Peter Rhodes on blocked ears, posh pronunciation and putting a price on a unique gold ring

'Tis the season for blocked ears. I told a friend of a certain age about the magnificent blue whales discovered by scientists off South Georgia. “South Yorkshire?” she exclaimed.

My item last week on the pronunciation of Shrewsbury caused much harmless banter. So here's another Midland mystery: Alrewas. Best pronounced while gargling.

Meanwhile, a reader writes: “The town of Shrewsbury encapsulates the British class system in one place-name. The rich say “Shrowsbury”, the middle class say it as it looks, “Shrewsbury”, and the common folk say, “Shoesbury.”

Whitehall's plan to outlaw household coal and wet wood for open fires and stoves reminds me of a friend in Germany who installed a stove. He knew it would need a constant, reliable source of seasoned timber so his first purchase was a little trailer for his car and the means of towing it. But he massively underestimated how many logs he would need. To cut a long story short, this Bavarian stove saga began with fitting a towbar to his Audi and ended with him buying a half-share in a forest.

Far be it from me to challenge the experts but doesn't the auctioneer's “guide price” for an ancient gold posy ring found by a detectorist in a Warwickshire field seem low? This unique ring in 22 carat gold bears the words “Fortunate If Favoured” and has been dated between the 1650s and the early 1700s. It was a lover's gift. There must have been hell to pay when the wearer, a girl possibly aged no more than 13, lost it all those years ago. Or was it stolen? Or thrown away by a betrayed lover or a battered bride? It is a fabulous item oozing both mystery and history. The detectorist, Guy Gordon from Lichfield, says it's the most romantic find he's ever made. So how come, in an age when some folk cheerfully pay up to £1,000 for a modern gold wedding ring, the guide price for this little gem, at auction later this month, is just £500 to £600? I would have thought you could comfortably add a zero to those figures.

Meanwhile, experts are trying out possible cures for coronavirus, including drugs used in treating HIV, malaria and ebola. Common sense suggests anything that works against those terrible diseases is going to be extremely powerful, potent, complex and life-affecting. Most cases of coronavirus are no worse than flu and only about two victims in 100 die of it. How many of us, given the choice, would rather take our chances with the disease than the cure?

We bought diesels because the experts told us petrol cars were bad. Then they told us diesels were bad, so we bought hybrids. Now it turns out hybrids are churning out tons of unexpected CO2. Maybe we should look again at the sedan chair.