14 years later …

I did my first blip on the 1st June 2011 and haven’t missed a day since.

The selfie in this shot was an accident, I was just trying to capture the sentiment in the words. But I kind of like it.

Great last day at Hay. William Dalrymple gave a brilliant account of the cultural and scientific debt we owe to ancient India. His presentation really is a tour de force.

Had some great conversations with fellow festival goers, local shop owners and even a van full of bored coppers who were a mobile reserve in case of trouble surrounding the visit to Hay of Salman Rushdie. They had been shipped in from all over Wales to help out. I think they were glad to have someone to chat to and break the tedium. A large part of policing is waiting and hoping nothing kicks off.

Our last event was the remarkable Michael Heseltine who was astonishing again. On the subject of immigration: "People only want to come here for a better life. I left Swansea to go to Oxford and then London for the same reason. There’s no difference. Until we improve living conditions in these countries with co-ordinated foreign aid there will always be illegal immigration". He was witty and funny and ran rings around the interviewer.

When we got back to the car park there was this amazing sight of a bunch of crows, maybe four or five of them attacking a red kite, presumably in defence of a nest or their territory. At one point they flew really low just a few yards above us. 

Very straightforward drive home, more or less exactly three hours non-stop, TSM behind the wheel all the way.

Been a great festival. Again…