Diary: 15-21 March

Tuesday 16: Horse Racing, Cheltenham Gold Cup National Hunt Racing Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Wednesday 17: St Patrick's Day. Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships, Wembley Arena, Wembley. Exeter Musical Society perform Handel's Messiah in Exeter Cathedral accompanied by Orchestra Da Camera.

Thursday 18: Literature Festival, Ilkley Playhouse, Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Ideal Home Plus, Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition begins, Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, London SW5.

Friday 19: Ninth International Clowns Convention begins, Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Saturday 20: Rugby, Ireland v England, Dublin. Film Fair, Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London SW1. Head of the River Race, River Thames, London. National Shire Horse Show, Alwalton, Cambridgeshire. Yorkshire Chamber Choir Spring Concert, St John's Church, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. 900th anniverary celebrations at Durham Cathedral, Durham.

Sunday 21: Fourth Sunday in Lent. Mothering Sunday. London International Book Fair 1993, Olympia 2, London W14. St Paul's Cathedral Choristers sing Britten's War Requiem at the Festival Hall, London SE1.