Education U-turn

The government has just realised that teaching anything, including grandmothers to suck eggs, is counter-productive. All attempts to up-skill the English workforce are doomed as people never are inspired by what they are taught in school. No-one has ever been inspired to read or write by English classes and no scientist has ever got the…

Dolphins and seabirds

It used to be the case that a ferry trip was relaxing because there was not much to do except eat, drink, sleep and read a book.  These days, we know that there is wildlife out there to be seen and missed which changes the game completely. The first person I came across as I…

Sunday book review – Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones

I enjoyed reading this book (which is now out in paperback). This book is about Foxes: hunted Foxes, urban Foxes, hen-eating Foxes, Foxes in literature and country lore. Foxes in our heads and in our hearts. It’s a well-written largely affectionate but not sentimental look at Foxes from lots of angles and it’s a very…