Day seven of the festival and it's over and out from me as I pass the baton on to my colleague Tom Happold.

First and last impressions? As a veteran of festivals on the grungier end of the scale (Glastonbury et al), Hay is something of a contrast. The site is certainly getting a little muddier as the seemingly relentless drizzle of the past couple of days does its work but that's about as far as the comparison goes. This is about the most civilised festival it is possible to imagine.

Take the toilets, one of the perennially thorny issues of any festival. There are no regular Portaloos here – oh no – for Hay boasts positively the ritziest outdoor toilets I have ever seen. They feature panelled solid wood doors, fully stocked loo paper dispensers and a level of spotless cleanliness which, as any aficionado of outdoor events will know, is nigh on a small miracle.

There is not a speck of litter to be seen on site. But then, Hay sports Brabantia bins, no less, and a clientele that is heavily weighted to the furthest ends of the age range – the very young and the very not so young (quote of the festival for me: "gosh, I'm glad I wore my orthopaedics!" exclaimed a silver-haired lady as she negotiated one of the wooden walkways). But even the kids look as if they might have stepped out of the illustrations of a children's book from the 1950's: all rosy-cheeked and welly-clad, there's not a hoody or baseball cap to be seen. And the token rotund policeman on duty looks rather lost without Noddy and Big Ears following him around.

I've been entertaining visions of the festival suddenly turning squalid in its last days with festival casualties huddled around in the dawn light, wrapped in binbags, having OD'd on OED the night before; desperate punters scrabbling through the 'paper-only' bins hunting down a last fix of words; scallie bookdealers touting ripped out pages of books at a pound a shot… But, somehow, I don't think it's going to happen. And Hay is all the better for it.

So, a fond farewell to Hay from me and a big welcome to Tom. Thanks for reading.