Judy Rawlinson and Vanessa Nicolson discuss their memoirs: Judy’s childhood spent in postwar London and Northern Rhodesia during the last days of colonial rule in the late 1950s. “… a beautifully-observed piece of historical, political and socio-economic commentary.” Frances Linzee-Gordon
Vanessa’s disjointed childhood and reckless youth, including holidays at Sissinghurst Castle with her cousins, and her experience of a liberal English boarding school. “… a collection of fragile fragments, handled with care.”  Daily Telegraph
Chair: Di Alexander.
Judy Rawlinson read geography at Liverpool University, worked in Africa as a town planner, medical and arts administrator, and lecturer, and now concentrates on her painting and writing.
Vanessa Nicolson graduated from Sussex University in Art History and Italian. Granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, she was brought up in Florence and London and has worked as an art historian and curator. Her publications include The Sculpture of Maurice Lambert.
Di Alexander, former journalist: Cotswold Life, Gloucestershire Life and Wiltshire Life. Her column on Harcombe was a regular feature in The Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. She is author of The Other Mitford, The Harcombe Year of which This England magazine wrote: “… warmth, verve and humour … a real little treasure” and The Circle of Our Lives.