The old volcanistic metaphor is especially apt: a thick, hard crust of earth, beneath which bubbles, hot liquid magma pressing for release above.

Now here I am, in my Ford Mondeo, having been abandoned by the theatre, eating a curry chip and going back to a B&B […]

She was a small, neat, rather prissy-looking girl with primly smooth brown hair and rimless glasses […]

It is the policy of the organization to keep unused check supplies safeguarded under lock and key.