Wonderful Appledore Book Festival

Dawn Westcott • September 29, 2017

A sold-out talk, great hospitality and a truly beautiful place

Yesterday surpassed all expectations! I'd been invited to give a Wild Pony Whispering & Exmoor Ponies talk at Appledore Book Festival and arrived to find that all tickets had been sold and the Blue Lights Hall was going to be packed out! The Appledore Book Festival team are amazing and nothing is too much trouble for them. Miche Tompkins and her team made us feel so welcome at what has become a seriously good annual event.

The talk went well and was followed by a busy book signing for Wild Pony Whispering and Wild Stallion Whispering - with plenty of interest in my new book Wild Herd Whispering (out in October) - all brilliantly handled by Waterstones Barnstaple.

We were then treated to some amazing Appledore Book Festival hospitality, before exploring this gorgeous North Devon village, with its higgledy piggledy streets and fabulously painted cottages, with spectacular views over the estuary. Nick wanted to show me the beach at Westward Ho and I wasn't disappointed - the sun was out and everything sparkled in the way that reminds you of childhood excitement of the seaside!

We returned to Appledore to attend a fascinating and entertaining evening interview of Penny Junor about her book The Duchess , by David Fitzgerald .

The day was rounded off with a beautiful meal at The Boathouse at Instow.

Pictured below: A packed out talk; my books on display in the Waterstones Barnstaple pop up bookstore; my husband Nick on the beach at Westward Ho; the ponies grazing alongside sheep and mingling with visitors and the golf course between Appledore and Westward Ho.