The Docklow summer fete in aid of the perennially needy church roof takes place in our garden on Saturday afternoon, and although there are a few signs along the A44 publicising this seismic event in Docklow's social calendar, a plug in a national newspaper can't do any harm, and might even help us – though I don't expect anyone will come from Camden Town or even Leamington Spa – to steal a lead over some of the other village fetes, fairs, fayres, shows, galas, fun days, point-to-points, steam engine rallies or whatever else is taking place in north Herefordshire this weekend.

Millions of bank holiday plans were dashed yesterday as heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across southern parts of the country with equally bad weather forecast for today.

Pupils sat GCSE exams with some of the answers printed on the papers, it was confirmed today.

That tough Welsh mare Lady Myfanwy (2.30) looks set for her 10th win from 11 starts this season in the ladies' open at Bredwardine, Herefordshire, today. The seven-year-old's sole defeat came in a Leicester hunter chase won by Minouchka and the winner and third (Rydal Park) have won five races between them since.

There are several obstacles to enjoying this account of the Viner family's attempts to settle in rural north Herefordshire after relocating from London's Crouch End. To begin with, there's the ghastly punning title, which looms at you like something nasty from the 1970s. After that there's the first anecdote about "an attractive strawberry blonde of indeterminate years" who turns out to be a scarecrow; a patrician little tale that reminds readers how "Best Scarecrow competitions... or Dog with the Waggiest Tail competitions, are taken with deadly seriousness in the country". Finally, there's the grasping zaniness. Chapter two starts: "Whether the doctor and nurses had caught a whiff of my aloe-scented scrotum or not, I must say that when I started writing this book, I didn't expect to embark quite so soon on the story of my snip in Llandrindod Wells."

The recent rain has come in the nick of time especially for Cottenham today where, despite 14mm since Sunday, the going is still good to firm. The fast surface should enable Bell Rock (1.55) to record his fourth course success in the ladies' open after a hit-and-miss start to the season. Bell Rock unseated regular rider Emily Jarvis at the fourth on his reappearance at Badbury Rings last month and then never looked like catching Beet De Bob at left-handed Higham. However, he is much happier going clockwise and was unbeaten in three outings last season – all of them at Cottenham. Galesbob (2.40), most impresssive at Didmarton a fortnight ago, can follow up at Siddington today.

Tributes poured in yesterday for Miles Kington, broadcaster, author and columnist for The Indepedent, who died on Wednesday, aged 66, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Kington, also a jazz musician, enjoyed an illustrious 43-year career on national newspapers – he also wrote for The Times – and Punch magazine. Born in Northern Ireland, he began freelance writing after graduating from Oxford University and entered national newspaper journalism as a jazz reviewer.

Miles Kington, the polymath and Independent columnist who was an institution at the paper since its foundation 22 years ago, has died after a short illness. He was 66.

So long as there are games like this, and clubs like Hereford United, rumours of the FA Cup's demise will remain gloriously exaggerated. True, Championship side Cardiff's victory over League Two rivals could hardly be called a cup upset, but the narrowness of its margin, together with the spirit in which yesterday's match was conducted, was a credit to the world's greatest club competition.