Book up now for the return of Linlithgow's Further From Festival

Further From Festival went great guns for five years, even managing to squeeze in the last three-day event in January 2020, just before lockdown.

Like so much else in the town, the pandemic brought the festival fun to an end.

Now, however, Sally believes it’s time for her family business to dip its toe back in – and she’s organised a slimmed down version of the festival, which will be held in March.

As a pre-festival taster, Robin Ince will be returning to Linlithgow as part of his Bibliomaniac tour – a love letter to Britain's bookshops – on Thursday, March 9, at 7pm in St Michael's Parish Church.

Sally explained: “Robin’s last visit was during the pandemic; things had started to open up, but we were all still sitting in masks and restrictions were in place.

"We’re really looking forward to having him back, when he might have a chance of at least seeing a few faces!

"He’s an amazing guy – a polymath as you can ask him a question about anything at all and he’ll have an answer and an anecdote.

"People should expect the unexpected but it’ll be fun. I’ve no doubt there will be questions about his world tour with Professor Brian Cox – Robin is also known for co-hosting The Infinite Monkey Cage with him.”

Tickets for that event are priced £8 but demand is high so best be quick!

The Further From Festival will then take the form of a one-day event at St Peter’s Church in the town on Saturday, March 11. As well as five guest authors, there will be lots of tea and cake before and after each event, one of the many reasons Jim Crumley has returned as the opening act for every festival since 2016!

Sally said: “My mum Jill does a lot of the baking and Jim loves her cakes. He opened our first ever festival and he kept on coming back for more!”

Sticking with that tradition, Jim will open West Lothian’s only book festival at 10.30am on March 11 when he will be joined by fellow nature writer and long term friend Polly Pullar.

Jim will be discussing his latest work Seasons of Storm and Wonder while Polly will be talking about her inspirational memoir published last year, The Horizontal Oak.

Sally said: “Jim’s book reflects on a lifetime of watching and being in the Cairngorms. He and Polly are old friends and they are two of the best nature writers around.”

At noon, Michelle Sloan will take centre stage, discussing her novel The Edinburgh Skating Club which calls into question the famous Henry Raeburn painting, the Skating Minister – as well as travelling back in time to the Edinburgh Enlightenment period, with characters like David Hume and Robert Burns popping up!

Sally said: “At the end of the day, it’s really a love story. We did it for our monthly book club and everyone loved it so we’re delighted Michelle is coming along.”

Rosemary Goring will be returning to the festival for a second time at 2pm, this time to discuss her latest book Homecoming. It was a bit of a no-brainer to invite the author, given the book is all about Mary Queen of Scots and Linlithgow is, after all, her birthplace.

Sally said: “The book focuses on Mary’s return from France and her years in Scotland.

"Local historian Bruce Jamieson, Linlithgow Academy’s former head of history, will be chairing this session so people can expect a fantastic discussion!

"We’re delighted that Bruce has agreed to chair this one as it’s going to be a session that will go down well locally, given Mary’s history here.”

And to finish off the day-long event, in case people haven’t had quite enough tea and cake yet, the festival will end with its popular afternoon tea slot.

Kicking off at 3.30pm, people will have around 20 minutes to get their fill of food and drink before Sue Lawrence aptly takes to the stage.

I say aptly for Sue is renowned as being the first person to ever win Masterchef, being crowned champion in 1991.

Known for championing traditional Scottish produce and cookery, she has since gone on to produce many a cook book that Sally and mum Jill have plundered.

"Her recipes are amazing,” said Sally. “If she says a teaspoon she means a teaspoon. Her recipes are always exact and delicious.”

While Sue has also started to write fiction, publishing three historical novels set in Scotland, she will be discussing her latest work, A Taste of Scotland’s Islands, when she visits Linlithgow – which pretty much does what it says on the tin!

Tickets are selling fast for all the events, much to Sally’s delight.

She added: “It’s fantastic to see that, even after a two-year hiatus, people still have an appetite for the festival.”

Given all the cake on offer, I’d say you better bring an appetite if you’re attending too! Tickets, priced from £10 for individual events to £40 for all four, are available at Far From the Madding Crowd or visit www.maddingcrowdlinlithgow.com.