A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
I HAVE grown so used to the ignorant drivel spouted by lobby groups with ‘Natural’ or ‘Wild’ or ‘Green’ in the title (for example the recent ludicrous claim by 82 … Continue readingSlugs and snails – a lifelong love
AMONG the treasures in my book collection is a slim volume, Homage to PG Wodehouse. This was compiled in 1973, two years before the Master’s death, by Thelma Cazalet-Keir, a former … Continue readingHomage to Wodehouse
I’VE BEEN pleased over the last week or so to see and hear a cock pheasant in the field at the back of our house, although our labrador doesn’t share … Continue readingFlamboyant Mr Pheasant
I HAVE already waxed lyrical here about Brass, Peter Kay and Father Ted, and think enough has probably been said on the subject of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Dad’s … Continue readingSome comedy gems you might have missed
NO ONE could accuse Clitheroe, our nearby market town, of being trendy, and that’s the way we like it. To prove it, just about the most popular place is a … Continue readingPie and peas with a smile on the side
BACK in 2006, BBC Four started airing a cop show set in the seedy underbelly of Paris. There were eight episodes in that first series, shown two at a time … Continue readingThe Spiral phenomenon
I LOVE rain. One of my greatest pleasures is to sit in our tiny conservatory while it batters down above my head, watching our stream rising (often very quickly). I … Continue readingRain, rain, don’t go away
WHEN I started out as a reporter on the Burnley Evening Star, the news editor was an irascible cove named Ray Horsfield, renowned for furious high-volume telephone conversations with his wife … Continue readingNewshound savaged by dogs
THIS is a rather smart house in our neighbouring village. Built in 2015, it has three bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs and an open plan living area upstairs with lovely … Continue readingAn inconvenience truth
AT the beginning of 1968, teatime television was turned on its head by a comedy phenomenon which had hordes of schoolchildren, myself included, racing home desperate not to miss a … Continue readingMonty Python’s Dad