Comics Festival Saturday

We started the day with a visit to the Clock Tower, where we acquired our wrist bands (for free access to the Clock Tower - it's recursive) and had a look round the stalls and goodies on offer, may have bought a few trinkets, had a very enjoyable chat with David Lloyd and then moved on to the Library, where Dr Mel is holding her surgery for the duration. durham_rambler and I had chosen different events for our four item season ticket, so we split up at this point, and he set off to hear Steve Bell speak while I continued to nose around the town, heading down alleyways and into charity shops, buying a leek and potato pasty for my lunch at the market (the stallholder said, oh, yes, the comics festival, maybe he should have done something about that, maybe dressed as Batman - well, next year he would!) and made my way to the Brewery just in time to catch up with durham_rambler and say hello to Bryan Talbot before joining the queue.

( The Art of Sean Phillips )

( Riding on the Underground with Hunt Emerson and Gilbert Shelton )

We returned to the hotel for a brief intermission before the evening event, and to drop off the day's purchases: what could I have bought that was so heavy? Naturally, this was the cue for a complete downpour - and as we had followed an interesting side-alley, which might have been a short cut but wasn't, we found ourselves crossing the river on a very exposed footbridge, and then walking along the edge of the sports field, while the skies hurled cold water at us.

It's all part of the Lake District experience.

( The Ninth Art? )