Michael Wharton – A Chequered Career

Michael ('Peter Simple') Wharton's book The Missing Will is one of the finest, funniest memoirs you'll ever read. In this exclusive article from Slightly Foxed magazine, Jeremy Lewis introduces one of the last of Fleet Street's heroic drinkers... I got to know Michael Wharton in the early 1980s, when I was ... Read More...

Dabbler Diary – Democracy Doesn’t Work

To Bristol Zoo again, this time for bangless fireworks. Quick visit to the monkeys to say nighty-night first. The fireworks were bangless because animals don’t like bangs. Nor do tiny infants so we thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce the youngest daughter to Guy Fawkes night. What ... Read More...

Bird Watching in California

Despite having fuddy-duddy connotations, I was surprised to discover that the pastime we call bird watching isn’t actually that old – or at least the term isn’t. Bird watching is popularly thought of as the sort of thing dweeby old guys do to get away from the Missus. The twitcher’s ... Read More...

Heroes of Slang 18: Eric Partridge

The leading lexicographer of slang salutes his predecessor... How embarrassing. There he is. Always has been. Right under my nose. Or at least right behind me. And I never noticed. My very own predecessor: without whom and all that stuff. Really. I had better make amends. Eric Honeywood Partridge was born in ... Read More...