The upside of driving to Bath from Cambridge and back on my own? Seven glorious, uninterrupted hours of the Beatles. Like a very extended EP version of the school-run soundtrack when the children were little. (And now I like Lovely Rita more than ever.)
Happy Sunday indeed; my last day of the Festival today and I’ll finish with Choral Evensong in the Abbey. A healthy mustering of my book group are here, staying in a Landmark Trust house within sight of the Abbey. The group is a sort of satellite Persephone group but we don’t confine our reading enjoyment to Persephones alone. We’ve loved being here and enjoying so much of what Bath offers its visitors.
Lost in link-land - my favourite place to be on Sunday morning. Always an interesting and entertaining read on the surface and then … the wonderful carefully chosen links add an additional layer of “learning and mind expansion”! I abseloutely love it - sad to have missed the Festival, but already looking forward to next week’s layered offering on that topic & now desparate to visit Saffron Walden! Thank you as ever.
Oh my goodness - travelled from London to Bath this weekend. Arrived on Friday and the buzz in Persephone Books was exhilarating! Place was packed out with so many happy people and once purchases made toddled off to the Persephone tea room for more happy conversations. Bliss!!!
Your description of travelling to Bath and going to Saffron Walden, is a letter from a different time, a different sensibility, and a sense that things in England are preserved. Changed perhaps, but also saved. All I hear from the news is the dire state the UK is in, the political schisms, the harsh conditions. I’m sure all that is there, but columns such as Yarnstorm with its visits to small museums and galleries, local markets and and landscapes show us, in far away countries, that there are ways to slice through all the noise and to find pleasure in a beautiful wood block, or a 16th century fireplace panel of bees.
It is hard to reconcile these two scales, but I take such heart from your pictures and writing.
Lovely reminder of delightful Saffron Walden. From age 9 to 18, I lived in Great Dunmow, and a trip to Saffron Walden was a treat. One school holiday we were there on market day when a bullock escaped from the livestock market - this would have been in the 1960s. Everyone was hustled in to any available shop or cafe - stall holders fearing for their goods, whilst the farmer and helpers (and a terrified policeman) recaptured the miscreant. It was an unexpected entertainment. So glad the market still goes on.
Thank you. Many a year since I visited Saffron Walden, indeed since I lived in Essex. Bought a set of glass pyrex dishes in a second hand shop which did good service for many a year and olny got ditched as we were downsizing. Love the Bawden prints and the sound of a proper market. Thank you. x
Sadly have been unable to attend any of the festival - currently tucking in to a Cafe Sperl breakfast. I would so much have loved to attend your event. Hopefully next year.
I hope the festival is going well. Auf wiedersehen.
I spent another happy Sunday reading your latest post and exploring the links. The Sheila Robinson/Chloë Cheese show looks fantastic--alas with overseas shipping the catalog is too much of a stretch at the moment! Years ago I had a wonderful calendar with recipes illustrated by Chloë Cheese. Kicking self and wondering why I didn't keep it . . .
Ah, how I would have loved to go to the Persephone Festival! Hopefully I can get there one day - I visited their new shop in Bath last summer and it is so lovely.
You have completely sold me the idea of a holiday in Saffron Walden with this post, and I've just done a quick search and have already found a delightful 'room in a home' on Airbnb (which is what we go for on Airbnb rather than 'owned by a business'). By coincidence I ordered 'Long Live Great Bardfield' yesterday from Persephone. And to continue the Great Bardfield theme, I'm going to an Arts Society lecture shortly entitled 'So, They Do Cook After All', about the artistic community at Great Bardfield. Have already spent my book budget for this month so the St Judes' Sheila Robinson book will have to be next month.
Happy Sunday indeed; my last day of the Festival today and I’ll finish with Choral Evensong in the Abbey. A healthy mustering of my book group are here, staying in a Landmark Trust house within sight of the Abbey. The group is a sort of satellite Persephone group but we don’t confine our reading enjoyment to Persephones alone. We’ve loved being here and enjoying so much of what Bath offers its visitors.
Lost in link-land - my favourite place to be on Sunday morning. Always an interesting and entertaining read on the surface and then … the wonderful carefully chosen links add an additional layer of “learning and mind expansion”! I abseloutely love it - sad to have missed the Festival, but already looking forward to next week’s layered offering on that topic & now desparate to visit Saffron Walden! Thank you as ever.
Oh my goodness - travelled from London to Bath this weekend. Arrived on Friday and the buzz in Persephone Books was exhilarating! Place was packed out with so many happy people and once purchases made toddled off to the Persephone tea room for more happy conversations. Bliss!!!
Your description of travelling to Bath and going to Saffron Walden, is a letter from a different time, a different sensibility, and a sense that things in England are preserved. Changed perhaps, but also saved. All I hear from the news is the dire state the UK is in, the political schisms, the harsh conditions. I’m sure all that is there, but columns such as Yarnstorm with its visits to small museums and galleries, local markets and and landscapes show us, in far away countries, that there are ways to slice through all the noise and to find pleasure in a beautiful wood block, or a 16th century fireplace panel of bees.
It is hard to reconcile these two scales, but I take such heart from your pictures and writing.
Lovely reminder of delightful Saffron Walden. From age 9 to 18, I lived in Great Dunmow, and a trip to Saffron Walden was a treat. One school holiday we were there on market day when a bullock escaped from the livestock market - this would have been in the 1960s. Everyone was hustled in to any available shop or cafe - stall holders fearing for their goods, whilst the farmer and helpers (and a terrified policeman) recaptured the miscreant. It was an unexpected entertainment. So glad the market still goes on.
See you in Bath! Driving up from Dorset with Bach
Thank you. Many a year since I visited Saffron Walden, indeed since I lived in Essex. Bought a set of glass pyrex dishes in a second hand shop which did good service for many a year and olny got ditched as we were downsizing. Love the Bawden prints and the sound of a proper market. Thank you. x
Sadly have been unable to attend any of the festival - currently tucking in to a Cafe Sperl breakfast. I would so much have loved to attend your event. Hopefully next year.
I hope the festival is going well. Auf wiedersehen.
An enjoyable read. I love the images especially the fireplace
Bought the Sheila Robinson catalogue, now looking forward to the exhibition. So glad you’ve shown it’s very much worth the trip!
I spent another happy Sunday reading your latest post and exploring the links. The Sheila Robinson/Chloë Cheese show looks fantastic--alas with overseas shipping the catalog is too much of a stretch at the moment! Years ago I had a wonderful calendar with recipes illustrated by Chloë Cheese. Kicking self and wondering why I didn't keep it . . .
Ah, how I would have loved to go to the Persephone Festival! Hopefully I can get there one day - I visited their new shop in Bath last summer and it is so lovely.
You have completely sold me the idea of a holiday in Saffron Walden with this post, and I've just done a quick search and have already found a delightful 'room in a home' on Airbnb (which is what we go for on Airbnb rather than 'owned by a business'). By coincidence I ordered 'Long Live Great Bardfield' yesterday from Persephone. And to continue the Great Bardfield theme, I'm going to an Arts Society lecture shortly entitled 'So, They Do Cook After All', about the artistic community at Great Bardfield. Have already spent my book budget for this month so the St Judes' Sheila Robinson book will have to be next month.