The Browning
BY ROGER WATSON What is the second most dangerous thing in the British Army? Answer: an officer with a gun. What is the most dangerous thing in the British Army? Answer: an officer with a map. During my short spell of military service, I never fired my gun in anger – only at a target on a firing range, but I did once prove the … Continue reading The Browning
A Prayer for a Nation That Deserves Better
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust this Sunday finds you in good heart, despite the general thinning of common sense in high places. The garden, I am pleased to report, is coming along much better than the government. The peas have climbed their sticks with admirable discipline, the lettuces are forming tight, respectable hearts, and the early potatoes have that clean, hopeful … Continue reading A Prayer for a Nation That Deserves Better
R.I.P Ted
BY ALLISON LEE The BBC show fronted by two comedians, Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, is entering its tenth season. However, this programme – which isn’t really about fishing as a sport, but about two good friends helping each other come to terms with their health problems – will be missing one very special little chap. Ted, a Patterdale cross terrier who was abandoned at … Continue reading R.I.P Ted
The Dangerous Uselessness of Bureaucratically-minded Politicians
BY IAN MITCHELL Nevil Shute’s experience of Air Ministry incompetence in the crucial 1930s, focussing on the R 101 disaster Many of those who enjoyed either reading or seeing On the Beach or A Town Like Alice will be surprised to learn that the author, Nevil Shute, was also a skilled aeronautical engineer who was deeply involved for a decade in getting Britain ready for the Nazi attack which … Continue reading The Dangerous Uselessness of Bureaucratically-minded Politicians
The Downing Street Revolving Door
BY ALEXIA JAMES There is a peculiar species of political animal that roams the corridors of Whitehall. It has a brief, dazzling lifespan—rather like a mayfly with a security detail and access to nuclear codes. Its natural habitat is 10 Downing Street, and its average shelf life now hovers somewhere between “a Tottenham manager” and “a head of lettuce.” Yes, Britain appears to have developed … Continue reading The Downing Street Revolving Door
Was Krishna Christ?
BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN For more than two thousand years, two figures have stood at the opposite ends of the human imagination, and we have never been able to look at one without seeing the ghost of the other. Krishna of the Mahabharata, blue skinned and crowned with peacock feathers, who lifts a mountain on one finger and dances in the moonlight with milkmaids whose names … Continue reading Was Krishna Christ?
A Very Moorish Idyll
BY CALUM CAMPBELL There is a particular strain of environmentalist for whom the Scottish Highlands represent nothing less than a crime scene. They gaze upon the heather-clad hills and see a “devastated countryside” — a forest felled by human wickedness, kept treeless only by the tyranny of deer and sheep. There is only one problem. They are talking rot. Dr James Fenton, a retired ecologist, … Continue reading A Very Moorish Idyll
Versing the Mystery
BY PAVI AGRAWAL There is a particular species of English religious poet whose work one encounters, from time to time, in the pages of The Tablet or the quieter corners of the literary press. He is learned, sincere, metrically competent, and possessed of a devotional earnestness that can feel, to the less devout reader, rather like being cornered at a drinks party by a man … Continue reading Versing the Mystery
Britain Needs the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir
CSM EDITORIAL We have a habit in this country of treating farmers as a utility rather than a community. We see the tractor on the lane and curse the delay; we see the price of milk and tut; we see the rolling green hills and forget the bodies that break themselves in half to keep them green. Britain does not have a mental health crisis. … Continue reading Britain Needs the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir
Whit Sunday Prayer
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that You are well and are able to enjoy the sunshine. Today is Whit Sunday. Whit Sunday is also known as Whitsun or Whitsunday, all names that refer to what is the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. The name White Sunday, used more commonly in Britain, refers to the special white garments worn by the … Continue reading Whit Sunday Prayer
Osmotherley
BY ALLISON LEE Osmotherley is an attractive village nestled in the North York Moors, with a population of around 700. Its streets are lined with trees and grass verges, and stone-clad houses make it the archetypal picturesque village. Narrow alleys run between the houses, and a market cross takes centre stage. One particularly interesting building in the centre of the village is the former Thompson’s … Continue reading Osmotherley
The Makerfield Con
BY ANDREW MILNE One August, I swam across a lake in Bavaria with my two sons aged twelve and six respectively. Bavaria has its own treacherous weather systems. When we reached the other side – surrounded by dark cliffs and mysterious forests – a thunder storm rumbled into action. Rain jetted down pocking the mere’s surface. All of us were good swimmers but the prospect of … Continue reading The Makerfield Con
The Arsonists
BY JACK WATSON The Arsonists is a stage adaptation of a play written by the Swiss novelist and playwright Max Frisch. Originally published in Germany in 1958, the play was translated into English by Alistair Beaton and first produced in England in 1961. It later became known as The Fire Raisers. The play serves as a dark political satire, exploring societal complacency, moral cowardice, and … Continue reading The Arsonists
Reform’s Radical Agenda
BY FRANK HAVILAND Earlier this month, Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s latest political incarnation, proposed one of the sharpest political ideas of modern times: to site new migrant detention centres in areas that vote heavily for the Green Party, which famously advocates for a “world without borders”. Likely locations include the historic Green Party stronghold of Brighton, but after last week’s local election success the list could easily extend to … Continue reading Reform’s Radical Agenda
The Turtle Hospital
BY MARGARET ASHWORTH I have been to Florida three times. Not to Orlando or Disney (I would pay good money not to go there), but to the Florida Keys, a string of low-lying islands stretching 120 miles from the state’s southern tip. They are linked by Route 1, the longest north-south highway in the US, running 2,369 miles from the Canadian border to Key West. … Continue reading The Turtle Hospital
Progress Back to Naught
BY ALEX STORY The United Kingdom is no such thing. The disingenuous promises of the recent past, such as devolution, multiculturalism, and “gender” (also known as the politics of biology), have disunited the country. These have created irreparable fissures across our country’s body politic. The carefully laid mortar, built over centuries between the state’s institutional building blocks, is coming off. However, in the meaningless vacuum … Continue reading Progress Back to Naught
Still There
BY SEAN WALSH This “leadership” talk is yet another devil’s illusion. We were expecting a Jason Statham or a John Wick blockbuster. Instead of that we’re being served up one of those interminable Scandinavian things. Not noir either, like The Killing, but worthier fare. With themes. Of interest only to the critics. Actually that’s unfair to the interminable Scandinavian things. Whatever is happening in the Labour party is … Continue reading Still There
A Prayer for a General Election
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, As the first of the summer blackberries shows a blush of purple, I find myself turning from the garden to the news pages with a heavy heart. There is a particular weariness that comes not from honest toil, but from watching those entrusted with high office fail in their charge. The vegetable patch rewards patience and care. Westminster, … Continue reading A Prayer for a General Election
Lastingham
BY ALLISON LEE Lastingham is one of my favourite places to visit in the North York Moors National Park. Steeped in history and set amidst breathtaking scenery, this picturesque village sits on the southern fringe of the park and has welcomed visitors for centuries, drawn by its postcard-perfect charm and warm hospitality. Two inviting options for accommodation in the village are Lastingham Grange and The … Continue reading Lastingham
Labour Chaos: The Succession
BY THE EDITOR You have been told that one name may fall. That another may rise. You are encouraged to feel hope. This is a trap. Consider your current condition. You live under the apparatus of Starmer. He is not a man. He is a function. A grey suit filled with procedural dust. He speaks in paragraphs sterilised of meaning. His cruelty is administrative. His … Continue reading Labour Chaos: The Succession