Hugh speaks... Norwich and Norfolk Festival

Posted by Hugh Hughes

I travelled from Hoipolloi’s home base in Cambridge, up to Norwich yesterday. It is a journey that normally takes 75 minutes. It took me 6 hours. I was stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident involving a lorry.

Being trapped inside the car for 360 minutes made me think of submarines. I spent a long period of time watching the cars on the other side of the road, imagining them to be fish, sharks and other aquatic life forms. As the sun hit the bonnets and made them shine I saw their silvery skin swish past me.

The idea of labelling fish with registration plates seemed like a good idea – to avoid confusion. The reports coming in on the radio talked about life on land. A place far from my underwater world. Submerged, I found tranquillity away from the dry place. This wet place offered silent relief.

Another soundscape was emerging. One that drew me towards a colourful place with light and space. The initial feeling of entrapment was being replaced by the freedom of this newfound territory not far from Newmarket.

And then I thought that it was likely that I was rapidly becoming the person who had spent the most time on this particular spot on earth. Because, where my submarine was hovering, was normally passed through at 70 miles an hour by people in motor vehicles. When the traffic started to move, I felt the disruption that wildlife must feel when the builders move in to build the next housing estate for humans.