It’s late, I’m knackered, I doubt if I’ll ever dry out, my feet ache, and I will never be a camper. BUT – I’ve had a hell of a good time at CountryFile Live at Castle Howard yesterday and today.
This post is shorter than normal, and later than normal – I’ve been a bit busy.
As a National Trust volunteer, I was given the opportunity to volunteer at CountryFlie Live this weekend and, well, why not?
I’d made the decision to not even think about having a holiday. So the opportunity of a weekend away, with free camping (and mileage paid) wasn’t to be missed.
I don’t do camping…
But, I bought a tent (Halford’s, £15), found my elderly sleeping bag at the back of the cupboard, filled a back pack and headed off.
An early start – I needed to allow time to get parked and walk to the National Trust Theatre in time for an 8am briefing. And if I managed a coffee before we started, so much the better.
The weather forecast wasn’t good. Not good at all. Extremely wet on the Friday, then damp and showery on the Saturday – so Saturday night looked likely to be a tad damp in a sleeping bag. I resigned myself to being soggy for two days straight.
My job was in the Theatre – checking tickets, getting them in, getting them out. Charlotte Smith of Country File hosted a series of chats and discussions featuring (amongst others) Anita Rani, John Craven, Lindsey Russel, Hannah Cockroft and Carol Klein.
It was our job to get everyone into the 200-seater theatre in time, and get them out again (bearing in mind everyone wanted a photo opportunity with their celebrity of choice). We had our own photo opportunities – there are perks to every job!!
Actually, there were several perks – free scones at the end of the day (for the removal of doubt, these were scons, not scoans), limitless coffee, free lunch, mileage, the opportunity to meet loads of interesting people and…
A free ride on a traditional carousel. At the end of the last day, our esteemed leader arranged for us all to have a ride on the carousel, en masse. It drew a crowd.
I absolutely did not enjoy the camping part – but the rest of the weekend more than made up for it. Anyone want to buy a tent??
Scroll all the way down to Follow, Share, Like and Comment.
I always reply to Comments from nice people.
