Wednesday, February 04, 2026

Essex village locals baffled by £7k duck crossing sign because they have 'no ducks'

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"Unlike the England cricket team," remarked one of the judges. Together with her fellows, she gave our Headline of the Day Award t...
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Alwyn Turner on the political radicalism of L. du Garde Peach

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I'm enjoying Alwyn Turner's new book A Shellshocked Nation: Britain Between the Wars , and not just because my name turns up in the ...

Jeff Buckley: Lover, You Should've Come Over

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When Jeff Buckley drowned at the age 30, he had released just one album but was an internationally celebrated artist. His name is often yoke...
Tuesday, February 03, 2026

Richard Jefferies: If we had never before looked upon the earth

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During Covid lockdown in 2020, the actor Simon Russell Beale, who lives in the town, recorded some readings from the work of my man Richard ...

What the latest Epstein revelations mean for the Royal Family

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I review Andrew Lownie's Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York in the latest Liberator.  Here he talks about what the revela...

The Joy of Six 1470

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Timothy Snyder  reports from a frightened city: "In the schools and churches of Springfield, Ohio, people are making hasty preparations...
Monday, February 02, 2026

When Peter Lee took 8-13 for Great Bowden

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Embed from Getty Images Peter Lee , the former Northamptonshire and Lancashire seam bowler, has died at the age of 80. He grew up near Marke...
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Ed Davey is right to call for police investigation of Peter Mandelson

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These allegations are incredibly serious, it is now only right that the police investigate Peter Mandelson for potential misconduct in publi...
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The glorious story of Shacklewell and De Beauvoir Town

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Another walk with John Rogers: This East London walk takes is into the surprising hidden corners of the London Borough of Hackney. Our urban...
Sunday, February 01, 2026

Sir Walter Scott invented "The Wars of the Roses"

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Here's an interesting passage from Chris Given-Wilson in a recent London Review of Books: There are several earlier references, dating ...

The Joy of Six 1469

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"What matters is not the books themselves, but the thinking they reward. They cultivate a taste for compression over depth, for transfe...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: it would be a pity if anything happened to them

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Christmas week ends on a downbeat note. I've never been convinced that it was a good idea for F&F (that's Freddie and Fiona – th...

The Charlatans: The Only One I Know

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"It’s an unusual song construction. I’m still not sure which bit is the chorus. The title and main hook is in the verse, but the intro ...
Saturday, January 31, 2026

The Earth is healing: The Muppet Show is back

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The blurb for this trailer on YouTube says it is "a special event", first being screened on February 4 on Disney+ and ABC. Rhik Sa...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Lowered head first through a skylight

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I can't help noticing that Lord Bonkers does spent a great deal of time on roofs with orphans. I wonder what Ofsted makes of this practi...
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Friday, January 30, 2026

Strange Phenomena: The Films of Dario Argento

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The British Film Institute's blurb onYouTube says: In this video essay to coincide with our retrospective of Argento's work, season ...

The Joy of Six 1468

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"By-elections follow their own logic, not Westminster narratives, and Gorton and Denton has all the makings of a classic contest - a di...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Flags and empty cans of Dahrendorf lager

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I know a lot of my readers won't approve of this, but how else would an English country gentleman spend Boxing Day but riding to hounds?...
Thursday, January 29, 2026

The railway from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth

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To get from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth by train to today you have to go via Newport and Shrewsbury,* a journey that takes seven hours. Until ...

After reading this column you will never think of Barbara Cartland in the same way again

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Embed from Getty Images Another of my columns for the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy .  Barbara Cartland has ...
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Lord Bonkers' Diary: He loves to get his dibber out

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Christmas Day at the Hall is a highlight of any year; if nothing else, it's a chance to give some favourite characters a walk-on part. A...

Stubby Kaye: Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat

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What with this and Jubilation T. Cornpone , I'm a big Stubby Kaye fan.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Showtime! Adapting and Acting in Charles Dickens's Stories

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Here's a short video from the Charles Dickens Museum with some interesting talking heads, some of them descended from the great man. Th...

The Joy of Six 1467

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Claire Jones says Britain is sliding backwards into open racism: "Shame has evaporated. With skin colour as their yardstick, the UK’s ...

For Central Bylines: The discovery of Richard III enriched Leicester in every way

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I've written another article for Central Bylines . This one celebrates the discovery of Richard III beneath Leicester's most famous ...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: At a signal box outside Sherburn in Elmet

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Lord Bonkers made much the same observation about a choirboy singing Lloyd George Knew My Father in the first Christmas diary I helped him w...
Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Derbyshire bakery recruiting volunteer taste tester after pork pie furore

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This just in... At a meeting this evening, the judges have awarded Headline of the Day to the Derbyshire Times . Lord Bonkers suggests the b...

Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie

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Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York Andrew Lownie William Collins, 2025; £22 Before he turned to royal biographies, Andrew Lown...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: I hurry to book the rather singed Kwarteng for next year

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I'm pleased to see the Well-Behaved Orphans' having a better time of it today. Lord Bonkers had the Village Hall renamed as the Alex...
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Monday, January 26, 2026

The five railway stations of Long Eaton

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Here's another great video from Trekking Exploration – like and subscribe everybody. I've visited the sites four of the five Long E...

Leicestershire Reform councillor tweeted in support of ICE after the shooting of Alex Pretti

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Joseph Boam, the Remain councillor and former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council. tweeted an image including the words "I S...

"Like trying to do geometry with blancmange": My Liberator article on Blue Labour

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Move over Lord Bonkers: I have an article in the new Liberator (issue 344). You can download the whole issue for free from the magazine...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: The Duke of Buccleuch is pretty chuffed too

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The new Liberator has dropped – you can download issue 433 free of charge from the magazine's website – which means it's time to st...

Lib Dems call for a Rail Passengers’ Charter to improve journeys across the UK

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The Liberal Democrats introduce a Rail Passengers’ Charter Bill in Parliament last week to improve customer experience and enshrine value f...