Heritage
The importance of bread as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance
Two authors writing in response to the war use baking as a prism through which to view the country’s heritage and its defiance of Putin
Should family history, however painful, be memorialised forever?
What to hold on to and what to let go of is Samantha Ellis’s dilemma when trying to explain the complexities of their Judeo-Iraqi heritage to her young son
The rootlessness that haunts the children of immigrants
Edward Wong tries to connect with his Chinese heritage by retracing his father’s military postings before the Great Famine – but finds the country too changed to make comparisons
Why Stonehenge doesn’t have to go the same way as Liverpool
It has not been a good month for the United Kingdom’s internationally important heritage sites. Stonehenge is teetering on the…
Blue plaque blues
One of the great distinctions and pleasures of British life has been devalued by cheap imitations
The price of a cathedral
Deans are facing tough decisions to keep their beautiful buildings in good order
The Clare Valley
It is a century and a half since The Spectator noted the exceptional qualities of South Australia, a colony of…
Barometer
Old bags The government announced details of a compulsory 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in shops. Plastic bags have…
Monumental heroes
Syrians, Libyans and Malians are risking their lives to save ancient treasures from Islamists – with shamefully little help from us
Glasgow
A wet walk in a Glaswegian graveyard might not be your idea of fun, but then you might not have…
Signs of contempt
Why do we ruin beautiful places to make them appeal to those who’ll never visit anyway?
Diary
My wife and I spent the winter in Worcestershire. This allowed me to tell everyone back home in the States:…
Osborne’s Waterloo
The defence of Hougoumont is one of the great British feats of arms. If the farmhouse had fallen to Bonaparte’s…
Diary
ONE OF THE MINOR sociological treats of being appointed shadow education secretary is a frontbench view of David Cameron’s crimson…
Diary
I began my week with a trip to Bridlington, the closest seaside town to my childhood home. ‘Brid’, as it’s…
