Whatever Floats The Boat

The actress on river life, education and not being held hostage by acting.

Eastern promise

The Fens’ unique brand of dark magic has survived centuries of upheaval, as Clive Aslet discovers.

Monks Moving Into Modernity

The monks’ accommodation at Ampleforth Abbey (above), North Yorkshire, is undergoing a major renovation for the first time in 120 years.

Double Reflection

Matthew Dennison enjoys two exhibitions devoted to Degas that explore the artist’s thoughtful, reflective approach to his work–and his habit of revisiting favourite subjects.

A Shot In The Dark

Heading out with a gun in search of one for the pot on a dank November day, John Lewis-Stempel lets a pheasant get away, but bags a plump pigeon

‘I Have Such Respect For Their Bravery'

The founder of the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch on supporting army veterans.

Enter The Empire Of The Wood Ant

Capable of squirting formic acid distances up to 12 times its body length, the wood ant’s strictly ordered world and thrifty efficiency is celebrated in the Bible and tales of totalitarianism, observes a spellbound David Profumo.

How To De-Feather Your Nest

Do you despair of your adult children, still squatting in their childhood rooms? Kit Hesketh-Harvey shares his wisdom on dealing with the boomerang generation.

‘From one woodpecker to another'

Ariane Bankes is delighted that a little–known contemporary of Bawden and Ravilious has been brought out of the shadows

Why I Lust After Woodland With Rhododendrons

AS a gardener, I cannot help but feel excited at the prospect of spring; a book I was given as a teenager proclaims in its rather simplistic and optimistic title: Every Spring is a New Beginning.

She Could Have Danced All Night

Two singers–from opposite ends of the spectrum–take the limelight

Living National Treasure

Have you ever wondered how they put the letters in a stick of rock?

Why I Find Beards Weird

I feeL fortunate to have found my life mate in the brief era between 1910 and 1990 when it was unfashionable for men to have beards, because I like a clean-shaven man, as I like a pruned rose garden: Nature teeming, but kept at bay.

Business As Usual At Badminton

The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials is one of Britain’s greatest sporting traditions. Kate Green provides a preview

Matters Of The Heart

Another Old Master is discovered in a country house and two of Sir William Nicholson’s Sussex Downs paintings reach contrasting prices

Right Royal Triumphs

The Royal Family is invariably treated sympathetically and affectionately on stage, whatever the political hue of the playwright

The Icing On The Cake

Who is the London-based baker responsible for creating Prince Harry and Meghan’s lemon-and-elderflower wedding cake?

Cry God For Harry!

On his 18th birthday, Prince Harry was granted his own coat-of-arms, but will the Royal couple express their marriage through heraldry

The Road Less Travelled

What’s harder than tackling the Coast to Coast path? Doing it with a teenage mule in tow, discovers Hugh Thomson.

The Best And Worst Of 2017

After watching new productions at a rate of about four a week, our theatre critic presents the brilliantly good, the excruciatingly bad and the movingly sad of this year

No Wilting Rose

Peyton Skipwith enjoys an exhibition that reasserts the reputation of a leading female figure in Victorian art

A Walk In The Parks

A LONG with the Bodleian Library and the Covered Market, one of my main reasons for staying in Oxford is the University Parks. Despite its name, the Parks is, in both senses, singular, just one outstanding expanse, first laid out in 1864. Enjoyed by Gown and Town alike, its 70 or so acres encompass groves, gravelled walks, areas of garden both informal and intensively cultivated, sweeps of turf both long and shorn and sports pitches.A LONG with the Bodleian Library and the Covered Market, one of my main reasons for staying in Oxford is the University Parks. Despite its name, the Parks is, in both senses, singular, just one outstanding expanse, first laid out in 1864. Enjoyed by Gown and Town alike, its 70 or so acres encompass groves, gravelled walks, areas of garden both informal and intensively cultivated, sweeps of turf both long and shorn and sports pitches.

Back To The Future

I AM writing this in front of a peat fire with what Burns calls a ‘gude-willie waught’ following a long, solitary tramp through sodden countryside. I’ve reached an age when all weather is good weather, but, even so, I’m glad to be indoors for the night. The shortest day is behind us. Those resolutions with which we will doubtless, in the fullness of time, be paving the road to Hell are before us. All is right with the world.

Bad Apples And Good Eggs

ANNA and I have just spent 24 hours in Liverpool, where we were totally charmed by immaculately clean streets, two knockout cathedrals, good coffee, the Tate, sunshine on the Mersey, the richest of histories explained in thought-provoking museums and excellent vintage shops. We used SplitMyFare to buy train tickets in a money-saving exercise that gave us 28 tickets for two trains.

In The Footsteps Of Lorna Doone

The famous book captures a long-gone Exmoor, but there’s still a feeling of wilderness out on the open moor.

Many Happy Returns

There’s topical resonance in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, which, like the tale of the Demon Barber, contains a strong morality theme.

Tunnel Vision

On the eve of the Channel Tunnel’s 25th birthday, Adam Jacot de Boinod applauds an extraordinary feat of engineering that was more than 200 years in the making.

A Lot Of Bottle

Good for farmers and good for the planet, the milk round is back with a 21st-century twist..

How To Become A Seasoned Pro

Navigating the summer Season can be a social minefield. Luckily, Rupert Uloth is on hand with 39 steps to guide us through England’s time to shine–even if the sun chooses not to.

Come Fly With Me

Harmless hoverflies take on the appearance of dangerous or toxic insects in a clever and highly effective subterfuge to keep predators away, discovers Ian Morton