This rose between two thorns is Jane Streeter, independent book seller and the force behind Lowdham, one of my favourite book festivals. On Monday I appeared there for the fifth time with my Harold Wilson book.

The thorn on the right is my interviewer, Dr Tim Rideout who also interviewed me (superbly) at Bath last month.
We appeared before an audience of 150 people in the lovely Nottinghamshire village of Epperstone, just up the road from Lowdham where Jane’s bookshop, The Bookcase, is located.

It was a wonderful afternoon which went half-an-hour over schedule, but only because we were enjoying ourselves so much.