'You wouldn't get me on a plane for any money' – Jenni Murray on her pandemic holiday plans
The presenter on the pandemic ruining her birthday, horse riding in Ireland and a lucky escape in Israel...
I have a romantic attachment
...to the Needles on the Isle of Wight. During lockdown, I was stuck in London while my husband was at the family home in Hampshire. I dreamed of looking out over the Needles – one of my favourite views. I first went to the island when I was nine or 10. Then, when I was a reporter on South Today, I went over to the Needles Lighthouse. The Solent was choppy and it was one of the most terrifying boat rides of my life.
I missed out on going to India as a child
...when I was a child. My dad got a job there, but I wanted to go to Barnsley Girls’ High School so I stayed here with grandma. My mother told me amazing tales, so finally, the year before last, my husband and I decided to go.
We made a bad choice in how to see India
...as we went to the Golden Triangle through a travel company that said it took small groups of like-minded people. We ended up on the grimmest huge coach for up to eight hours at a time on terrifying Indian roads. The forts and castles were incredible but we were just exhausted. So the plan is to do it again but slowly, with a personal driver. It’s not much more expensive.
I wouldn't go to the Taj Mahal again
...because of the queues to get through security and the hordes of people all over it. There’s no doubt that it’s exquisite but don’t expect the Diana, Princess of Wales, shot. Instead I want to go to Kolkata and trace the bungalow where my parents lived.
I’ve stayed in former palaces of maharajas
...but there you are, a western tourist having lovely food in this exquisite place with a gateway for elephants to pass through, and you step out into a village with the most appalling poverty. And there’s rubbish everywhere. I had real difficulty with that.
As a child, I loved the beach
...but I am terrified of the sea now. When I was in Israel in my 20s, I went to the beach with some guys I worked with. That part of the Mediterranean had very strong currents but it was very warm and I jumped over the waves – then found nothing beneath me. I was a strong swimmer but it wasn’t happening, so I shouted for help. The boys just managed to get to me before the currents dragged me down. Now I prefer to be on the promenade.
Israel was constantly dangerous
...when I worked there between 1969 and 1972. One day, I was returning to Jaffa after going into Tel Aviv to get some bacon at the Arab market and just as the bus I was on pulled out, a bomb went off at the stop. It smashed a window near me.
When I was made a Dame
...my abode in London was a basement flat, which I called Wuthering Depths, so I suggested we splash out on two nights at Claridge’s. I’d been there to interview people before and thought how marvellous it was. It was beautiful and is the best hotel in London that I’ve ever stayed at. I can rarely afford it, but I do love luxury. I’m not a camping person.
The best horse riding experience
...of my life was in Ireland. I’m passionately fond of horses. When the children were small, we hired a gipsy caravan to go around the Dingle peninsula, where the beaches go on forever. One day, my son Ed and I galloped flat out along the sand and in the surf for what felt like miles. I can’t do it now, since I had my hips replaced, but it’s the most invigorating thing imaginable.
You wouldn't get me on a plane
...for any money at the moment, but I’m old enough to remember when airports were exciting places. These days, it’s just queues, stuff being thrown at you to buy, ages going through security…
The worst trip I ever did was to New Zealand
...in 2011 for the Rugby World Cup. My elder boy was working out there. How I stood the amount of time I had to spend on an aeroplane, I really don’t know, but it’s a beautiful country.
One of the best culinary experiences
...of my life was when I spent a whole summer as a student in Montpellier. One evening, about 15 of us crammed into a few deux-chevaux cars and drove out to a shack on the beach at Palavas. The sea was almost lapping around our feet and we had moules marinière, frites cooked to perfection and a lovely Provençal rosé, followed by chocolate mousse.
This damn virus ruined by 70th birthday
...in May because the plan was that the whole family was going to Paris. We were going to have a lovely dinner and go up the Eiffel Tower, which is very high on my bucket list. Although I once worked in Paris as a tour hostess, I never got up there. The tourists would go up while I stayed at the bottom to check them all off. At some point in the near future, we will go over on Eurostar.
Interview by Caroline Rees
Fat Cow, Fat Chance by Jenni Murray is out now (Doubleday, £16.99)
