Gourmets will be drawn to the festival’s Hall of Food which is featuring organic foods together with a wide variety of cottage and specialist farm produce not normally seen on supermarket shelves. As well as a magnificent array of fragrant English cheeses on offer from all over the country, spicy mustards, marinades, boar, venison will be on sale. I gather that a number of English vineyards have stands and I look forward to sampling English wines from Cornwall, Kent, Sussex and the Isle of Wight. Despite punitive taxation of their liquid sunshine, English vineyards are making a comeback after centuries of neglect for viticulture, the expertise for which was first imported to England together with the vines in Roman times. Bob Lindo’s Camel Valley Vineyard near Bodmin and the St. Samson Vineyard in Golant-by Fowey, both in Cornwall, are now producing some excellent red and white still and sparkling wines from a variety of grape sorts. I recently looked at the wines of Rosemary Vineyard near Ryde on the Isle of Wight which show great promise and I hope to return to this subject, dear to my heart, in due course.
Prince Charles attends the festival on Friday and I have little doubt we shall see him sampling in the Hall and receiving inspiration for new products in his admirable range of ‘Duchy Originals’ comestibles, some of which should be stocked in every good kitchen parlour. The appearance of the Prince of Wales on a festival walk-about will be
