I was enjoying a cup of coffee a few years ago in a patch of autumn sunshine outside Fitzwilliam and Hughes cafe (now the Ministry) on the corner of Church Street in Rotherham (a town named in a survey in 2022 as the unhappiest place in the country to live).
Traditionally, the police have tried to protect the public by arresting criminals. In London, however, the Met is experimenting with a radical new approach.
The relentless rain of the last few months is probably going to have a sting in its tail, because it’s going to encourage lots of fungal spores. One of the most feared diseases among gardeners is box blight, which reduces a healthy box to an unsightly, leafless skeleton. It’s caused by two closely related pathogens: Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae (syn. Cylindrocladium buxicola). White spore masses can be seen on the undersides of infected leaves in wet conditions, and you’ll als