We started On The Horizon because Hawarden Estate was once a place that attracted some of the finest political and social minds in the world and we wanted to try and catalyse a revival of this important chapter in its life.
Let me explain.
William Gladstone, four times Prime Minister to Queen Victoria, lived in Hawarden for much of his life, having married Catherine Glynne, whose family lived here. And that meant that endless cohorts of campaigners, thinkers and political colleagues came knocking on his door.
Queen Victoria didn’t like Gladstone (the feeling was mutual) and I don’t think that she ever visited, but I may be wrong.
I particularly enjoy the story of an Armenian delegation visiting three times when Gladstone had retired from political life. They were desperate to get him to speak out in support of their country and in turn condemn Ottoman atrocities during the Hamidian Massacres. They visited twice and he turned them away.
But they came back for a third time and their persistence paid off. On that visit they spent a long time talking in Gladstone’s study and, finally, he was persuaded to speak out. Soon after, elderly, almost blind and possibly completely deaf, he spoke eloquently and passionately to 5000 people in Liverpool.
So, to my point. We wanted to reclaim something of that conversational relevance for Hawarden and On The Horizon was our response.
Gentle, generous, considered conversation feels peculiarly important today. We live in a world of argument, of culture wars, of opinions formed quickly and blurted loudly, of half-facts and fake news. Conversations that involve listening and digesting and conversing are important, entertaining and life enhancing but I can’t help but worry that they are becoming depressingly rare. Just listen to Radio 4 in the morning; tediously aggressive journalists push even more tedious politicians not to toe the party line but to actually say something considered that they believe in; and they always fail. Everyone is shouting, no one achieves anything meaningful. We move onto the next story.
I’m being a little disingenuous of course, but I suspect you’ll agree to some extent.
Anyway, On The Horizon is about conversing and not lecturing. We’ve assembled some incredible speakers and we’ll encourage them to suggest, to listen, to explore and explain and, in turn, we’ll invite our audience to engage with them.
This isn’t unique of course; there are endless amazing festivals of ideas across the globe, some that are world-renowned, some that few have heard of, many of which are brilliant and important and thought provoking.
On The Horizon will be important and thought provoking but it will also have many of our unique touches; it will be fun, it will be in a beautiful location, it will be elegantly designed and comfortable and there will be a bit of music, some terrific food, amazing accommodation for those that are staying and plenty of time to wander the estate and swim in the lake. And, in a deliberate move to maintain intimacy and comfort we are limiting attendees to 100. In these ways it will be like the best of its peers and yet completely unique.
We hope you’ll join us. There are a few tickets remaining as I write.
On The Horizon runs from 4pm on 5th July 2024 at Hawarden Estate, CH5 3NY.