A fascinating story of love, affairs and royalty

By Kenny Smith | June 4, 2019

This gripping tale of love, exile and conflict tells the story of sisters Isabella and Catherine de Valois. Isabella was married to Richard II, until his mysterious death forced her back to a fatally divided France, while her beautiful sister, Catherine, the bride of Henry V, had a passionate love affair with Owain Tudor, with…

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There’s no stopping the ladies in their 19th outing

By Kenny Smith | December 12, 2018

The latest book in the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, The Colour of all the Cattle does not disappoint. Despite being the 19th book in the series, McCall Smith has not run out of ideas, producing yet another engaging installment to join the rest of the series. The series follows protagonist Mma Precious Ramotswe in…

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Shooting from the lip is his speciality

By Kenny Smith | October 15, 2018

Nothing and no-one is able to escape the sharp wit of Alasdair Mitchell in this collection of columns from his weekly Sharpshooter column in the Shooting Times. One of the reasons for Mitchell’s popularity is his ability to discern the truth from a collection of mistruths and his powerful yet calm writing style. This amusing…

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Dry…

By Peter Ranscombe | May 9, 2011

Monday April 18th – Solid sort of morning here, fantastic weather though dull now, 18 horses worked in the schools and on the all-weather, Forcefield & Commercial Express went for a long hack in the forestry.  Had our bi-annual inspection from the BHA which passed reasonably smoothly, made lots of entries for the weekend &…

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