The hairs on their chinny chin chins

Not one for pogonophobes, this...

The Torygraph has probably prompted its readership to rail about dumbing down and the end of civilisation by ranking the top 12 authors' beards. Alan Moore should win hands down, really. Nice (though not surprising) to see good ol' D H Lawrence make an appearance - the man whose facial fuzz prompted the authorities to suspect he was a dissident during the First World War.

Coincidentally, a list of the top 10 beards in sport has been compiled by Eurosport. Sebastian Chabal's helps to make him look like he just crawled out of a cave in prehistoric times, but South African cricketer Hashim Amla takes the biscuit for that eccentric chin-sprouting/bald bonce combination.

(Thanks to Ellie and Mo for the links.)