“It is a very warm day. So I just want to say: gentlemen, button up your waistcoats, ladies put on an extra cardigan. We are going to talk about the Stiff Upper Lip.”

Thus did Ian Hislop open his address at the Chalke Valley History Festival on 29th June.  For the second year running, Hunters was delighted to sponsor this week-long festival, held in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, and featuring lectures from the great and good in the history world, along with politicians, actors and journalists.

Hunters was particularly pleased to have sponsored Ian Hislop’s talk entitled “Stiff Upper Lip: An Emotional History of Britain”, a follow-up to his acclaimed BBC series. Ian spoke at length on the origin of the British stiff upper lip, its development through the ages and (what he sees as) its eventual decline and fall.

In addition to the lectures, “encampments” were set up around the Festival devoted to particular periods in Britain’s history, from the Dark Ages to World War II. A superb Air Show took place shortly after Ian’s lecture and the Chalke Valley, bathed in warm sunshine, hummed with the sound of Spitfires and Hurricanes swooping low over the crowds.

For more information on the festival, which promises to return next year, please visit its website.