A grand place

And this was the other venue for Borderlines, Carlisle’s Book Festival. The Crown and Mitre Hotel, rather a grand place built in 1905 on the site of the original Crown and Mitre coffee shop, which had a long and colourful history.

I spent almost the whole day in this building – in the ballroom. But there wasn’t any dancing, it was talks about books and other things.

The day started with a talk by Alan Cleaver, the local guy whose books about holy wells and lonnings I have used a lot. This morning he mentioned wells and lonnings, and I was gratified that I recognised many of them, but his main theme was Cumbrian Fairies and Boggles. Very entertaining and I was delighted to be able to buy his little handmade books – Fairies and Boggles may very well appear in blips soon!

Later in the day we went to a talk by Alistair Campbell, focused on the most recent of his many volumes of diaries. Then we ended the day with a talk by John O’Farrell, the guy behind Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You etc. and now a writer of fiction and non-fiction. Both talks were extremely well attended and very entertaining. John O'Farrell is very funny. 

But the highlight for me was a talk by Jenny Uglow, author of many books, including the one about Sarah Losh, the designer of the wonderful church in Wreay. Today she gave a fascinating and well-illustrated talk about Edward Lear. Her book Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense is one I have been waiting for and it has been worth the wait. It’s a magnificent, beautifully illustrated, book and I am now the proud owner of a copy, signed of course. Can’t wait to start reading it.

A good day.

And I bought a new iPhone!