bye bye nursery rhymes? The readers of the Daily Telegraph thrive on apocalyptic stories predicting the end of civilisation as we know…
Teenage girls wed old men shockIt sounds like a salacious headline from one of the red-tops, but actually this story comes from…
Morris and the PrinceHaving just written a new guide to Kelmscott Manor, your diarist has a growing admiration for William Morris, whose…
Deja vu The Times published a letter on 2 June 2009 signed by Professors Martin Biddle and Brian Fagan, who called on…
Jargon: which words would you ban?The Local Government Association has published a list of words and phrases that it thinks council staff…
Let it growOne can only applaud the National Trust’s decision to create 1,000 allotments within its disused walled gardens and on land…
When, at the IFA’s Liverpool conference in April 2004, I argued for a festival of archaeology to compare with the superb festivals…
After only two years, we are already beginning to establish some Festival traditions. One is to tackle a ‘difficult’ subject. Last year…