It's Monday morning at 8:30am and I am on the Aberystwyth-London Euston train. That takes four-and-a-half hours on a good day, of which there are not many. I travel through spectacularly beautiful scenery on a spectacularly decrepit line. Why do I do it? No spoilers – you can find the answer at the end.

I am on my way to the Electoral Commission. As a commissioner, I am charged with maintaining trust in the electoral system through the registration of parties, the regulation of donors and spend. It seems to me that trust is the most valuable commodity of our age… and also the most vulnerable. I have been fortunate to work with the Commission and with the BBC, where trust is of the essence.

Before the Commission, I arrive at BBC HQ in Portland Place for coffee with June Prunty. June, the unsung hero of Broadcasting House’s fourth floor, is retiring. Her devotion over 17 years as PA to BBC Chairs has been professionally exemplary and emotionally supportive. I doubt whether a long list of Chairs from the Trust to the present Unitary Board could have done as much without her commitment and good humour. Happy retirement, June, and a huge, huge thank you.

After the (standing room only from Euston to Rugby) journey home, I go for my Covid jab. Later, I join an online briefing as Chair of the Public Leaders Forum in Wales. It’s a forum for all Chairs and CEOs of arm’s-length bodies, ranging from Natural Resources to the Arts Council to (yes!) Transport for Wales. I think back to the support we found in each other’s company online during the dark, frightening days of 2020, as we all tried to work out how to survive as public bodies and to keep staff safe and motivated. It all seems now like a curious dream from which we have emerged and don’t wish to talk about.

Friday brings a two-hour drive to Hay-on-Wye and the Hay Festival Winter Weekend. I am a Trustee of the Hay Board. It is a time to thank Caroline Michel, our wonderful outgoing Chair for her dedication and to welcome Apple Creative Director Jay Hunt as the incoming Chair. We stand outside Hay Castle in the light drizzle among a large, excited crowd to see actor Luke Evans (born in nearby Pontypool) switching on the Christmas lights. I stay in the Rhydspence Inn, part of which dates back to the 14th century. The next morning, over breakfast, I look out on a bare apple tree and a huge clump of mistletoe hanging from it.

I have been fortunate to work with young creative people all my life as a professor in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at Aberystwyth University. Many have become household names. Today, Saturday, was a time to pay tribute to Jeremy Turner, who founded and maintained a Welsh-language youth and children’s theatre, standing down after 35 years. The Arad Goch company’s work has been seen from Seattle to Seoul (literally). He created an international festival here in Aberystwyth. As befitted a Welsh occasion, we had two poets and two poems written specially.

As I walk home in the gathering dark, the lantern procession is coming down Great Darkgate Street to help light the square’s Christmas tree. I reflect on the sense of community in this small university town, its independent shops and cafes, its arts centre, its magnificent National Library, the squawking scavenging gulls, and the murmuration of starlings now roosting under the old pier after their acrobatic display.

Despite the train journey, I think of it all with great fondness.

Elan Closs Stephens is a former Acting Chair of the BBC.