From Our own correspondent…

..has been celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this week on Radio 4, and I’ve been listening to it since I was a child. Filled with wanderlust, I was transfixed by the despatches from far-flung corners of the globe And I decided I’d become one of those brave, buccaneering correspondents, reporting back to Blighty. First, I’d have to train as a journalist, so I was very excited when a journalist came to our school to give a talk. Unfortunately, he was a dreary old hack who’d been at the Wembley Observer for 38 years. “I’ve covered their weddings”, he said, “And I’ve covered their children’s weddings”. With that one sentence, he put me off for life. And far from living all over the world, I’ve never lived anywhere but London – the most vibrant city in the world. So instead of cursing that dull, inspiring man from the Wembley Observer, perhaps I should thank him.