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Literature / 2 January 2026
2 January 2026

A deeply pleasing festive crime wave

Wilfred Willett and his seminal Birds of Britain / Pic of Willett Country Standard
History / 19 December 2025
19 December 2025

A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction

The Robin Hood statue in Nottingham
Working Class History / 7 December 2025
7 December 2025

MAT COWARD tells how 18th-century scholar and revolutionary democrat Joseph Ritson turned a medieval outlaw into England’s people’s hero — soon to be gracing panto halls around the nation

(L to R) Flowering parsnip in its second year; Oven baked parsnip with honey and mustard / Pics (L to R): Pic: Skogkatten/CC Takeaway/CC
Gardening / 6 December 2025
6 December 2025

Commiserations if you failed this year, MAT COWARD offers six points which, if followed religiously, will ensure you succeed next year

cf
Book Reviews / 2 December 2025
2 December 2025

AI-induced murder, last rites for the mob-dog, a gullible common herd, and an exemplary Christmas chiller

Sir Richard Acland Labour MP arrives at the Houses of Parliament for its historic opening, October 26, 1950
Features / 27 November 2025
27 November 2025

MAT COWARD tells the story of the eccentric founder of a short-lived but striking experiment in ‘vital democracy,’ who became best known for giving away his estate to the nation

Blackberry pie and bush / Pics: (L to R) Steven Pavlov/CC; Pic: Fir0002/CC
Gardening / 22 November 2025
22 November 2025

MAT COWARD advocates cultivating blackberries, a growing in popularity crop for gardens and allotments

(L to R) Lopping Hall opened in 1884; Thomas Willingale plaque at St John the Baptist Church, Loughton, Essex / Pics: (L to R) Pic: Nigel Cox/geograph.org.uk/CC, Pic: Spudgun67/CC
Features / 14 November 2025
14 November 2025

MAT COWARD reminds us that the resilience of ordinary folk can turn the tables on the mighty and 'entitled'

scifi
Book Review / 11 November 2025
11 November 2025

AI shenanigans, tinnitus hallucinations, Jeckyll&Hyde in a locked room, and size doesn’t matter

crime
Book Review / 4 November 2025
4 November 2025

A Nazi zeppelin whodunnit, death amidst detoxification, a twistaholic’s delight, and noir fiction for criminals

The Downing Street Riot
Features / 25 October 2025
25 October 2025

MAT COWARD looks back at a protest 105 years ago this month, whose reporting by the media bears uncomfortable similarities with demos today

battle of bexley square
Working Class History / 11 October 2025
11 October 2025

MAT COWARD looks back to a 1931 protest against mass unemployment featuring a young Ewan MacColl