"Unknown road," warned the stranger's satnav. Diverted from the familiar A303 by a sudden closure on a dark evening, I joined another baffled motorist at a tiny junction with an unhelpful signpost indicating an unexpected place name such as Longbridge Deverill, or perhaps it was Marston Magna. It was a shock to be faced so abruptly with the A303's hinterland, hitherto unknown to me and, I suspect, many of the drivers of the vehicles – sometimes more than 30,000 – pounding over what Tom Fort calls "the highway to the sun".
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E-break Time
World's top two squash players James Willstrop and Nick Matthew begin British Open bid
Monday 14 May 2012
James Willstrop is in the form of his life; Nick Matthew is defending champion and aiming for a third title.
Natalie Haynes: Want to know how it feels to be rich? Give a pint of blood
Thursday 10 May 2012
Notebook
Shot And A Ghost, by James Willstrop
Sunday 29 April 2012
Something funny has happened on the way to the squash court in the past couple of decades. For reasons difficult to divine, the game somehow slipped off the mainstream sporting radar.
Robin Scott-Elliot: Collymore excels with Ajax while England are taken to the cleaners
Monday 27 February 2012
Europa League, Channel 5 / Six Nations, BBC
The 10 Best budget travel buys
Wednesday 22 February 2012
1. Duct Tape
£3.33, staples.co.uk
It doesn't just seal tears and cuts in your suitcase, but can also be used to waterproof things, cheaply and quickly, on the hoof.
Luke Blackall: Someone save us from the curse of the canapé
Saturday 11 February 2012
Man About Town: Fantastic staples like sushi, fish and chips and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding are rendered useless
See eight pantos in 80 minutes this Christmas with Potted Panto
Monday 12 December 2011
Tickets from £10 - save up to 50 per cent
Squash: Matthew leads England to final after crushing Australia
Saturday 27 August 2011
England put on a dominant display over old rivals Australia to advance to the men's World Team Championship final in Paderborn, Germany.
Squash: Friction with top two men, but can they lead England to World title?
Saturday 20 August 2011
In terms of great British sporting rivalries, it may not have the glitz and glamour of Hamilton versus Button, but it is one with begrudging respect which has threatened to turn into a full-blown war of words. Step forward world No 1 Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, England's No 2, from the world of squash.
Not so naughty, but still nice: Chefs are developing guilt-free desserts by replacing sugar with spice
Thursday 21 July 2011
It's every pudding lover's dream: a truly sumptuous dessert that won't ruin the waistline and won't up your odds of cardiac arrest. Amazingly, I think I may have found it. Agnar Sverrisson's signature dish – Valrhona white chocolate mousse, ice cream, dill and cucumber – is the kind of dessert I could write poetry about. I have been thinking about it repeatedly since I tasted it two days ago, at the Michelin-starred Texture in London. Half an hour after tasting, I stride into nearby Selfridges Food Hall to buy a big slab of Valrhona chocolate, in order, I hope, to relive the experience. No such luck. The next morning I am fighting the urge to march into the restaurant and order it for breakfast. I want to taste it again and again and again.
Secret life of Cambridge suspect accused of plot to kill Spain's king
Friday 08 July 2011
A suspected Basque terrorist accused of trying to assassinate the King of Spain appeared in court yesterday after a police swoop on his Cambridgeshire home.
Business Diary: E&Y set to take squash title
Friday 11 March 2011
The Canary Wharf & Square Mile Corporate Challenge is hotting up – and if you want to make a few quid from the squash tournament that pits the staff of City firms against each other, put your cash on Ernst & Young. Already in the semis, it will take on PricewaterhouseCoopers for a place in the final against Credit Suisse or the Financial Services Authority. How can we be so confident? Well, E&Y is represented by an employee, a certain Peter Marshall. His work at the firm is his second career – he was previously a professional squash player. A former world number two, in fact. So unless E&Y's rivals had the foresight to hire a former world number one, they don't stand a chance.
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