Just in

Blogs

Marriage of the Arnolfini

Few paintings have generated as much controversy and speculation as The Marriage of the Arnolfini by Jan van Eyck (1424) Little is known of Jan van Eyck. He was the court painter of the Duke of Burgundy whose lands extended to Flanders and the Netherlands. Bruges in Flanders was a thriving [...]

September 27, 2023 // 0 Comments

The joys of Sussex

The other day a colleague on the Rust wanted a head’s up on the Wiston Wine Estate. I had never visited it though Wiston is a highly-rated vineyard but the enquiry set me thinking how much Sussex has to offer. There are vineyards at Ridgeview, Rathfinny and Nye Timber and, although each [...]

September 26, 2023 // 0 Comments

The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys/Jack Jewers

Historical fiction has become a popular genre with writers like C.J. Samson and his Shardlake novels set in the reign of Henry VIII leading the way. In some respects these are easy novels to write – as you do not have to invent a whole cast of characters – but (in other respects) [...]

September 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

Ireland 13 South Africa 8

This epic match more than matched the billing and hype and I share my colleague Derek Williams’ viewpoint that the Boks should be beaten. Their bomb squad of 7 forwards attracted a lot of attention though few pointed out that – in the absence of Malcolm Marx – they did not have a [...]

September 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

An expedition to two National Trust properties

Earlier this year the Boss and I joined the National Trust on a “family ticket”. For many years she had been a member of the organisation and occasional visitor to a variety of its properties. In my case, whilst I had been to a few of them over the past six decades, this was more by informal [...]

September 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

Gloucester Rugby 25 Harlequins 17

I was initially excited by last night’s visit to the atmospheric Kingsholm until I realised how many Quins players would be absent on World Cup duty: Joe Marler, Jack Walker, Joe Marchant, Marcus Smith, Danny Care, Andre Esterhuizen, Tommaso Allan and Gloucester could not call on wingers [...]

September 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

Brighton HAFC 2 AEKAthens 3

Brighton’s first-ever European game in the Europa League last night was in every sense a damp squib as they lost and the heavens opened. Surprisingly Roberto de Zerbi rested Lewis Dunk and Evan Ferguson. Dunk was particularly missed as the untried combo of Van der Hecke and Igor did not look [...]

September 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

Haunting in Venice

John Malkovich has done it once unsatisfactorily, Peter Ustinov twice and now Kenneth Branagh three times. Albert Finney, Orson Welles and Alfred Molina had one go. None of them get as near to Hercule Poirot as David Suchet on ITV. He is Poirot. Yesterday I saw Haunting in Venice in which producer, [...]

September 20, 2023 // 0 Comments

Answered prayers/Duncan Hamilton

Duncan Hamilton is rightly acclaimed as one of our best – if not the best – sports biographer. It’s not a literary field crammed with talent. Most ghosted sports biographies are dull with some revelation for the serialisation in a newspaper. Duncan Hamilton writes on major but [...]

September 19, 2023 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Fulham 1 Luton O

When in the season you play a team is key. Luton are just promoted, lost their first three games and – angered that Garth Crooks in midweek predicted their relegation by Xmas – brought many and raucous supporters. Fulham are regarded as soft, the sort of game from which you might come [...]

September 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

1 … 44 45 46 47 48 … 350

Copyright © 2026 The National Rust | Design by Premonition