Table Talk

The pardoner’s tale

Christopher North on a sentimental fad that risks cheapening the ritual of the bullring

It takes all sorts

Patrick Galbraith on rural racism and the fear of outsiders

Glorious mud

Nick Cohen is badly bitten by the cross-country bug

Acts of faith

Hephzibah Anderson plants her spring bulbs

Cut and thrust

Hannah Betts admires a pair of quality-obsessed British labels

Silence of the fans

Nick Cohen says silent sport needs crowds to give it meaning

Little cup of perfection

Lisa Hilton praises a divine lunch in Santiago de Compostela

Wheeling and spieling

Thomas Woodham-Smith breaks the antique shop silence

Balm for straitened times

Christopher Pincher offers some bargain whites for our tricky times

Peace in our towns

Fiona Duncan loves the unexpectedly luxurious calm of a city break