I was talking to Bob Berry the driving force behind Chippenham Folk Festival this week and he sounded a weary man.
I think the strain of putting on the folk festival, which kicks off next Friday, in the face of almost complete indifference from the businesses in Chipenham, is wearing him down.
The festival, which attracts thousands of visitors to the town and performers from all over the world, lost £11,500 last year and has had to scale down a little this time round.
You'll notice that the folk festival flags that usually adorn the High Street are missing. They cost £2,000 and they've had to be axed.
The problem is that shops, pubs and restaurants in the town rake in cash faster than an MP's family during the folk festival but are spectacularly miserly when it comes to coughing up sponsorship.
One shining exceptio to this is Wavin the plastic pipe manufacturer, which has put its hand in its pocket every year without fail.
The chief culprits are the chain stores like Woolworths who are packed to the rafters on the usually quiet bank holiday Monday because of all the people in town.
But as far as sponosring the festival goes, they are as hard to get cash out of as the Northern Rock mortgage department.
Unless some og thesde attiutudes change the finances are only going to get worse for the festival and for it there will come a time, like its counterpart in Chester, when it becomes uneconomic.
Where will all those morris men go then to wear make-up and tights?
If the festival does fold then all those businesses who have been tighter than Vanessa Feltz's underwear will lose out, and they'll only have themselves to blame.
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I was pleased to see that at least one of the ladies in the enquiry office at Chippenham Police Station decided to break their silence about their return to work this week, after some diplomatic intervention from Inspector Gavin Wiliams.
I had been under the mistaken impression that the police themselves had asked the ladies not to speak to the press but I was wrong, it was just that they didn't want to talk to us.
I am happy to put the record straight, which will ease the burden of press officer Steve Coxhead who has had to spend a vast amount of his time writing me threatening e-mails.
One of the roles of Wiltshire Police press office is to correct misleading and inaccuracte reporting. The Force is pleased that the editor has now seen fit to portray the issue accurately, albeit not before several factual - and perfectly reasonable - requests from the press office.
One of the roles of Wiltshire Police press office is to correct misleading and inaccuracte reporting. The Force is pleased that the editor has now seen fit to portray the issue accurately, albeit not before several factual - and perfectly reasonable - requests from the press office.
