Was the language and invention of The Hobbit inspired by JRR Tolkien’s time at the University of Leeds? ” Bilbo found it… in Gollum’s cave.” So when did it all begin, The Hobbit? Formally on 21 September 1937, when the book was first published in hardback by George, Allen and Unwin. Informally, a little… Continue reading
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Writer on Observer list of ten best debut authors comes to BeaconLit book festival
Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, whose first novel, The End of Nightwork, was published earlier this year, is one of the speakers at the BeaconLit book festival, 2023. He is one of two authors at BeaconLit this year who were on the Observer’s annual list of the ten best debut authors for 2023 **** ‘Yes, I’ve always written, I… Continue reading →
Will the Australians’ preposterous world record score ever be beaten?
Few records in cricket can be regarded as unbreakable – although six sixes in an over has to be one – but I find it hard to imagine, in a two innings per side game, any team surpassing the Australians’ monumental total on a sunny Saturday in May 75 years ago. We are used to… Continue reading →
Fully open Elizabeth Line a rare British triumph
Can a new road any longer ‘transform your journey’? Or simply shift you faster to the next jam? But trains certainly can. —- What was the brightest and best news in travel and transport this week? Anwhere? Visitors to the World Travel Market (WTM) at the Excel Centre in East London would have being given… Continue reading →
No medals for Augusto Ramos, but London saluted a true Olympian
Ten years on from the cameo part an athlete few of us have heard of, Augusto Ramos Soares, in the London Olympics of 2012. He will not have had the equivalent of £4 million spent on him – that’s the estimated sum you need to invest in an athlete to make him or her competitive enough… Continue reading →
A rural ride to the Rothschilds’ cottage palace
So where is this? ‘Half-timbered house originating from 1606, transformed by the Rothschilds in the late 19th century, containing superb collections.’ And this? ‘.. a French Renaissance château, inspired by those in the Loire valley, built by a Rothschild in the 19th century, and filled with royal treasures and many objects with an exceptional story… Continue reading →