Taking place in the All Saints centre a beautiful de-consecrated church in a pretty church yard, the audience frequently consisted of the type of uber-liberal ladies of a certain age that Lewes is known for - this proved particularly entertaining in the debate about the impact of liberal morality on the welfare state, but more of that later.
I missed the Friday evening launch topics (absolute monarchs followed by Marina Lewycka talking about her new book) due to work commitments. But I was there bright and early on Saturday morning for the 10am talk on the The Arts & Crafts Country House. The speaker was Clive Aslet, editor-at-large for Country Life, his approach was an eclectic cantor through archive photographs from the magazine dating from the early 20th century. The talk was a little rambling and breathless and the most interesting point he made was that Country Life, when first published, was conceived as aspirational but accessible guide for newly affluent professionals and industrialists - much as interior magazines and tv shows are viewed today.
Next up was Professor John Lewis asking Has Science Buried God?', he gave a balanced, but ultimately Christian, view that science is only possible because of the existence of a God - i.e. that it is only because the universe is created and given order, that science is able to study an ultimately explain it. Professor Lewis, was a jolly and engaging Northern Irish man who relished a vigorous debate with non-believers - provided they passed the dinner test - that is, however vociferous the debate, could you still have a pleasant dinner with them and remain friends? The chairman of the event, obviously very excited to be in Professor Lewis' presence rather took over the event and extended his introductory comments into a lengthy personal Q&A session to the exclusion of the audience, until after stating "Just one final question...", he was met with a weary "Dear God, please don't!" from the front row.
The pre-lunch slot was taken by Josceline Dimbleby (ex wife of David), this took the form of an on-stage interview by the editor of Viva Lewes the local what's on magazine. It didn't get off to a particularly successful start, when Josceline wrong footed the interviewer with an unexpectedly intimate description of losing her virginity at the age of 18 - the talk was meant to be about her new book Orchards in the Oasis, which combines her love of travel and cooking. Instead of latching onto this surprising but fascinating turn, the interviewer stuck slavishly to the script and responded "It's always interesting to hear about family influences on cooking...". The interview never quite recovered, though Josceline came across as delightful and the rolling slideshow of food and travel shots made me hungry for lunch.
In the choice between a late lunch and Jonathan Meades talking about French society, post Hollande's election, lunch won out and we decamped to The Real Eating Company, before returning sated in time for AC Grayling's lecture on The Good Book - the Humanist Bible.
Grayling's style is relaxed and conversational and the topic was interesting, though my philosophy graduate companion felt it was lazy and derivative - partly because she had heard him give pretty much the same lecture some years before.
The last session of the day (for me) was a debate between Theodore Dalrymple (a writer and retired prison doctor) and Polly Toynbee (Guardian journalist and former BBC social affairs editor) on the assertion that 'the welfare state and liberal attitudes to morality are the principal causes of the breakdown in society'. As you might expect the audience was heavily weighted towards Polly's viewpoint.
Sunday's event started at 10am with Baroness Julia Neuberger, senior rabbi at the West London Synagogue, talking about her new book Is that all there is? where she considers what it is that makes life worthwhile. This was easily the best and most engaging talk of the festival, Baroness Neuberger was eloquent, witty and warm in her approach.
The next topic, Frederic Taylor on Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany', was interesting but delivered in a dryer more traditionally academic style, though the debate afterwards was made more real by the personal experiences of those in the audience.
After a break for lunch at Bill's (regrettably missing a discussion on the paranormal) I returned for my final session - Peter Conradi (author of The King's Speech) on the The Great Survivors: How monarchy made it into the 21st century. This was a light and fast moving cantor through scandals and high points of the last seventy years or so from Sweden to Spain.
Three further discussions were to follow on Burma, low carbon economic growth, and drug laws, but it was time for me to go home.
