Drove on from Hill House (and Bledington where we had stayed overnight) to Hay-on-Wye, our first visit there, for the Hay Festival. I was due to do an on-stage conversation in a main venue with Tim Smit of The Eden Project, but the helicopter he was meant to be taking from the Scilly Islands broke down. So I did the session instead with (Baroness) Rosie Boycott, who Julia (Hailes) and I had known since our Green Consumer Days. Great fun.
Later on in our visit, Elaine and I were invited to a reception at Hay Castle. I cheekily asked the Director, Tom True, whether we might take a peek upstairs, and he happily obliged, also kindly inviting along a couple of Americans we had been talking to. Some brilliant exhibits – and a view from the rooftop that underscored just how dominant such fortifications were back in their day. Can’t imagine why we haven’t been to the Festival before, though the pace of life has probably had a lot to do with it.
Leave a Reply