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Nazi war crimes: fact or fiction?

In the week I had two interesting conversations regarding the Nazis. The first was with an old cultivated friend and brother of a distinguished historian, who said that non-fiction was more reliable than any fiction in understanding history. The second was with a highly knowledgeable, well informed [...]

January 23, 2025 // 0 Comments

Sir Keith Park

On Monday I walked from Victoria Station to my club The Reform in Pall Mall. As a London park I prefer Regents Park, not just because of its greater amenities (the boating lake, Rose Garden, Open Air Theatre and Zoo), but because you can get lost there – whereas at St James, you are more or [...]

January 21, 2025 // 0 Comments

Smith or Smith

I followed the Radio London commentary of the Harlequins 24 Glasgow Warriors 7 match, being unwilling to lay out £25 monthly for broadcaster Premium Sports. So I cannot give a total report but – with the Six Nations looming – I thought I might offer my ha’porth on Fin Smith [...]

January 20, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Leicester City 0 Fulham 2

Though this was not the most exciting of games it was a vital one. Fulham had drawn 6 of their last 9 games and doubts existed why we fared so well against team above us – and so badly against teams below us. As for Leicester, they had lost 6 successive games and grave doubts surrounded the [...]

January 19, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: West Ham 3 Fulham 2

You can lose a game because the opposition is superior or through bad luck (a deflection, an injury or a poor refereeing decision) or through sloppiness. This match was lost by sloppiness because Fulham were the better team but two grotesque defensive lapses gifted the game to the Hammers. Fulham [...]

January 15, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Fulham 4 Watford 1

Reporting on this victory is secondary to commenting on the decline of the FA Cup in my lifetime. The year of my birth (1954) witnessed what many consider the greatest game ever played at Craven Cottage – a cup tie with  the holders Newcastle United which the latter won 5-4. The linesman who [...]

January 10, 2025 // 0 Comments

Foreign detective writing

We tend to assume that only English-speaking writers can write detective novels. In Britain the genre is dominated by women – Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Marjoriec Allingham and recently Val McDiamid. In fact some interesting detective novels have been written by French writers and [...]

January 9, 2025 // 0 Comments

Surprising actors in a 1980 TV series

On Monday I watched Bergerac, now shown at 3.00pm on the UK Drama channel. It featured – as Belle Young, an eccentric boatowner and smuggler – the 1970s actress Judy Cornwall. Yesterday’s episode about a computer convention in Jersey also featured a computer nerd and mogul Jordan [...]

January 8, 2025 // 0 Comments

My Sporting Weekend

The Border-Gavaskar trophy between Australia and India has done much to enhance and elevate the status of Test cricket. India won the First Test in Perth – Australia levelled the series in Adelaide – and the Third Test in Brisbane was a washout draw. Australia won the Fourth Test in [...]

January 5, 2025 // 0 Comments

Chewton Glen Hotel

I had a traditional, typical Xmas – i.e. a ghastly one. Our son Tarquin, now married, stayed with his wife Hyacinth and their two young children. Our other son – Humphrey – arrived with his new girlfriend Bracken. Bracken, a moody, pouting girl, made it quite clear that she did [...]

January 3, 2025 // 0 Comments

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