Pam Ayres is averse to air travel after a Covid nightmare. (Image: Getty)
Poet Pam Ayres has stopped flying as she claims the thrill of feeling “like a film star” on a plane has gone and she is now “prodded and herded around like cattle”.
The author has travelled worldwide to perform and has become a TV favourite after fronting The Cotswolds for Channel 5.
But now at 77, she will not be flying abroad again after a “trip of a lifetime” turned into chaos.
Pam and husband Dudley took a cruise on Queen Mary 2 to Australia in early 2020 and sailed into the pandemic.
By the time they reached Down Under, all their plans and trips had been cancelled because of the virus.
She explained: “It was meant to be the trip of a lifetime but it was an absolute disaster.”
When all shows with audiences of more than 500 were banned, she had to fight for a place on a plane home.
Pam says: “There was a mad, undignified scramble to get out of Perth. Everyone was just clambering to get on the plane. It was awful.
“So I have now gone off flying.”
She added: “It used to seem so glamorous. I felt like a film star. But now you expect to be prodded with an electric cattle prod. You get herded around.”
Instead, Pam has been touring closer to home promoting her new collection called Doggedly Onward.