I shall be giving a talk on wine, followed by a question-and-answer session, a small wine-and-cheese tasting and a book signing in the Fratry, Carlisle Cathedral on the evening of Tuesday 27 May. This particular return to my roots (I gave my first teenage party in the Fratry) is in aid of the parish churches which occupy a great deal of my mother's attention, St Mary's in Beaumont and St Michael's in Burgh by Sands. Wines are being supplied by The Wine Press in Carlisle, cheeses by the award-winning Thornby Moor Dairy and books by Bookends of Carlisle.

Tickets are £12.50 each from Carlisle Cathedral Office (tel 01288 548151 or email Office@carlislecathedral.org.uk.