USUALLY when a list of honours is published it seems to be filled with people who have spent the last 40 years being well paid to sharpen pencils in the Civil Service. This time round, they seem to have got it right. Amid all the services to obscure rese

USUALLY when a list of honours is published it seems to be filled with people who have spent the last 40 years being well paid to sharpen pencils in the Civil Service. This time round, they seem to have got it right. Amid all the "services to obscure research at Cambridge University" one award shone out like the sun in a cloudy sky. This time the powers that be have rewarded Clem Tompsett with an MBE.

Ostensibly it is for services to carrots, but it could just as well have been for services to Worlington Cricket Club, services to horse trials or services to employment in the area. Actually it is probably because he is a totally decent and well-respected bloke, and nobody deserve a pat on the back more - if you can reach his back, that is.