Category Archives: Uncategorized

Retirement: Three Weeks In

Well, so far on this voyage of discovery, I have learned that:

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Painting Paradise

If you do nothing else in London between now and 11 October, make sure you go to this lovely exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery in London. This is my opinion, at any rate: that of Richard Dorment in Friday’s Telegraph … Continue reading

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The Rubens Effect

I didn’t think I liked Rubens – melodrama, Counter-Reformation, acres of female flesh – until I visited his house in Antwerp. This was achieved after a horrendous journey by car from Brussels: Belgian drivers are even worse than the French … Continue reading

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Arthur Young, Agriculturalist

I first came across Arthur Young (1741–1820) a very long time ago when I was involved in the production of Cambridge’s Agrarian History of England and Wales, volumes 5 and 6. The works used Arthur Young’s remarkable surveys of British … Continue reading

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Virtual Unwrappings

Last Friday, to the British Museum, pausing en route from King’s Cross only to snap the plaque on the house of Sir Samuel Romilly. I was meeting Him Indoors to see the ‘Ancient Lives, New Discoveries’ exhibition before it closes … Continue reading

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Ten Things I Didn’t Know About Portugal

In my previous existence (so long ago – i.e. a week – that it all seems like a dream), I mentioned a distinct lack of knowledge of Portugal, Britain’s oldest ally. Thanks to David Birmingham’s Concise History of Portugal, I … Continue reading

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Treasured Possessions

I try to avoid exiting through the gift shop at museums and galleries, because I have this awful urge to buy everything in sight (well, almost everything: I’m rather past pencils and fridge magnets), and my house is cluttered enough … Continue reading

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