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Flora Watkins

Flora Watkins

The Spectator

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Lost England / How The Box of Delights became a Christmas cult classic

At this time of year, switching on the radio to hear the twinkling harp at the start of ‘The First Nowell’ from Hely-Hutchinson’s Carol Symphony...

06.12.2024 20

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

Who can afford to send Christmas cards any more?

At this time of year I’d usually be writing dozens of Christmas cards, with a Snowball to hand, heavy on the Advocaat. Many would be to people...

28.11.2024 3

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

Babycham is back!

Babycham, the drink you perhaps last sipped while tapping the ash from a black Sobranie as Sade played on the jukebox, is coming back. Launched in...

21.11.2024 2

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

VAT raid / Private schools brought this on themselves

It’s the season to do the rounds of senior schools and my 10-year-old son and I have been jostling through the crowds to glimpse science labs and...

16.10.2024 20

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

It’s time to banish binge-watching

It’s Wednesday, which means my evening is booked up for Slow Horses. The usual protracted regime of children’s tea-bath-bed will be compressed...

02.10.2024 2

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

It may be too late to save trail hunting

There’s a grumble, often repeated among country folk, that ‘hunting people got hunting banned’. What they mean (I think) is that a combination...

26.09.2024 60

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

Can school rugby survive safety concerns?

The look on the face of A&E staff was one of horror and disbelief. ‘He’s playing contact rugby – at eight?’ I nodded, my son Gus’s left arm...

05.09.2024 2

The Spectator

Flora Watkins

Love it or loathe it, ragwort is winning

White, lacy cow parsley frothing along the roadside is a familiar sight during the British summer. But 2024 is the first year I can remember when...

08.08.2024 2

The Spectator

Flora Watkins