I ALWAYS said Morri was a one-off, a unique mind in this great game. Morri thinks Munster are boring and to an extent he’s right. They’re so predictable, aren’t they, with their army of brilliant fans and their relentless victories and their spanking new stadium in Limerick and their Doug Howlett and – yawn – [...]

I havejust spent five weeks working and experiencing life in China, with fellow dairy farmer Peter Ferguson. While it was good to return on Easter Monday to good, green Southland grass, there was a lot about China and the Chinese that impressed us.
Our first stop was on the outskirts of Tianjin, Chinas fourth largest city [...]

For the past few months, I have been travelling back and forth from London to my native Ireland, to research a book on eco escapes in Ireland. I have been doing this the old-fashioned, slow way, by train and ferry. “You must be afraid of flying, are you?” is the question from every taxi driver [...]

Astonishingly beautiful and extremely varied, the seven islands and various uninhabited islets of the Aeolian archipelago were designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2000. Their volcanic origins left a dramatic legacy of black-sand beaches, smouldering craters and splintered, rocky coastlines. Island-hoppers can discover their individual charms: from the spartan conical Alicudi, where donkeys are [...]

The findings may help explain why species can almost never interbreed, and also point to a possible way to thwart the spread of malaria, a disease that kills about 1 million people each year, primarily children in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a new study researchers from UT Southwestern have found that sexual reproduction begins with a two [...]

Northumberland”Britain is bursting with wonderful wildlife but most of the time we walk right past it without even noticing,” says Martin Kitching of Northern Experience Wildlife Tours. “Goshawks, otters, even rare hen harriers.” Martin shares his knowledge and enthusiasm on natural history safaris, seeking out wildlife in the Kielder Forest and the Cheviot Hills. Later [...]

As a kid in Salford, the only horses I saw belonged to the rag-and-bone, to the mounted Dibbles at Old Trafford or to the Travellers who sold us clothes pegs and sprays of lucky heather. Further along life’s path, I find myself cantering along ancient Spanish drovers’ routes and click-clacking up cobbled Roman roads, my [...]

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has done it again. With 5.5m visitors in 2007, the north-west’s favourite stretch of coastline has held off strong challenges from the British Museum and the Tate Modern to claim the title of Britain’s Top Visitor Attraction. The league table, published last week by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), contains [...]

Best for stylish interiorsChateau Les Merles Mouleydier, Aquitaine
1. The 19th-century French facade conceals an interior of Dutch minimalism suffused with light. A Dutch chef heads the kitchen, bringing skill and finesse to the cooking: great spit roasts, local wines, vegetables from the organic [...]

Sliding across a frozen lake in the Norwegian wilderness, the stars twinkling above you as a team of huskies pulls you onwards sounds lovely, wouldn’t you say? You might even think it sounds idyllic. Well, let me tell you: it was horrible. Here [...]