James Murray, or Jim as he likes to be known, is a phenomenon. He’s a celebrated actor, a talented artist, a gifted angler and a conservationist and campaigner who is…
Features
The City of London’s livery companies
The Lord Mayor’s Show, an 800-year-old pageant chronicled by Pepys, painted by Canaletto and the first outdoor event ever to be televised live, is a fixture of English life. So…
The Field Interview: Lady Glenconner
Even the walnut tree in the garden here has a venerability graced with a novel twist. “It is so old the holes are filled with polystyrene to stop water getting…
D-Day: 81st anniversary
In the grey dawn of D-Day, 6 June 1944, 20-year-old Trooper Lawrence Burn’s 35-tonne DD (duplex-drive) Sherman tank, its flotation screen raised, edged down the ramp of the landing craft…
Pickleball – one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports
What started across the pond in the 1960s as a game for children to play in their backyards is vying with padel to become one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports.…
Sir Peter Scott: an eminent conservationist
The renowned wildlife artist, author, international competitor in skating, sailing and gliding, wildfowler and broadcaster Sir Peter Scott became the father of modern conservation, founding the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust…
David Howden: The Field Interview
David Howden is regarded by many as the insurance world’s answer to Richard Branson. His dynamism has shaped Howden, the insurance company he helped found 30 years ago, into the…
Birdsong: How to recognise bird calls
The dawn chorus is even better when you can tell who's in the choir. Early spring is a great time to enjoy birdsong and learn the call of different birds
Padel: why this new racket sport is so appealing
Padel involves a decompressed ball being hit over a low net on a rectangular court measuring 10 metres by 20 metres. It uses the same scoring as tennis and, while…
Victory in Europe Day: 80th anniversary
On 3 September 1939, two days after the Germans invaded Poland, the prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, made an announcement on the BBC: “This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed…