From Desert Island Discs to The Archers, I’m an avid radio listener. Given the choice between the radio and TV, I’d choose radio any day. Depending who’s on I constantly criss-cross between BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 live. I love Tony Livesey on 5 live Drive. The one-time editor of the Daily Sport is genuinely funny but never gets in the way of a breaking news story. I’m ...keep reading
Exasperated tenants have been venting their anger about having to put up with Dickensian squalor and ruthless landlords. Members of the Generation Rent group asked renters to post their experiences on Twitter using the hashtag #ventyourrent and were inundated with tales of woe. They ranged from stories of damp and mould to a landlord who constructed a glass-bricked room inside the tenant’s flat to sleep in when he visited from ...keep reading
It was a day I’d been dreading. The lease on my son’s rented house came to an end this week and he asked me to help him move out. He’s fiercely independent and would have done the move by himself – except he’s got mountains of stuff, a turbo trainer and several bikes. He doesn’t have a car and the insurance on hiring a van would be sky-high. But when ...keep reading
One of the best things about living by the sea is having to catch a ferry to get home. Sandbanks Ferry clanks back and forth across the entrance to Poole Harbour three times an hour, linking glitzy Sandbanks to peaceful Studland, with its miles of unspoiled, sandy beaches and remote heathland walks. Five years after moving here I’m as fascinated by the ferry as ever. It has been operating since ...keep reading
I like Brigitte Macron. She’s smart, chic and looks like she’d be fun to spend time with. She literally hasn’t put a foot wrong since she moved to the Elysée Palace – a point highlighted by her radical new approach to work meetings. Instead of holding interminable meetings around a boring conference table Mme Macron has introduced the concept of walkabout meetings. With staff from her office at her side, ...keep reading