Words by the Water

I drove over to Cockermouth for lunch with friend Joan, then we went on to Keswick for the literary festival, an annual meeting up for us.

Our first event was Peter Stanford, chairing a conversation between Melvyn Bragg and his daughter on “Faith and Fiction”. It was spiritual and interesting to see their warm relationship.

Then we heard Peter Conradi, from a Sunday newspaper, talk about the new divide - the relationship of Russia with the west since the Cold War.

This was followed by Blake Morrison talking about his book The Executor, about human relationships in the face of moral dilemma, when someone becomes the literary executor of a friend. Quite topical what with Harper Lee and others.

The last talk was the most exciting and stimulating - Luke Harding, award- winning Guardian journalist, shining a light on the true nature of Trump’s decades-long relationship with Russia that led to him moving into the White House. He believes if reporters (and FBI) follow the money, they’d get there. The worry is the role Putin is playing in destabilising Europe and the USA, and how successful he is.

More tomorrow! This Blip,is Melvyn on the right and his vicar daughter Marie-Elsa on the left.