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Mat Coward
Hamburg parsley and cross section /  Pics (l to R): MarkusHagenlocher/CC; Amada44/CC
Gardening / 6 March 2026
6 March 2026

MAT COWARD looks at the Hamburg parsley — a species rarely cultivated here but popular, with good reason, in Eastern Europe

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Crime fiction / 3 March 2026
3 March 2026

Good Cop vs Bad Fascist fantasy, a guilty witness, Scottish witchcraft, and Camino de Santiago shocker

(L to R) Patio Baby aubergine; A 12th century manuscript by Matthaeus Platearius, a physician from the medical school at Salerno, depicts an aubergine plant which was used for a variety of ailments / Pics (L to R): Joydeep/CC; Wellcome Collection gallery/CC
Gardening / 21 February 2026
21 February 2026

While advocating the aubergine or eggplant’s case for a space on your windowsill or patio, MAT COWARD suggest prayers might be required too

Photo: Bernard Sharp/Creative Commons
Features / 20 February 2026
20 February 2026

After 58 fishermen were lost in the so-called ‘Triple Trawler Tragedy,’ four women led a grassroots revolt that forced the government to overhaul Britain’s deadly deep-sea fishing industry. MAT COWARD tells the story

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Crime fiction / 3 February 2026
3 February 2026

Japanese innovation, Costa Rican skullduggery, Glasgow Central suicide, and good deeds punished in London

Savoy Italian cabbage. Photo: Goldlocki/CC
Gardening / 2 January 2026
2 January 2026

MAT COWARD takes a look at some of the options for keen gardeners as we enter 2026

covers
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

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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

crime
Crime fiction / 7 October 2025
7 October 2025

Cat show killer, avenging the pawns, women hunt the Ripper, and running dry in the outback

 

Chilli pepper. Photo: Pixabay
Gardening / 4 October 2025
4 October 2025

Spice up your life – and your greenhouse – with MAT COWARD’s gardening tips

CRIME
Crime fiction / 9 September 2025
9 September 2025

Doomed adolescents, when the missing person is you, classic whodunnit, and an anti-capitalist eco-thriller

Giant Winter / Pic: Krish Dulal/CC
Features / 6 September 2025
6 September 2025

MAT COWARD sings the praises of the Giant Winter’s full-depth, earthy and ferrous flavour perfect for rich meals in the dark months

HISTORY MADE: A plaque at the Old Bailey dedicated to the case of William Penn and William Mead — and the jury who acted on their conscience
Features / 2 September 2025
2 September 2025

The heroism of the jury who defied prison and starvation conditions secured the absolute right of juries to deliver verdicts based on conscience — a convention which is now under attack, writes MAT COWARD

CAUSE AND EFFECT: Maturing apples and and apple pie / pics: (L to R) George Chernilevsky and Roozitaa both CC
Gardening / 16 August 2025
16 August 2025

As apple trees blossom to excess it remains to be seen if an abundance of fruit will follow. MAT COWARD has a few tips to see you through a nervy time