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It might strike you as perverse, that anyone should make the case that what we need in the UK is to establish a post of President. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump, with every day that passes, disgraces his office and…
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Two (or three) naughty boys in Jesus
On a visit to Cambridge last week, the first for over fifteen years, we stayed in one of the guest rooms in Jesus College. We were free to roam the courts, and to eat breakfast with the students in the…
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Heaven in Trieste
It’s unlikely, for a number of good reasons, that after my death I shall end up in heaven. But if it happens, and if – an even more remote possibility – St Peter offers me a choice of where exactly…
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In praise of the dash
A few weeks ago the Observer columnist and internet technology expert John Naughton – one of the few columnists left who’s still worth reading after the Guardian carelessly disowned its Sunday sister – wrote a fascinating article – fascinating to…
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Haf 1975: adeilad newydd, gyrfa newydd
Ym mis Medi bûm ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd ar gyfer dathliad pen-blwydd – hanner can mlynedd ers agor Llyfrgell y Celfyddydau ac Astudiaethau Cymdeithasol (ASSL). Dathliad arbennig i mi, achos dyna le dechreuais i ar fy swydd broffesiynol gyntaf – yn…
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Snowdonia Slate Walk, day 4: Beddgelert to Tanygrisiau
I’ve not slept well in Beddgelert. The reason, I think, is that our B&B is beside Afon Glaslyn, and I’m not used to sleeping with the constant noise of running water. Today we’re going to be following the river downstream…
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Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 3: Y Fron to Beddgelert
There’s no room for doubt. The Met Office’s app shows black clouds and two black raindrops, every hour from mid-morning to the end of the day. Other weather apps say the same. But we’re stoical, as we wait for the…
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Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 2: Llanberis to Y Fron
Today’s a rare day: no waterproofs needed, and sun forecast for the afternoon. We set off from Llanberis and climb up the lane towards Waunfawr. On average, each day of the Trail crosses two watersheds, and this is the first…
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Snowdonia Slate Trail, day 1: Bethesda to Llanberis
I’ve had my eye on Llwybr Llechi Eryri, the Snowdonia Slate Trail, ever since it opened in 2017, and especially since two seasoned long-distance walkers, Eirlys Thomas and Lucy O’Donnell, told me in 2021 that it was one of the…
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The artist from behind
What’s happening when artists choose to portray themselves in their work? The self-portrait was an invention of the Renaissance, but it’s just as common today, in painting (Jenny Saville’s work, now on show in a big retrospective at the National…