Most of this blog is about last night rather than today. I was staying just a short walk from where the Independent Podcast Awards were being held, at Kings Place.
There was a drinks reception before the awards event, which was hosted by Cheryl the Queen.
With nearly 30 categories in alphabetical order, it was a long while before we got to Travel and Adventure, and it was great seeing my artwork up on the huge screen.
Then Cheryl announced that The Water Road had been Highly Commended by the judges — which really means I’d come second. The winner was Great Days Out on the Bus from Buxton which is a really good listen; as the name suggests, it’s days out on the bus from Buxton. The final award of the evening was the Best Indy Podcast, which is chosen from all the winners, and Great Days Out also won that, so I don’t think there’s any shame in coming second to the most celebrated title of the evening. Afterwards I had a chat with Maria, who makes the show, and it turned out she’d already listened to The Water Road, even before we were up against each other.
At the end of the evening they were giving out the Book of the Night, with details of all the winners and highly commended, complete with comments from the judges. I was really pleased with what they’d said.
This morning I made the most of not needing to be up early, but the highlight was lunch with my friend, David, who works for a big podcast company. He’s a producer of Graham Norton’s Wanging On, and of The Traitors Uncloaked, so there was plenty to talk about. My train back to Chester was perfectly on time, and I got. Very enthusiastic welcome from Macc!