For the second consecutive year, the Sunday Times list of the 101 best places to live in Britain, published on 16 March, included Bruton, as well as Frome and Sherborne. We townspeople know this, of course, but it’s nice to have it nationally recognised. And on 22 March the Guardian ran a two-page spread on the forthcoming Hauser & Wirth gallery opening at Durslade. Some see all this coverage as having a down-side – few houses come on the market here. I’ve heard some negative views, too, about the Durslade gallery, which stem more from a lack of knowledge than a real understanding of what H&W are trying to do. Come July, everyone in the town and the villages around will be able to go and see for themselves, when the venue opens to all. The intention is to bring enjoyment and an extra dimension to living in our beautiful part of the world.



One of the best reasons for living here is the annual Packhorse Fair, this year on Bank Holiday Monday 26 May. Arranged by the Bruton Festival of Arts, it will start at 11am and go on till 6pm; as ever, there will be refreshments, and plenty of music and other entertainment along with a wide variety of stalls. Stallholders are already applying to Abi Baker (markets@packhorsefair.co.uk); all other queries to Lisa Pickering (info@packhorsefair.co.uk), who is profiled on page 11.
The other Festival of Arts event this year is the Writing Sweatshop competition. The Adult version takes place on Saturday 31 May, and potential participants are invited to contact me (elisabeth.ingles@hchbruton.co.uk) to register their entry. The judge is novelist Andrew Miller.
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Elisabeth Balfour