Jill Sparrow

Fame at last! Well done, Pete!

Why does he always look as though he's about to burst into tears?

Love the big cats. We need to leave them alone and let them live in their own habitat.

Love tigers. We need more tigers and less people.

He's a Scottish Fold. Flat ears. He's also gorgeous.

Prefer the piano concerti. If I had to choose a symphony, it would be number one.

I often used to go with a friend at lunchtime. We'd sit in his car and eat our fish and chips, piping hot. Didn't want my car ponging of fish and chips! You can eat in but the place was so popular there was never a table free and they didn't take bookings.

I was referring to George's Tradition. I always patronised the one on Bridge Street in Belper. Always had to queue. Always excellent.

George's also very good, although I haven't been there for ages.

Then your moggie is very crever and deserves a crap...which is plopably what the end ploduct will be Mon Dieu!

But.... croissants are French, Phil!!

A few days ago, a friend of mine noticed two birds fighting in the gutter near to his house. As he got closer, he realised that one of them was a sparrowhawk, attacking a smaller bird. He watched as the victim managed to evade its attacker and flew up into the air, only for the sparrowhawk to pursue it and drag it down again. My friend approached the two birds and made a loud noise to scare off the sparrowhawk. When it had flown away, he crouched down to look at the 'prey'. At first glance, he thought it was a blackbird. It was lying with its wings outstretched, clearly terrified, a few feathe

And infinitely more interesting

He's changed a bit since his school photo.

The chips or the hens?

By eck, Ben! It's an encrypted list of all his women

Don't think that would do his bad knee much good.

I was going through a box full of sheet music the other day and found Richard Rodgers ' Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I first heard it when the senior class at ballet (Patricia James who, in those days, was at the Cooperative Arts' Theatre on George Street) were rehearsing it for a show. The seniors were in their late teens and twenties with some very good students among them. It comes from On Your Toes of 1936, choreographed by Georges Balanchine. Here's a link to the incomparable Gene Kelly with Vera-Ellen as the girl. I think Cyd Charisse would have been a better choice.

I'm definitely not Sapphic

In other words, you're an Epicurean, whereas I'm more of a Stoic

If someone gave me a cookery book every Christmas, I think I'd take that as a deleterious comment on my cookery skills. I'm not surprised your wife never reads them! I'd be the first to admit that I can't cook. Other than to sustain life, food holds no interest for me. Of the many books on my shelves, not one relates to cookery.

I passed the 11+ with a high enough score to prompt the head of Berridge to pressure my mother to allow me to sit the entrance exam for NGHS. She refused. Thankfully. Mum wanted me to go to Peveril, where my sister went. The head of Berridge wouldn't hear of it. My preference? Bugger secondary school. I wanted to work on the biscuit counter in Woolworth's. What I ended up with was Manning. Not a good outcome.

Bluecoat was one of the options when I was choosing a secondary school. A good friend at primary school chose to go there and put a lot of pressure on me to do likewise but the stipulation was that you must attend church or Sunday school every week. I didn't want to do that and it caused a rift between the two of us. She went to Bluecoat and I did not.

Bilateral schools seem to have been a Nottingham phenomenon. No one in Derbyshire, for instance. has ever heard of them, apparently. They, along with grammars, disappeared in September 1974 in Nottingham City at any rate. Replaced by one size (doesn't) fit all comprehensive schools.

Someone has just identified the date. I think they're a couple of years your senior, Ben. Nice photo, though.