Never mind the rain ...

Weather apart, the week at Ty Newydd gets better and better. I spoke about the sense of privilege I feel at being here; in addition to the excellent quality of the tuition, I find I get such a lot from the other people encountered and worked with. There are eight of us on the course this time, each with our own area of interest. The personal writing projects we are pursuing are very disparate but all fascinating in their own ways. If you are free to listen to Radio 4 at 3pm this afternoon, you can hear one of our course members, Ursula Martin, discussing her project on "Ramblings".

Ursula was diagnosed with ovarian cancer five years ago and has since done an enormous amount of work raising awareness of the condition and money for research and care.To do so she has "walked Wales", completing 3718 miles in 538 days. Her routes have included Offa's Dyke Path, the Glyndwr Way, the Cambrian Way and the Rivers Conwy and Dee from source to sea. On these walks her website (onewomanwalkswales.com) informs us that she has fallen over 10 times and had 37 close encounters of the bovine kind! Now she is writing up her experiences as a book and hence is here with us for the week.

Yesterday evening has to count as a highlight of the week, with the visit of that most prolific and wide-ranging author Jan Morris as guest speaker. I had heard Jan speak before, on my visit here five years ago, but she was as interesting and entertaining as ever. What tremendous gifts, to be so blessed both as a speaker and as a writer! A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Justin Marozzi, Jan Morris, Leusa Llewelyn, Rory Maclean