I love Cheltenham Literary Festival

Each year, the festival seems to get better and better. Today I've had a literary fest managing to catch four lectures or 'chats with' which is a record for me. Firstly, Atkins and Warner then Nancy Mitford then Penelope Keith and finally, the grand old master himself, Sir Terry Wogan, no less!
I've not come across Suzy Atkins before but coupled with Valentine Warner, who was cooking as he spoke, the pair were easy listening and the smells coming from Valentine's cooking were making my tummy rumble. It was all very light hearted and of course, intended to tempt us to go and buy their book, and a pleasant way to spend 60 minutes on a Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I'm not a great reader of novels, which is possibly the reason why Nancy Mitford's 'The Pursuit of Love' has passed me by. Nevertheless, the panel of speakers this afternoon were entertaining in their descriptions of her life and I came away knowing more about her than when I woke up this morning!
Penelope Keith is exactly as I thought she would be. She's not too old that I can't imagine her just as she was in 'The Good Life' or 'To the Manor Born'. She has such a lovely voice and was humorous, entertaining and a thoroughly good egg throughout her little chat.
Terry is just Terry and whilst I thought I might miss him being on radio 2's morning radio show, I now think that the lovely Chris Evans does an even better job than Terry did. However, Terry is an institution and a brilliant one at that. His charm and wit is second to none and his morning programmes have often kept me sane on the journey into work. Although he's been all over the tv as a chat show host, I never noticed how big his ears are until today! He did make a joke about them though so I'm not the only one that's noticed. With the help of Pudsey, Sir Terry has helped raise over 600 million pounds for Children in Need since it first launched in 1980. That's such a massive achievement and I'm pretty certain that wouldn't have happened if not for Terry himself. He's a big advocate of the Beeb and his passion and enthusiasm for it as a British institution, likening the Beeb to being as important to Britain as the Royal family, is impressive. He is one of the truly great hosts, radio presenters and best known voices of the 20th century and was well worth the £13.50 I paid to see him!