Durham

We are spending the final weekend of our holiday at St John's College, Durham taking part in a conference on John Buchan, the writer and politician.

Buchan, who is best known for his thriller The 39 Steps had an active and varied life: serving in the UK's propaganda ministry during the First World War, rising to be the Chairman if Reuters, spending several years as an MP and ending up as Governor General of Canada.

Oh, and while doing all this, he found the time to write 100 books, fact and fiction.

In our conference this weekend we are looking at his biographies of The Marquis of Montrose, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Walter Scott, Augustus and Gordon of Khartoum. A stimulating couple of days lie ahead.