Tom Hodgkinson finds driving through London an unexpected pleasure, as the capital adopts an idler-friendly traffic policy: slow down, have fun, drive well…

The Idler Festival begins today – and so yesterday, in preparation, I was able to undertake one of my favourite tasks: hiring a large white transit van, loading it up with books, bits of furniture, a wooden snail, and other necessities, driving it through London and unloading it at the other end. Yes, I could be White Van Man, just for one day.

Things don’t always go to plan with vans. Some readers may remember the disaster we had at Wilderness Festival a few years ago. We loaded up a Luton van with dozens of boxes of books because we were running the festival’s bookshop. The consignment included 800 copies of Deliciously Ella (for the record, we’re not enormous fans of her work, it’s just that she was doing a signing and we thought we might shift a few copies).

Unfortunately the Luton visibly sagged with the weight of the books and we were pulled over by the police. They made us empty the contents of the van on to the hard shoulder at the Beaconsfield weigh station. It was 10pm. We then had to hire two more transit vans to go and collect the excess books.

On the Monday, it was packing up time. Among the hundreds of unsold books on the floor of our marquee were 792 copies of Deliciously Ella. Our bookshop manager surveyed the endless piles of returns and started to sob gently. She’s better now, thanks for asking, but for many months she would shake visibly when she saw a white Luton van.

Anyway, yesterday was much better. There were no disasters, and something amazingly good has happened to central London traffic: the authorities have introduced a 20 mile an hour limit, pretty much everywhere.

This mean that my drive from Shepherd’s Bush to Hampstead, where our festival takes place, was leisurely and smooth. The 20 mile an hour limit is one of the best things to have happened to the capital in recent years. Has someone in the council or mayoralty read our slogan, “Slow Down, Have Fun, Live Well”? Not impossible since our office building projects it onto the mighty A40 flyover, which now has a 30mph limit (it used to be a motorway with a limit of 60mph or 70mph).

I’m also pleased to report that, possibly as a result of the 20 mile an hour limit, the other drivers were courtesy itself. White Van Man has a bad reputation, but in my view, this is undeserved. There was lots of waving, and thanking, and letting others go first, and waiting, and nodding.

Yes, I know that a few weeks ago, in this newsletter, I complained about being called a “terrible blockhead” while cycling. This led to a deluge of letters about the country going to the dogs thanks to heightened anxiety about Brexit or Covid or politicians. But actually it’s important to remember my road rage incidents were unusual. Most drivers out there are polite.

And maybe they’re especially polite during the day, when the roads are dominated by delivery drivers, scaffolding lorries, dustcarts and taxi cabs and the like – the professionals, in other words. It’s at rush hour when the amateurs come out, the office workers, the hurriers.

During the day there is a pleasant sense of camaraderie out there on the road, particularly if you’re driving a hi-top van with a long wheel base, as I was today. You’re high up and feel like you’re getting respect from other van drivers.

Anyway, all the books and other bits and bobs have been safely delivered to Fenton House. The garden looks lovely, the marquee has been erected and the Wi-Fi works. We’re looking forward to opening the golden gates today at 5.30pm.

And if you can’t make it, I’m afraid we’re not yet available on iPlayer like Glastonbury. However, you can get the vibe by finding a deckchair, a copy of the Idler or an Irvine Welsh book and opening your favourite tipple at 6pm.