Interesting framing of this article. I thought Diageo might be famous enough to be named directly. Or characterised as more than “Guinness maker” since so many of their brands are popular in the UK (e.g. Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, Gordon’s etc.)

When I started secondary school, they made us do a future careers questionnaire with some DOS-based software (it asked you questions and you typed the answers). The first suggestion for me was “musical instrument technician” which, to this day, terrifies me with its accuracy.

Ocarina collectors clearly have more money than the flageolet collecting crowd. Pity since I'd have quite like the French flageolet by Noblet, even though it is missing a beak (and the vendor has put the body section on the wrong way round; the holes are for your thumbs.)

Edenbridge Bonfire Night.

A belated Bonfire Night means I can finally open this year's smoking Bishop. Usually 5th November is accompanied by the last bottle of the previous December's batch, but I switched to making it in January this year so I could use Seville oranges instead of sweet ones.

I love the English of these old adverts. Particularly their choice of adjectives. "Perfect ventilation". "Careful attention". "Season tickets as a liberal reduction". "Invalids can go through a proper course of treatment. Terms moderate".

This is quite amusing. But also: another Scottish Judge presiding over a UK/GB-wide court. Really interesting how common this has become.

It should be more widely known that the English judicial system decided that eternal damnation is not truly a part of the doctrine of the church. robindouglas.org/2025/11/06/t... /End

Every single time I open a bottle of this Port the cork explodes. Yet do I remember for next time? Never! Moral of the story—always use Port Tongs....

Interesting question. There must be quite a few English examples, in addition to the Lakin which I cited in reply.

I'm delighted that the BBC has live coverage of the flaming tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary... The most remarkable revelation is that they apparently have public liability insurance for it.

This raises the age-old change-of-status drafting question: if the letters patent are the operative document shouldn't they declare that "Prince Andrew" is no longer entitled to hold and enjoy (etc.)?

Reading about other jurisdiction’s legal systems are always interesting for the unexpected divergences. For example, the ingredients of the offence of common assault as so well settled over here that I can’t imagine ever having much disagreement over how the jury should be instructed on them.

“Repair and redevelopment costs are likely to be in the region of approximately £10 million or more, depending on intended use.” You know it is really bad when the Estate Agents say something like this!

This is an interesting article. I think we sometimes think tastes for wines & spirits are somehow timeless when, in fact, they change quite frequently & dramatically. The causes can vary: fashion & politics featuring heavily. But rarely does it have much to do with the quality of the product.

Reminds me of defending in the Magistrates' Court where you'd sometimes ask questions like this just to point out how ridiculous the whole thing was.

Despite this video first appearing muted in my feed, the helpful addition of the sheet music at the top now means there is only one thing that is going to be going through my head for the rest of the day...

This is a great thread of little bits of trivia. Especially if, like me, you don't know Bristol well.

I’m amazed that people have such a good memory of this sort of thing. I guess the first CD I bought with my own money would probably have been a Naxos one. I think they used to cost about £5 from the Royal Festival Hall music shop. But no idea what it was!

Since I am doing legal annoyances today, can anyone point me to where (and why) the custom has developed of the court referring to closed & open headings under the closed material procedures as “CLOSED” and “OPEN”, typed as such. The Justice and Security Act 2013 doesn’t do it.

It's a small niche in the field of public legal education but having seen one example here today & an offline example yesterday, is there any way we can stop people saying "if you do X you could go to prison for [the statutory maximum]" when sentencing guidelines mean you can't?

Something unusual for me tonight: Pineau des Charentes. It's kind-of a fortified wine where Cognac is blended with grape juice: the inverse of most fortified wines where the spirit should be flavourless & the wine dominant. This is an aged one & is gorgeous with the grapes sweetening the spirit.

Excellent bit of 17th Century defamation here.

One question when it comes to the "censures" meted out by the King to his brother is what do with his coat of arms? Will we see a mark of disapproval in the from of an "abatement"? Perhaps some inverting arms, the emasculation of the lions or adding a shovelful of earth...

I regret that I can't remember who drew my attention to this but perhaps we might, in fact, get to see the full ceremony of the Degradation of a Garter Knight?

Looking through my professional indemnity policy, I was rather intrigued to encounter this exclusion. The mind boggles at the underwriters insisting that the risk of covering a barrister for disciplinary proceedings “directly arising” out of nuclear combustion is so high it needs to be excluded.

One of the reasons I am reflexively Liberal when it comes to privacy is because when the government hoovers up data and deploys it for some collateral purpose, it is almost always to the detriment of individuals, whether through incompetence or malice.

A great account to follow on Parliamentary procedure.

Since we are all discussing what to call your relatives this afternoon, may I flag up the real issue is whether you prefer Coke upon Littleton’s Table of Consanguinity—with a bemused chap in the centre wondering what is going on—or Blackstone’s—which reduces it to an unfathomable diagram?

One of the weird aspects of British politics is what are legitimate expenses and what are not. So the counter to the "£900 desk" is the "Ikea desk". I guess this is 2025's version of the "John Lewis List" desk. (Incidentally, Ikea desks run from £25 to £495.)

Biddenden Vineyards in Kent was one of the pioneers of the English vine revival. They started planting Ortega in the 60s & must be one of the few English producers to have a stock of "old vines". This 2018 is really enjoyable: huge aroma, good fruit, complexity & acidity.

I was so excited about this that I forgot to check that the double flageolets would fit. They don‘t. The diameter at the biggest point is just a bit too large. It’s a real shame since otherwise they fit perfectly in one drawer. Oh, well...

Ever since I started collecting flageolets, I have struggled to find somewhere to store them. They are thin but also quite long, so most filing cabinets, music chests & collectors' cabinets don't work. Last weekend I found this 11-drawer cabinets which is perfect. It's taken so many years to find!

I saw this in a shop last weekend and have been contemplating it ever since. Has anyone made one? I have no experience making model planes like this and am not sure where it lands on the spectrum of being a weekend building project to being every evening for a year...

Apparently the problems for Pizza Hut are that people want "light, fresh, easy-to-digest product" and not the "massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas" but also the market for pizza is "broadening" into Detroit pizza (massively heavy pan pizza.) Vibes analysis all the way down.

No photographs to protect the guilty but I regret to report that I have been served an Old Fashioned in a bar (with a 2 page cocktail menu) which had not been shaken with ice, served on the rocks or chilled in any other way...

What a great cover design!

This is excellent!

A personal shame that I didn't get a chance to take part in this case after my clients' application to intervene failed. But as representatives of individual leaseholders, I am sure they very happy with outcome!

The perpetual solution in search of a problem* is now ID Checks in conveyancing. Yet most of the checks are for anti-money laundering purposes. How will ID Cards mean it is not necessary to check sources of funds? [* Beyond “why can’t we be like the nice Sensible countries on the Continent?”]

On the back of the recent thread about Peppercorn Rents, I was very kindly asked to write a short article for the @bigissue.com on the subject which they have now put online. Quite a challenge in squeezing it all in to their word limit!

I have been waiting for a judgment like this in light of the ever-greater enthusiasm for concluding care proceedings and placing children into care or for adoption at an Issues Resolution Hearing (listed here for 1 hour) rather than following a proper trial on oral evidence at a final hearing. 1/3

Missed opportunity to move the Royal Train over for one last hurrah on the most unlikely rail network in Europe.

A nice piece of level trivia is the characteristically conservative judges involved with the High Court of Chivalry rejected 1189 and set time immemorial as before 1066 instead!

This is a good article on the legal issue we discussed yesterday. I only was instructed in a case in this area once when I practised criminal law but can remember thinking how madly complex the law was, especially due to the EU's attempt to harmonise which characteristically complicated matters.

Who cares about trad wives. What everyone really wants to know is whether they make you look like Prince Edward in his capacity as the Grand Master of the Freemasons' United Grand Lodge of England?

Since this presumption was introduced in 2014 I have made countless submissions that it should affect the court's decision in favour of my client. It has never made a difference. I cannot imagine repealing it will do otherwise. Want to help abuse survivors? Fund the courts and legal aid!

Absolutely mad story which shows Parliament's addiction to creating criminal offences only works if you have someone applying discretion to how they are enforced. I also imagine the contravention was under s33(1)(a) not s33(1)(c) as reported here. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/4...

The solstice is far too easy: On the 25 August, the sun set in Santiago a Compestela at around 21:15, at Pirot, Serbia at around 19.15 and in Longyearbyen, Norway, in the same time zone at around 00:15 and then again at around 23:50.

One of my favourite legal subjects is peppercorn rents which is when a symbolic item is due as a form of a nominal payment. Other examples can include roses, blunt knives and apples. 1/13