Chris had been attacked by a barbecue
Chris was away in Mallorca and appeared on social media wearing the kind of bandage normally seen in a cartoon.
A barbecue had fallen and hit him.
The injury looked dramatic.
Chris was apparently all right.
Scott could not understand how somebody could go for a relaxing break and end up being struck by outdoor cooking equipment.
The accident became another entry in Chris’s long history of holidays producing stories rather than rest.
Charlie Hedges joined Where Do You Think They Were?
With Chris away, Charlie Hedges joined Scott for one of her favourite show features.
She was genuinely excited.
The victim was Owen, 21.
His dad Brian was ready to tell the story.
Owen already knew his family were heavily involved with horses.
He had no idea how relevant that was going to become.
Wendy had been competing
The story went back to the late 1990s.
Owen’s mum Wendy had been at an equestrian event.
She had been competing and was still in her riding clothes.
Brian remembered the outfit in enough detail for Scott to become suspicious immediately.
Riding boots.
Helmet.
Crop.
The programme briefly became confused and asked a question which made it sound as though Wendy herself might be the horse.
She was not.
Wendy rode the horse.
That clarification inspired the episode title.
The horse lorry had a living area
After the event, Brian and Wendy returned to their vehicle.
It was a light-blue horse lorry with space for the animals at the back and a living area closer to the cab.
Brian decided the moment should not be wasted.
The couple did not use the actual horse compartment.
They used the living section.
Owen was relieved by this distinction.
Only slightly.
Brian’s willingness to describe the moment in detail did nothing to make the conversation easier.
Young Farmers provided the culture
Brian explained that the family’s agricultural and equestrian life included Young Farmers events and parties.
The stories around those gatherings helped Scott understand why an impromptu moment in a horse vehicle might not have seemed remotely as strange to the parents as it sounded on Radio 1 decades later.
Owen had even thanked Brian and Wendy during his 21st birthday celebrations because, without them, he would not exist.
He now knew exactly what he had been thanking them for.
Parents visiting work became the next embarrassment
The programme then asked listeners about parents turning up at their workplace.
A viral video showed a mother visiting her son at his first job and enthusiastically telling him how proud she was while he tried to remain professional.
Listeners supplied worse examples.
Parents had appeared at DJ gigs.
Skate parks.
Dental practices.
One former palace worker described a mother standing outside the gates waving while strict professional rules prevented any response.
Scott liked that parental pride could override almost any sense of workplace embarrassment.
Glastonbury officially began
The show also spoke to listeners already at Glastonbury, including an 11-year-old festival veteran attending for the third time.
Radio 1’s own presenters were arriving too.
Jack Saunders headed off with a Sean Paul Banger.
June’s daily archive ended with the BBC moving into festival mode.
Scott and Chris had spent the week covering Breakfast and afternoons.
By Thursday, everyone deserved a field.
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