Libby Purves

  • January 30, 2016

It’s been like hospital visiting, this winter. Major abdominal surgery, complications, expert consultants called in, conferences about treatment plans, unfamiliar parts exposed, stiff upper lips necessary all round. Not anyone in…

  • November 26, 2015

Some gloomy health charity informs us that one in three of us will face dementia. The figures were picked up, crunched, explained and debunked on that magnificent BBC Radio 4…

  • October 19, 2015

Reading these columns, a few of you may have the impression of some leathery old salt, rarely ashore, twinkling across the foredeck with brine in her hair, her mind constantly…

  • August 20, 2015

A fine idea this month, for YM to warn about The Shock Of The Big (p34). It is easy to to think that a roomier, faster, grander boat is always…

  • June 26, 2015

I wrote a novel years ago, Casting Off, in which a furious wife, at the end of a scratchy weekend a deux, watches her husband carrying his bag up the…

  • June 4, 2015

“First of all, fear helps. One hand for yourself, one for the ship” I’m glad to see, among this month’s topics, the rather vital one of how not to fall…

  • May 1, 2015

“Some of the very best ‘looks’ in high fashion have travelled directly from ships and boats” Crewmates! We are iconic fashionistas. This status may not be immediately apparent to every…

  • April 8, 2015

“The commodore, presumably, would take on the role of Prime Minister” Voting time! With the new fixed-term rule, General Election day approaches with all the fearful inevitability of Low Water…

  • March 5, 2015

“Not all boat smells are pleasant, or even, frankly, bearable” Spring! The first warm days, primroses, zephyrs, dew burning off the warmed grass! So down to the boat, climb on…

  • February 2, 2015

“With my MP3 player I can pursue my taste for playing air-guitar on night watch” I have always fancied getting a radio station to make a programme of Car Singalong…