October brings the first of the frosts, bewitching mist, the turning of leaves and a host of otherworldly visitors, finds John Lewis-Stempel

This is my annual guilty pleasure. By early December I am as frantic as anyone. As I hurriedly plant the last of my bulbs and make sure to complete essential deadlines before the end of the year, I co

Christmas bows Dorcas Jamieson, founder of Lineage London, ...

1 SALUTING MAGPIES This centuries-old practice is still common across the British isles in rural and urban communities alike. The magpie is commonly associated with death – perhaps because, legend say

I found it quite disconcerting, drinking a pint with Queen Boudicca and her Iceni warriors lurking behind me. I was in the Odd One Out, a quirky pub in Colchester and was getting used to finding histo

In a John Behan bronze, collector Jacqueline O’Donovan, a child of the Irish diaspora, can sense the desperation of a starving people forced to flee their land