Of all the days to choose, Friday 7th of February was destined to be one of the most troublesome imaginable. The terrible wet winter weather finally caught up with Hertfordshire as exceptionally heavy rain swept down from the hills and flooded farms and fields and roads. Swollen rivers, brown and dangerous, threatened to burst their banks and add to the troubles. And I, oblivious of the hazard, set off cheerfully for a day at Bishop’s Stortford College for their tremendous Literature Festival.
Superbly organised by Rosie the librarian, ably supported by the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre, a day filled with talks to assorted children from both the Prep school and other Bishop’s Stortford schools, followed by an evening illustrated concert. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, every road I took was flooded, closed by an accident or rammed full of similarly redirected traffic, and a simple 35 minute drive slowly expanded into an epic journey of quite terrifying scenes of rushing water, stranded flooded cars and evaporating time. As the minutes – then hours – slipped away I considered turning back. But the return road had by then also been closed by police because of rising flood water; it was still raining and the flooding was getting worse rather than better. So I carried on and after three and a half hours I finally arrived and began the day. Sessions were re-schedulede, all the children were seen, and what lovely appreciative audiences they were!
The College Orchestra also made super-human efforts and gradually filtered in. And despite a forecast for more heavy rain, an intrepid audience arrived and filled the beautiful Memorial Hall (designed by Clough Williams-Ellis, the man who created the Italianate village of Portmeirian in Wales), and the concert went ahead as planned.
The orchestra, with their conductor Andrew Bruce, gave charming performances of Vaughan-Williams (The English Folk Song Suite; Rhosymedre; Greensleeves), Elgar (Chansons du Matin et Nuit; Pomp and Circumstance) and other works by Walton and Warlock. A challenging and long programme for any orchestra, and a huge achievement for a college orchestra. They were terrific and I was honoured to work with them.
Around the music I told English tales: The Peddlar’s Dream; The Baffled Knight. And a Welsh tale for Rhosymedre: The Slumbering Warrior. Beautiful stories, lovely to tell. And illustrations followed to the music, of course. Here are two Pomp and Circumstance sketches…
And getting home? The roads were clear and it was a doddle, which after a long day I was rather grateful for. But it was nonetheless a magical day and I’m so glad I made it, and my sincere thanks to everyone at Bishop’s Stortford College who made me so welcome. And now, it’s back to work, teaching in Cambridge and writing new stories: Ella Bella and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And a new Bubble & Squeak story. Watch this space!
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