“Why the COP26 climate summit will be both crucial and disappointing” reports this morning’s Economist. And yet despite everything it concludes that such global gatherings remain the best forum to force change. And of course, change is needed – a massive change in the way we live on our planet. For the strange dynamic at the heart of creation care is that it is in our own self-interest to act unselfishly. As Greta Thunburg, the most unlikeliest of climate activists, arg

The world is endangered yet again, then saved by a man in a dinner jacket. That’s basically the story line of every James Bond film since Dr No in 1962 – but No time to die is different. Jacqui and I went to watch the film in a near-deserted auditorium last week – a midweek, early afternoon showing. And if you are planning to see the film, you will be relieved to know that I won’t be giving anything away. No spoiler alert needed. I remember going to the Odeon cinema (as

Suddenly I was confronted with a signpost showing two opposite directions, not what I was expecting as I walked the second leg of the Sandstone trail this Monday. Disconcertingly I was being asked to decide between two alternative routes to the next stage. By and large we don’t like making decisions. As essayist, Edward Dahlberg helpfully points out: “Every decision you make is a mistake.” So we procrastinate, we delay our decision, we kick the can even further down the

Twice in as many weeks our day-to-day plans have been entirely disrupted by covid. As it happens, not by us having covid– we continue to stay well; also our booster jab is scheduled for tomorrow. Not our daughters, but our granddaughters. Or more precisely, our granddaughters’ friends. So there is a knock-on effect as our daughters seek to contain the risk of their elderly parents being infected by the highly-virulent delta variant running through the family. So we keep our

This Wednesday, while visiting Cambridge, we found ourselves virtually alone in the medieval splendour of King’s College chapel. So I was able to give a close inspection of this truly remarkable building, seeing things which would normally escape attention. One in particular, the entrance to one of the 18 side chapels – which I promptly photographed. Illuminated by the 16th century stained glass windows, the step of white Tadcaster limestone had been worn down, some four i