One day in 1974, actress Prunella Scales travelled to Hyde Park Gardens to visit John Cleese in his flat to discuss a potential role in a new situation comedy called Fawlty Towers. As it happened, Cle

A village hall mystery doesn’t quite go to plan

HELLO, little one!” Penny Dauntless greeted a robin-redbreast, who cocked his head as she pushed along her trolley of post on the daily round. “How often is there such a perfect mid-December morning?”

It was going to be a quiet festive season for me, just the way I liked it (I told myself). I’d gone back to spend Christmas with my parents in our small home town. This year, however, Mum and Dad were

Nellie Sloggett is not a name that gets uttered very often these days, but she is nevertheless a very important figure in the history of folk collection, and someone who should be far better celebrate

It’s a joy watching our favourite singers or actors, but though we might admire them and enjoy the happiness they bring, do we ever give a thought as to how precarious the world of entertainment actua