Rosemary Goring

IS it worth risking your career to shave a few minutes off a journey? Suella Braverman is not the only politician to have fallen foul of a speed camera and find herself not simply on the wrong side of the law but in danger of plunging headfirst over the professional cliff. Until the PM decided not to pursue the matter, she was in a predicament similar to the final scene in The Italian Job, teetering on the edge of a precipice as the rockface crumbled beneath her wheels.

When the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) was first published in 1902, it was viewed as a makeshift solution to the problem of too little space for book reviews in The Times. That it survived as long as 12 months surprised some, but in the years thereafter it put down deep roots in the literary firmament, becoming a standard bearer for sober, judicious criticism.

IT was the clothes pulley that did it. When fully loaded with damp clothes, winching it back up to the ceiling is like hoisting the mainsail. After one such exertion, following which I needed treatment from a physiotherapist, I had to accept that my upper body strength is not what it could be.

Mister Timeless Blyth

We have a video of our granddaughter, aged 9, dwarfed on a big stage as she played the violin in front of 200 parents, pupils and teachers.

WHO would have thought that such a small machine could make life so stressful? In spring and summer, certain gardeners live under the tyranny of the lawn mower. When rain makes it impossible to prevent a centimetre growing on their immaculate sward the strain begins to show. What will the neighbours think as the edges grow ragged? Look at those daisies! And where did that carpet of dandelions come from?

AT the Usher Hall last Sunday we stood in the aisle, waiting for the manager to sort out a problem with our seats. The place was buzzing. As he helped those in wheelchairs into their row, there was a palpable air of excitement among the throng.

Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv

ON a visit to Holyrood Palace last week with a group of international visitors from Turkey, Israel and all parts of Europe, I was astonished that their first question was, do the royals today live here?

he romance that has surrounded Bonnie Prince Charlie since he raised his standard on Scottish soil has baffled historians. Despite his many failings and errors of judgement, this tragic figure holds an almost talismanic place in the nation’s heart.