For downhill runs on the island of Madeira, wicker is quicker. Madeira, in addition to its wine, is famous for its wickerwork, now used to create what are said to be the only wicker toboggans in the ...

Which is just as well, as I’m in Funchal, capital of the semi-tropical island of Madeira, where the appearance of the white stuff would quite likely be more alarming even than the sight of me on a ...

I might add that we could just as easily have come back down by cable car. Nothing like an ageing lunatic in a wicker basket. When I refused to buy the photo at the end of the ride as I looked so vile ...