PLAYING THE clerical buffoon, poking gentle fun at the Church on television in the Sixties, made Derek Nimmo a household name. During his small-screen heyday and beyond, Nimmo also enjoyed a long and successful career in London stage comedies and was something of a modern-day Ralph Lynn, the monocled farceur with the idiot grin who in feature films and Aldwych Theatre productions of the Twenties and Thirties brought laughs to adoring audiences with his portrayals of bungling bachelors.

t HELLO there! Well, as you can imagine, the telephones have been going absolutely mad here all week! And no prizes for guessing why: yes, that's right, nearly every call posed the same simple question: "Captain, what on earth is this bold and brassy `British Way' that William Hague is banging on about and how can I follow it?" It's a good question, isn't it? And, of course, the Captain can help. Let me give you my Top 10 pointers for following the British Way. 1) Always wear your baseball cap with the peak facing the front. 2) On a sunny day, greet everyone you meet with the traditional saying, "Warm enough for you?", then raise both eyebrows and wink. 3) On a rainy day, greet everyone with the traditional saying, "Lovely weather for ducks!", again raising the eyebrows, but replacing the wink with a sigh. 4) Mostly, though, it is safer to whistle. If in doubt, apologise. 5) Let your Yorkshire pudding mix stand for at least two hours. 6) Never chew a boiled sweet. 7) Always wear a tie with your anorak. 8) Cycle through morning mists to Holy Communion on the pavement. 9) Hum while home improving. 10) Vote New Labour. Thank you.

Photographs From The Ends Of The Earth

THE DEFINING moment of John Hunt's life was his leadership of the 1953 Everest expedition when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of the world's highest peak. Hunt will always be remembered for Everest, but his qualities of warmth, humour and kindness, tempered by shrewd judgement and prodigious organisational skills, left their mark far beyond the world of mountaineering, in a long, distinguished career as soldier, explorer and statesman.

Graham Hoyland has already conquered Everest. Now he wants to return to search for photographs that were lost back in 1924

Paragliding has become more competitive, but pilots are putting their lives on the line in search for victory.

Twenty years before Hillary and Tenzing, an intrepid team of British pilots became the first people to gaze down on the summit of Everest. Now the extraordinary photographs of their trip have been rediscovered. Robert Winder reports

IF BAGGING Everest was one of your resolutions this year, there's bad news: you've blown it. The vital May window in the weather between the end of the winter winds and the start of the summer monsoon, is closing for another year.

Alliums - decorative onions - are splendid plants for the border, writes Kirsty Fergusson, but be sure to hide their ugly ankles

Top to bottom

THE GREAT Houdini yesterday took me to a personal altitude record in our expedition's preparation for the oxygen-thin air of Mount Everest.

Everest Diary; Khumjung, Nepal

the trouble with boys

Italian men show a rare enthusiasm for sex - or at least those who agreed to test a new drug for impotence did.