Jay Courtney and Juicy Crones: A Festival of Conversations event

When Jay Courtney retired from her role as lead for Children’s Health and Wellbeing for Gloucestershire (Education), she did not expect to find her world so ‘beige’, nor did she anticipate the ageism and sexism she encountered.

After winning the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Just Back’ travel writing competition for her account of a solo trip to the Faroe Islands, Jay set out on a personal quest to answer existential questions about who she was as an older woman. She turned to those in the know - women who were also exploring these big questions and had found unique answers.

Thumbing her nose at the notion that post-menopausal women are ‘dried up and past their best’, in Juicy Crones, Jay shares her own journey of struggle and enlightenment alongside 12 inspiring yet relatable women who, after overcoming major life challenges, have embraced their cronehood with gusto. Some of their unique paths have led literally to new destinations - opening a campsite in rural Hungary, hiking the caminos of Europe, scuba diving in Mexico, organising walking holidays for women and exploring Italy as a travel writer. Others have found those new places within themselves, connecting to music, art and nature - building physical strength or attending to spiritual growth, even flying planes! From bold leaps of faith to realising dreams, these are all stories of risk, adventure, laughter, loss and love - and, ultimately, of acceptance.