So it's that time of year again. Time for the Woburn Oyster Festival - www.woburnoysterfestival.co.uk

As part of trying to support local food events, my wife and I (and occasionally children as well) have been attending this event most years (when the weather was favourable) for more than a decade now. Early on this was a larger affair, not only with a number of oyster stands as part of the main show located on the cobbled Pitchings area of Woburn, but some local pubs would also get into the spirit serving up the magical bivalves.

This year we took ourselves down on the Friday of the three day event. At about 7:30 it was fairly quiet with plenty of spare seats available

Over the years the number of stalls actually selling oysters (and remember, this is called an oyster festival) has declined to the point where there is now only part of one stall serving them up.

And the quality of these were decidedly ropey. You might expect the freshest oysters available. Harvested on Thursday for a Friday start to the festival. Not a chance. Those served were way past their best, already going milky, opened so roughly that each oyster had pieces of broken shell in with the meat. A dozen tired oysters served with 2 small (plastic) glasses of warm Sauvignon Blanc - £24-50. With 2 more days to go I dread to think what the state of these will be by Sunday.

The unfortunate part is that these may be some peoples' first experience of oysters. These would certainly not encourage a second try. If you find yourself in the vicinity of Borough Market in London, get over to Wright Brothers and reaffirm your faith in these creatures.