I could win gold for my Olympic Games cynicism THANK heavens the Olympics last only 16 days. Their legacy, sometimes much lamented, endures far longer. If I m still around for London s second Olympics, I suspect my impressions of them will be tempered somewhat by memories of the first, in austere, wa... » MORE

A snake shocker gave us a flash of Joan’s ‘blueys’

SNAKE-in-the-grass, viper, hissing Sid are all putdown words. Given the punch snakes can pack, us humans can t really be blamed for our normal shuddering reaction to them. Normal for some that is. The qualification is prompted by belatedly learning that... » MORE

I offer to take on curious mystery of single shoe-biz

WHENEVER chancing upon them, as you do, I ponder why it s always just the one boot, shoe, trainer, sandal, or slipper laying in the road, and never a pair? Whereas I d happily trouser a quid for every such item of footwear I ve come across over the years... » MORE

How our village bobby and Seth collared a villain

CRIME was virtually unknown in the Berkshire countryside where I spent a wartime childhood. Real crime, as against poaching and us rascals scrumping. Not that nicking apples always went unpunished. My left thigh still shows where it snagged the barbwire... » MORE

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