Sabs don’t want to stop fox-hunting; they never did
Devotee of the old ways though I am, I can just about understand why a misguided animal lover might oppose…
Whoosh! I was addicted from the first gallop to the heavenly, godlike, immortal speed
The young lad behind the counter of the betting shop looked at me askance. ‘This horse is 200–1.’ ‘Yes. I…
I rode my own racehorse and was changed for ever
‘The last owner who tried to ride his own horse got tanked,’ said the trainer, looking up at me as…
Real life
At least two insurances are going to have to go, as I grapple with fear of penury, I have decided.…
Trouble brewing
Indian magnate Nirmal Sethia on what the English get wrong about tea – and the other countries seeking to recruit our discontented non-doms
Real life
After pulling out of my flat sale and U-turning on the idea of moving to the Cotswolds, it took me…
Real life
‘Are you afraid of falling over?’ asked the bored young radiologist, as he started filling out the forms. I had…
Real life
Exciting news. We might be expecting. I say might because I haven’t done a pregnancy test yet. I thought about…
Real life
‘Yes, you can report it, but it’s going to take ten minutes to go through the process,’ said the oppressively…
Real life
On the basis that I might need a new boiler soon, I thought I had better sell the London flat…
Real life
If anyone wants to know why the Labour party is about to elect Jeremy Corbyn as its leader then they…
Real life
Surely it can be no coincidence that the road by which one enters St George’s Hospital, Tooting, is called Effort…
Real life
The vet bill has been sitting on my desk for three weeks. All vet bills are cruel and unusual but…
Asking too much
Charities’ fundraising practices are out of control
Real life
‘No, I do not do WhatsApp.’ That’s pretty much all I ever seem to say to people nowadays. They ask…
Real life
‘Cydney, we are not moving to Cobham!’ I told the spaniel in my best outraged Margot Leadbetter voice. What a…
Real life
Insomnia has a lot to answer for. I have not been sleeping well for years but a few months ago…
The return of hunting
With luck, the cruel, hypocritical ban could be gone by winter
Real life
Here is what I thought happened. I thought that as I tided my store room at the stables I put…
Real life
This much I know, I never want to live in an ‘executive home’, and neither do I want to live…
‘Oh André!’
André Rieu is a demigod among classical performing artists – and my mother loves him
Real life
Why won’t the middle classes shout at their dogs any more? My suspicion is that the bleeding heart liberals, having…
Real life
Aren’t the police getting younger nowadays — and ruder, and scruffier and more intolerant of middle-class women? In other words,…
Real life
The doctor eyed me suspiciously as I walked into her consulting room. ‘Ye-es?’ she said, nervously, eyeing me up and…
Simply Macnificent
‘I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to get this chance in life,’ said Christine McVie, as the…
