Friendship, cricket, and fallow deer
He was my friend, his name was Peter, and, some years ago now, he died. We’d played cricket together for …
Of phalaropes and blue tits
It was smaller than I’d expected, but perhaps that’s because it was standing next to a sheep. Big things, sheep, …
The Art of Fun
They’ve gone. I got home late on Friday, greeted by uncanny warmth, a grumpy cat, and that slightly odd smell …
Rainy day
It was hot. And then on the sixty-fifth day did come the rain. And the country did explode with joy, …
Creatures of the Night
I feared three things as a child: The monster that lived in the lavatory. I never saw this formless beast, …
The budderflaahs of Wmpltn
There was a moment, during the tennis match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner on Friday, when I feared it …
Feel the ooh
We need a new word. I’m always coining new words, or at least words I imagine to be new. Occasionally …
Swifts and books
It’s been a busy week, especially if you’re a swift. Every week is a busy week for those screamers, of …
Lifelong forgetting
You live and learn. That’s the idea, anyway. But this idea is undermined by a simple thing called human idiocy. …
Your First Six Bird Books
When my childhood love of birds was rekindled a couple of years ago, the first thing I did was spend …