Hitchcock

The death of the British pub

The middle classes and the middle-aged have abandoned pubs in droves

The anonymous heroes who really deserve a medal

The world is always full of dreadful news. That's constant. What changes is the degree to which we pay attention

The importance of being called Richard

Names go in and out of fashion, but changing them is no guarantee of miraculously casting off our former woes

What sort of person pays £995 for the Last Night of the Proms?

Air France and an apple

On an Air France flight last week I encountered a tiny object that seemed to epitomise the absurdity of modern life

The Edinburgh Festival refreshes the soul

The Festival reaffirms beliefs in 'things other than material', which is hard to do when materialism is society's driving force

If senior citizen Sir Mick Jagger can keep rocking - so can we

I think the baby-boomers may have been a historical blip

Ah yes, I remember it well... at least I think I do

Our memories define, inspire and comfort us - and trap us

Heritage at risk: there may be rubble ahead

There are still too many people who would rather see old buildings bulldozed

The British are the way they are because our climate is damp, dour and undemonstrative

If we consistently had summers like they have in Rio, we wouldn't just grow bananas, we'd go bananas

The British are the way they are because our climate is damp, dour and undemonstrative

If we consistently had summers like they have in Rio, we wouldn't just grow bananas, we'd go bananas

Guess what? There are exciting plans for Battersea power station - and pigs can fly

If so much as a single flat is built, I will personally hire a squadron of airborne porkers for a fly-past

Copenhagen's Tivoli gardens can teach us a lot about grace, tranquillity and tradition

The sight of Danes enjoying themselves in an amusement park filled me with envy

Why do we accept anodyne architecture in our public spaces?

You can learn a lot squatting in a sewage works, propped against Queen Victoria's ample bottom

The best sat-nav is the one inside your head

Has all this emphasis on cognitive thinking led to a withering of our instincts?

Let's get back to our roots - and plant more trees

The tree's worst enemy remains the developers who tear down oaks on ground which could be more ‘profitably' occupied by a new supermarket

For once, let's hear it for the boys

The disengagement of teenage boys from education, society and the world of work and responsibility, is one of the tragedies of our time

Got a problem? I'm sure there's a pill for it

Supply everyone over 50 with this miracle polypill and we will all be leaping around like demented frogs and bonking like frisky rabbits

Spare a few million for the arts, guv

For the money that Roman Abramovich would have to spend to bring one decent striker to Chelsea, he could buy the services of an entire British...

Our Zeitgeist: just more of the same?

Far from making quantum leaps into the future, our era seems to be going backwards. We have abandoned manned space flight and supersonic...