THE SPEGJAIOR The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL Telephone 01-405 1706; Telex 27124; Fax 242 0603 BUYING TIME -Lublicity touching on issues that are...

P O L I T I C S New watch chains, new unionism and old uncertainties NOEL MALCOLM Si Blackpool nce there is no exact date to mark the beginning of the Pleistocene period,...

Conway all the way THE Conway Eurodoggle shows signs of expanding, at both ends. It began (as I was saying last week) with an expensive tunnel under the Conway estuary, backed...

Trendy markets THE chart of the FT-SE index of share prices now looks like the side elevation of a tiled roof. The tilers have got above the 2400 level, which carries all the...

Don't drown it THE water-sellers, whose saturation campaign now drips all around us, should call up the spirit of Mr Macquiston, KC. He could show them where they have gone...

Market Guardian Sir: So Paul Johnson has (The media, 2 September) discovered a fresh source of the BBC's regrettable left-wing bias. All those job advertisements in the...

Junked mail Sir: Christopher Hawtree (Letters, 2 September) could ease the burden on his local dustmen further if he enclosed the outer envelope and the contents of the direct...

Sir: Help. For 30 years this house has been Guardian free, but my second son, William is desperately seeking a job in journalism so I now find the Guardian on the kitchen...

Sir: The unfashionable smear on the credi- bllity of cervical screening by Anthony Daniels reminds me of a recent experience in my medical training at an efficient, modishly...

L E T T E R S Smear iob Sir: At last -somebody with the actual guts to speak out against the current brainwashing surrounding the cervical smear campaign. I refer of course...

Rambling sharks Sir: Having had the somewhat doubtful privilege of representing the British Field Sports Society on the Outdoor Pursuits Committee of the Central Council of...

Sir: A shoot-to-kill policy against illegal I badger hunters? Three cheers. And an extension of that policy towards everyone else of that ilk, who exploits animals in any way....

Canine tailpiece Sir: As a tailpiece to comment and letters in your columns on 'Naff', I regret to inform you that the word will continue to live on. The first generation of...

Sir: The manifest differences between Brit- ish badger hunters and Kenyan ivory poachers are marked, though strangely ignored in your leading article. Our breed of criminals,...

Animal crackers I Sir: It is grossly unfair of The Spectator, (Leading article, 26 August) to cite the death of 30 Kenyan ivory poachers as an example of the 'ruthlessness of...

Sir: If eyebrows were to be raised because 30 badger hunters were shot, it would be with pleasurable amazement that such cruelty had been dealt with in such a suitable manner....

The heights of egotism John Grigg CHURCHILL 1874-1922 by his godson the Earl of Birkenhead Huprra t9.95, pp.55 I Y et another long book about WinstOn Churchill! This one has...

From Lake Wobegon to Manhattan Patrick Skene Catling WE ARE STILL MARRIED Garrison Keillor Faber, i . £.99 pp.330 IYy cash crop is humour', Garrison Keillor writes,...

Gardening Books Propagation on the shelves Rosanna James he gardening books which sell best are those which offer practical advice. They bring comfort and hope when your lawn...

Fun on the Beach There are three of us in this poster. The one at the back, wild with laughter and trying to keep up, is me. As usual, two girls and a man are running...

Cinema Bull Durham (' 15', selected cinemas) She got the pitcher Hilary Mantel hese baseball movies could become anl addiction. John Sayle's recent Eight Men Out was an...

Television Are you sitting comfortably? Wendy Cope The urge to tell other people what's good for them is not much of a social asset but some of us find it difficult to...

Low life Sticks and stones Jeffrey Bernard J ust because a man frequents raceCourses, clubs and pubs does not necessarilY make him seamy. In last week's Sunday Times a...

Chirk Waterdrip running slowly down cut stone makes an autumnal colour, waterfall dripped from an aqueduct, the slow motion that falls and does not fall; the still canal glides...