History

3 art views

I’m sometimes asked whether I have visited any of the big art exhibitions in London right now – the Van Gogh at the National Gallery, the Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery and the Claude Monet at the Courtauld. The answer is an emphatic “No” as these block buster [...]

October 16, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Art of Cinema/Sky Arts

Last week’s programme presented by Ian Nathan focussed on script supervisors, once called ‘continuity girls’. These provide an essential input by creating the illusion of reality in a film and avoiding ‘bloopers’. Clive James once presented a programme on Saturday mornings [...]

October 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

Thoughts on a great England Test victory overseas

England’s Test victory by an innings and 47 runs deservedly made the sporting headlines but still had to vie with the 1-2 defeat in soccer by Greece. The wicket at Multan was docile which made the Pakistan collapse on the fourth and fifth days all the more inexplicable. The Test will be [...]

October 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

Two seismic documentaries

This week BBC and Channel 4 have commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brighton Grand Hotel bombing and the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Southern Israel with documentaries. Of the two documentaries I found Brighton Bombing – The Plot To Kill Mrs Thatcher the more riveting. Its [...]

October 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

Gabriel’s Moon/William Boyd

A newly published William Boyd novel is a big literary event especially for his legion of followers. The general critical view is his recent novels fall short of his earliest West African ones and Any Human Heart. He is a master story teller and Gabriel’s Moon conforms to that. There are [...]

October 9, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fake or Fortune/Helen MCColl

Unlike Stefano (Ursolini) I watched Fake or Fortune and thoroughly enjoyed it. Indeed I would say last Thursday’s episode was the best I have ever seen. Typically the programme – now in its fourth series – would feature a picture by (allegedly) a master and the presenters Fiona Bruce [...]

October 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina File: Fiorentina 2 New Saints 0/Conference League

I had never heard of the Welsh side New Saints. I had to google them to discover they have won the Cymru Premiership League 16 times. They are based in Oswestry, Shropshire, and must be the first Welsh team to visit the Artemio Franch. I was anticipating an easy victory but it was anything but. [...]

October 4, 2024 // 0 Comments

Aston Villa 1 Bayern Munich 0 (a punter’s view) …

I have a confession to make, namely that I’m going off golf betting. It’s always been my sport and I have been attracted to the betting element because of the odds and the fact it’s largely a clean sport where luck plays little part. The problem is that it’s a big field and the best winning [...]

October 3, 2024 // 0 Comments

A visit to Hever Castle

Yesterday my wife and I happened to be in the area of Edenbridge in Kent with a couple of hours to spare and decided to indulge ourselves with a “brush with history” by visiting Hever Castle, the ancestral home of the Boleyn family and, of course, famously Anne Boleyn, King Henry [...]

September 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fake or Fortune (new series BBC 1)

Fake or Fortune is back on our screens and last night I watched a rather disappointing episode in a series I both enjoy and admire. The subject painting was a depiction of a white chrysanthemum by the celebrated Dutch abstractionist Piet Mondrian. Most artists have painted flowers and – [...]

September 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

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ITV COVERAGE OF CHELTENHAM

March 14, 2026 // 0 Comments

I am in the camp of watching on tv rather than attending for the 3 Cs: cost , convenience and comfort. With the cost of travelling and attending Cheltenham and last [...]
Max Schmelling/ The Good German

March 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

In the unlikely event that I would be asked to nominate a Great Life on Matthew Parris ‘ show my choice would be the Black Uhlan Max Schmelling. In the 1930s thee [...]
The Tanner Report : Fulham 2 spurs 1

March 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

Prior to Fulham ‘s comfortable win over Spurs (2-1) I watched the big match Revisited featuring Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2 i guess in the early 70s It would be foolish to [...]
The Six Nations

February 24, 2026 // 0 Comments

The Six Nations continues to throw up surprises. England could not bounce back against Ireland , a resurgent Wales gave Scotland à close game with the Millennium Stadium [...]
Brentford 0 Brighton 2

February 23, 2026 // 0 Comments

The heat is off Fabian Hürzeler with Brighton ‘s 1st win in 13 games. Club owner Tony Bloom was not at the G Tech stadium due to a long planned family engagement but had [...]