Six of the Best 701

Michael Mullaney analyses the Liberal Democrat performance in this month's general election: "Whilst increasing our MPs, and having four narrow misses, we have at this election still suffered a further loss of second places, a further loss of deposits, and a continuing fallback in large parts of Britain, particularly the North, the Midlands and Wales."

Political bots are poisoning democracy, say Hadley Newman and Kevin O'Gorman.

Gavin Stamp says we should not expect England great cathedrals to look after themselves.

"The spare performances ... add to the album’s intimacy, sparking a revealing listen that at times comes off like something maybe you shouldn’t be hearing. There are confessions, slipped-out secrets and the sense that the heart on display here was temporarily caught off guard." Michael Gallucci pays tribute to Joni Mitchell's album Blue.

"Are you a cavalier or roundhead?" Huw Turbervill revisits the tensions between David Gower and Graham Gooch. Me? I loved both of them.

Brian Sayle climbs Cadair Idris.

And finally a musical bonus...