That’s the question everyone kept asking me when I told them I was off for a week’s residency and to be honest I wasn’t sure myself but when I got there I was delighted to land in one of Britain’s historical towns. It was an experience that will remain stained on the tapestry of my memory.

The week was filled with trying out new experiences; I remember the visits to the pig farm because they made me think about halal pork. No, such a thing doesn’t exist and I’m very pleased it doesn’t because there are four things I remember most about my trip to Ludlow and that was just one of them.

First, was how beautiful the piglets were (some might consider this blasphemy from a Muslim), and how I didn’t have to feel guilty about eating them. In fact, I am currently questioning eating meat at all, I’m not sure if I am quite ready to be a vegetarian but it’s something that I am gonna think about seriously.

Second, the military precision with which a Michelin Star restaurant is run and how like the army, it’s very male dominated arena. Thankfully, there were no Gordon Ramsay rants and I was given mundane tasks like peeling the shells of chick peas, which was a wise decision on the Chef’s part, because I could have easily had that star stripped off him if I had been entrusted with something important.

Third, the trip to the abattoir in my black and gold wellies; this was the experience that I thought would horrify me. There were chain saws, dark burgundy blood, and pig corpses going round on hooks but all this was strangely beautiful. I felt as if I were watching artists at work. It was interesting to see what went on behind the scenes, prior, to being able to get our nice neat meat chops at the local Tesco. It was a great reminder of the respect we should give to animals for nourishing us.

Fourth, deliberately placed here because this was what made the visit was how wonderful everyone we met were. That goes from the Pentabus team, to the writers, all the way down to the farmers who were so free with their times and minds