Peter Rhodes on boring protesters, boring asparagus and a golden age for retrievers
A gathering of hundreds of golden retrievers in Scotland marked the 155th anniversary of the breed's creation in 1868. For the first 33 years, these perpetually-peckish pooches enjoyed a truly golden era, with grazing rights to any tit-bit falling on the floor. And then, in 1901, some know-all invented the vacuum cleaner. A black day for golden retrievers.