First Gig - Guildford Vox

Or two, to be precise!
Our first spot was outside the Friary in Guildford, at the concrete circle where the merry-go-round usually is. About 30 of us turned up, which was good - not many sopranos though. A small group of friends and relations appeared, but we didn't get many passers-by as it was a little off the main shopping route. Guildford was quite quiet for late-night shoppers anyway. Also it was rather noisy because of the lorries and buses heading up North Road. Still, we sang out as best we could. I was struggling as I had a sore throat, I probably wasn't singing my best but I was there!
Our set list included:
Jubilate Deo
The Holly and the Ivy
Whim-Away (Um Boubai)
Winter Wonderland
The Boar's Head Carol
Fly, Fly, Fly
Gaudete
The Reindeer Calling Song
Then there was time for a quick freshly-made doughnut from the stall on the High Street before heading to Holy Trinity Church for the second spot. Unfortunately there was already a brass band playing in the Tunsgate Arch, which threatened to clash with our singing (we didn't have the words to their carols, sadly). However after a quick negotiation Anna persuaded them to be quiet for a bit while we sang.
We do have a CD available, just for a donation to charity - but I couldn't get one as David had disappeared into the Three Pigeons! Oh well, hopefully there'll be some left for the New Year.
That's all for now!
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS!

Folk-Punk Crawl of Brighton and Portsmouth

Bill Badger was away last weekend looking after his father, leaving me to entertain myself. As the train line was down between Farnborough North and Portsmouth, I thought I'd go via Clapham Junction to Brighton, do some shopping, drinking and catch some live music.
Got up at crack of sparrow, and trains were all running fine towards Brighton, arrived at 11.30am before the Evening Star was open, so had a browse down Queen Street and a quick look at the sea. Then back for the Evening Star Beer Festival and Robb Johnson's gig. The pub was packed and a lot of people were singing along to Robb's songs, so I guess at last he is developing the following he deserves! 'Breakfast in Kamnitz' and 'This Song is a Rose' were amongst his set. Got chatting to a bloke sharing a table with me, who is a friend of Maggie Holland (must keep an eye out for her) and Twiggy!
Drank some Dark Star Hophead, Nottingham Stout and Eastwood & Sanders Porter, then headed off to the Bugle in St Martins Street and had some Harveys Best (they also had Taylor Landlord and another ale). I'd got there too early, so had to wander round North Laines in a state of pisstitude - luckily I didn't buy anything too wacky! Had coffee and cake at the Rotunda before heading back.
Nick Burbridge was at the Bugle playing the Irish Session which takes place from 4-6pm every Sunday. He was pleased to see me, I'm helping out with festival-pestering for McDermott's 2 Hours, also moderating their messageboard. The 2 fiddle players whom Nick was playing with were also very good. Recognised some of the songs, especially 'Dicey Riley' and 'Bone's Farewell' from the new album. An old boy was doing Pink Panther type dancing in front of the band which was funny - Nick looked amused as well!
Wandered back to the station - had just missed a train so I headed back to the Star for some Dark Star Rods and Mochas at 7.3%.
Got to the Levellers concert in time to see Seth Lakeman's set - recognised his brother and Ben the bass player but not new guy on bodhran - very good! The Levellers were on their last gig and were putting lots of effort into it, dancing and playing their best. Simon forgot the words to 'This Garden', tsk tsk. Boaksey was in a kilt, pink suspenders and pink feather boa with luminous makeup. As he did his Marylin Monroe impression over the fan and high-kicks to the audience, was glad he's not a true Scotsman!
A cracking good day! Must do it again sometime :-D

Martyn Joseph at the Brook

Other Val and Matt accompanied Bill and myself to the Brook to see Wales's answer to Bruce Springsteen once more ;-) Martyn was accompanied by his keyboard player Matt, and I'm pleased to say the sound quality was excellent. Glad that the Brook also sorted out their sound problems as well as refurbishing. They stil haven't got any interesting beer though - c'mon Brook, ditch that Courage Best for something nice by Hampshire Brewery, please!
Martyn gave a faultless performance, we arrived a song-and-a-half too late and came in as he was singing Dic Penderyn, which has a superb chorus, especially for us mezzo-sopranos to sing along to! Songs which Martyn virtually left the Brook to sing were the covers - What If God Was One Of Us and Stuck In A Moment originally by U2.
Martyn has a new album out, Deep Blue, which we purchased - unfortunately could not get near Martyn at the end for an autograph. He played many songs from this - my favourite being Proud Valley Boy.
After the interval, Martyn did his spontaneous song-composing, about a dark-haired woman in the upstairs bit who had shouted 'bad sales pitch' to him as he'd been excessively modest about his new album - and he'd heard 'selfish'! Then played some requests at the end including Dolphins, one of his chart hits.
A good, spiritually-uplifting gig - we will return to see Martyn here again no doubt.

Bill Badger's 40th Birthday

Today Bill Badger, my lovely hubby, reached his 40th Birthday (which he kept pretty quiet!) He has been working at the Great Welsh Beer Festival in Cardiff, and travelled back especially to go on the 'Arford By Bus' pub crawl. The Crown in Arford was my favourite, a very nice pub, had some excellent beer there and a nice plate of nachos. The Mill Tavern in Shottermill, West Sussex was very good as well.
Val and Matt picked us up at the final pub, the Crown and Cushion in Haslemere, and took us to West Chiltington Village Hall to see ColvinQuarmby. Val is friendly with the band, so asked for a request for Bill - and he kind of got two! Jerry mentioned people who turn 40 when he played 'I look the same but I have changed' and also dedicated 'it could only happen in America' to Bill as well!
We were also able to stop for a drink on the way back, thanks to the remarkably civilized new licencing hours. Cheers, Tony!
Hubby has got loads of cards and prezzies which just goes to show what a popular guy he is. Val and Matt gave beer and homemade (unusual!) chutneys, and Simon and Jane gave a cup-and-saucer and some liquorice. I gave a book and some 'taste the difference' bikkies which Bill seemed to appreciate!!
Happy birthday, dearest! xxxx

The Copper Family at Guildford Institute

Just Bill and myself to see the Copper Family, who arrived a little late due to work commitments (but quickly found their way to the bar!) They are one of the few families who still pass on folk-singing from generation to generation, and have done so in the village of Rottingdean since time immemorial. They were one of the first families to have been 'collected' from, and pass on stories of the old days of ploughing with horses, running pubs etc. as well. They are not trained singers and so maybe a bit rough around the edges, but great fun and very interesting to listen to. Long may they multiply and do their best!

Siansa at Farnham Maltings

Went to see Siansa with Bill and Val - Ken was also there, a regular reader of my blog!
Steve Winchester was suporting, and played 5 cool songs to start with, including an Irish song which Siansa thought was terrific :-D
Siansa kicked off with 3 jigs, excellently played, then some traditional songs. I amused myself by trying to pick the best musician of the outfit. It was close, but I picked Peter O'Brien, the bodhran player from Belfast, after effortlessly providing intricate rhythms for a set of Irish polkas. Turns out he was all-Ireland champion! Fantastic. Tim O'Dowd was very good on the pipes and low whistle, but I didn't like his singing voice. Other Tim was very good as well, on pipes and whistles, despite not having rehearsed with the band (they played a few tricks on him - not deliberately though!)
Geoffrey Pollett, the fiddle player, sang a few of his own songs, good ones too. He sounds terribly well-spoken English, sounding very odd in an Irish band! The harp player, Harriet Earis, was excellent - it's a rare thing to hear someone playing the Irish harp round our way.
Dave Henderson, the guitar/mandola player, was also by far the best singer, but only got to sing the one song!
Also, as a surprise, they had a top Irish dancer, Martin, who used to be lead dancer in The Lord Of The Dance (Riverdance's successor). He was truly amazing, lightning on his feet, but wrecked the door on whih he was supposed to have danced and had to hammer the floor instead!
The atmosphere was great at the gig, but at about 10 past 11 the fire alarms went off in the middle of a set of reels and, althogh Darren told us there was no fire, there was no way we could hear the music over the din. Me and Bill decided to call it a night at this point. Felt sorry for the band though.
Val won a folking.com waistcoat on the raffle - I look forward to seeing her wearing it :-D

Guildford Vox

Don't laugh - I have joined a choir!
Yesterday night I went along to Anna Tabbush's Guildford Vox choir taster night (she of Meridian and Tabbush Sisters fame) along wth about 20 other people! First of all we did warm-up exercises - a bit like aerobics, then we did some voice exercises, designed to get us singing effectively. It ws very interesting to learn how to do it properly - learning diaphragm control, the correct way to breathe in, etc. Then Anna taught us some rounds, including Jubilate Deo. Then we had to sort ourselves from low singers to high singers, bass to alto. I ended up as a mezzo-soprano, rightly or wrongly! We sang harmonies to Whim-Away, The Boar's Head Carol, and a Finnish reindeer-calling song, but I kept wanting to sing other people's tunes - very confusing! Anna was very positive and enthusiastic, and danced as she was conducting. Everyone seemed nice and I had a lot of fun, though my lungs were aching afterwards. Will definitely go back next Monday :-)

Weeping Willow?

Was merrily browsing through the board this morning when I heard our neighbour's teenage son and daughter out in the garden. I opened the curtains, and - bloody hell! A huge branch of a willow tree 2 doors down (No. 104) has crashed down - over our garden and both our neighbour's gardens! :o It has wrecked the shed at No. 106, luckily there wasn't anything valuable in there. At No. 104 the shed is bearing a lot of weight but hasn't collapsed yet.
Mike, the guy at 104, has tried phoning tree surgeons and his insurance (Direct Line Insurance), but none of them are open at the weekend!! Surprising really - who are you supposed to contact in an emergency?
Just as well no-one was out there really! That tree is also very near the railway line - again, very luckily there's no trains today due to engineering works.

Folk at the Fall - QE Hall Foyer, London

Bill and I took the train to Waterloo and firstly headed past Festival Hall to Covent Garden - yay! I'll make a shopper of Bill yet. There was a food and drink market going on, as well as the usual crafts in the Apple Market, so we tried some crepes and Moroccan savouries before heading off to the Sir John Soanes museum.
This museum was amazing! It was crammed full of bits of carved stone and marble which Sir John (architect of the House of Lords, anongst other things) had collected. There was everything from Roman gods to an Egyptian sarcophagus - and in the midst a bust of Sir John himself - a la Julius Caesar! There were also quite a few Hogarths, in the cellar the famous Rake's Progress. The house itself has been preserved in all its 18th Century glory.
I went shopping for boots in Neal Street on the way back, and Bill went to the concert. Sadly I missed most of Mawkin, an Essex-based fiddle/melodeon/guitar/bass outfit, who were very good. Gog Magog Molly were around in the intervals to entertain us with their modern take on Cambridgeshire molly-dancing. With their bright costumes and silly hats I at first thought they were clowns!
The Devil's Interval were next, but despite their cool name I found them a bit boring. But then a lot of their songs were a capella which isn't my cup of tea. They did a dirty song at the end though ;-)
Last on were Meridian - Richard Jones (piano-accordion/guitar), Anna Tabbush (fiddle/flute/vocals), and Chris Walshaw (pipes/flute/whistles). They did a superb set, playing 'At the break of day/The Glimmering) which was my favourite. Anna's voice was at it's soaring best, and the sound quality was far better than at Bridgnorth. Chris wowed the audience with his French Pipe skills, playing schottiches and other French dance tunes, a few people quietly danced at the back!
Singing Robb Johnson's 'London Eye' on the train home again to Farnborough.

Redhill Beer Festival

Which was actually at Merstham Village Hall. The hall was never packed, having at most 120 punters at a time, the festival having been limited to 150 punters at a time by the Hall committee. The food on offer consisted of huge baguettes, sausage rools, Scotch eggs or crisps, with free food for workers.
Things were very quiet on the Membership and Products side (of which myself and Claire were in charge) – probably due to the bad location of the tables on the stage, which some punters thought was out-of-bounds. However we did manage to sell 10 CAMRA memberships, the baby’s bibs, a teddy, and quite a few East and Mid Surrey Pub Guides (these are excellent, despite what Bruning-skimreader says!). I was restricting myself to a half a day, so had to choose well and sip it very slowly. The B&T Edwin Taylor Stout was the beer of the festival for me. We sold out of beer by 7pm on the last day, but still had plenty of cider left over. I don’t think Surrey folk are big cider-drinkers. In the end we gave away the cider in takeaway containers, before returning the empties.
It was good to catch up with all the gossip from the Welsh contingency (Claire, Kathy, Daigy and Keith) as well as to see the East and Mid Surrey crowd again. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves – apart from the kind of people that always pick holes. Thanks to Sally Gingell in particular for doing most of the work to make the festival such a success!

Show of Hands at Norden Farm

Steve and Phil gave yet another superb performance at Norden Farm, and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Someone called Bill heckled them for being late on stage, but they seemed to know the guy so they took it in good spirit. Apparently they have played more at Norden Farm than anywhere else! It is a good venue though.
They played old favourites like Cousin Jack, Santiago, Widdecombe Fair (they seem to have given up on Phil sneaking up on the audience with his fiddle!) and my favourite at the moment, The Setting/Mary of Dungloe. Steve also tried out a few new tunes, he didn’t mention titles so I’m guessing Dreamers and Lost. He has changed Dreamers so that it makes less sense to me – I thought the boyfriend steals a car and gets beaten up, forcing the couple to stay in Axmouth – but he has changed it so that it was a friend. Why stay then? Lost was about Steve visiting an attic where he finds everything he’s ever lost. Bill liked this – he’s such a hoarder! Roots was played as the encore, it’s a great protest song, a rallying-cry for all us folkies to defend our English culture. Was pretty tired by the time we got back home though, had to go to work early the next day as well...

Oysterband at the Brook

Last night was Other Val’s birthday so she’d decided on a girlie night out in Southampton, with myself and Julie. Bill Badger would normally be an honorary girl, but he is away at the moment at a conference in Birmingham (he made do with a boy’s night out with Patrick).
The Brook had changed a little since I last went there to see Martyn Joseph. The place looked a lot less dingy, all in greens and stained wood, with the downstairs bar moved over to the far side and the upstairs bar refurbished with lots more seating. I wasn’t tempted by the lone real ale (Courage Best) but Other Val had no complaints.
Other Val and I headed down to the mosh pit whilst Julie stayed upstairs on the fag! There wasn’t a lot of dancing though, perhaps because of the lack of space. The sound was excellent though, and the Oysterband as energetic and skillful as ever (not turning up pissed like a band I’ve seen recently (Atishdrunkinpublichoo) although JJ did forget the words to ‘The Raven’ We met some nice people (as often happens with Other Val around) and had a bloody good time. Favourite song of the evening – ‘Northern Light’ (Other Val voted for ‘Milford Haven’ and Julie for the instrumentals)
Thanks to Other Val for driving on her birthday!

Spiers and Boden, Good Old Way Folk Club

My 100th Post!It was my, Bill’s, Other Val’s and Matt’s first time at our very own folk club of which we are members. People seemed friendly without being too OTT. The room, in the Guildford Institute building of the University of Surrey, was rather small but decorated with interesting pictures, and retaining quite a lot of original ‘Art Nouveau’ features. A grand piano stood at the ‘stage’ end, leaving not a lot of room for any big bands! There were bottles of Hogs Back TEA available, but the catch was, there were no beer glasses! Drinking a bottle-conditioned beer from the neck without drinking any of the sediment proved to be a bit of a challenge.
The first floor-spot was a very traditional singer, so I hoped that wasn’t going to be the tone of the folk club. Next came Spiers and Boden, who were fabulous, with many new songs from their album appropriately entitled ‘Songs’ (we bought a copy which Jon and John signed for us). They too are a very ‘traditional’ act, but they don’t perform the songs 100% ‘straight’, adding a certain something to them which makes them catchy and enjoyable. They are usually quite gory as well. Was whistling the song about chopping up the
wild woman for ages afterwards!
The next floor spot, to my delight, was Anna Tabbush, who helps run the club. I have a CD of her in ‘Meridian’, called ‘Prime’ – her vocals are amazing. She also teaches R & B – bit different from folk music!
More Spiers and Boden, had a bit of a sing, especially ‘Happy Birthday’ to one of the other folkies who had travelled a long way to see the lads. Only a matter of time before they need a fan club!
Didn’t win anything on the raffle, but there’s plenty of time. Now we are regulars, we are sure to win more ;-)

Plymouth and Gunnislake Weekend

The Magnificent Seven (Ian, Brian, Social Bob, Magnus, June, Bill and me) met up for an attempt on the Tamar Valley Rail Ale Passport, 19 pubs accessible by rail on the Plumouth to Gunnislake line. Was in a foul mood most of the weekend due to sinusitis and inner ear infection – but after a few beers I cheered up a bit and the constant boat-motion seemed less noticeable! On the Friday we had a four-hour train journey to Plymouth in a nice comfy South West Train. There were some great views of the sea around Dawlish but fog closed in as we approached the Tamar valley. Spent the evening visiting a few pubs in Devonport and Plymouth, the most memorable ones being the Dolphin (‘accepts all comers and frequently gets them’) and the Minerva (good vibes, good live saxophonist). Next day six of us went on a walk around Gunnislake to see the historic mineworkings, lock, lime kiln etc, then in to the Tavistock for some delicious local cider. Next stop was the Rising Sun for some stonking Betty Stoggs, but was miffed that they weren’t serving food. Half an hours’ walk to the Rifle Volunteer, where Bill, Brian and I sampled the (very good) food – well earned after climbing uphill quite a lot!
Then it was all the way back down the hill to the Cornishman and another pub before the inevitable climb back to the station.
Next stop on the train was Calstock where we found the lovely Tamar Inn, enjoying some good beer there. Unfortunately the Riverside Restaurant wasn’t serving beer, but we had an excellent cream tea there, homemade scones with lashings of jam and cream :-p The other pub in town, the Boat, was very nice too, they serve a lovely bag of Burts crisps!
I was pretty tired by the time we got back to Plymouth and moaned about the 10-minute uphill walk to the ‘nearby’ Fortescue, which did not have a good range of beers. Ian, Bill and I attempted to find the ‘nearby’ Sutton Brewery tap, but were scuppered by an early-closing bridge.
Sunday Bill and I visited the National Aquarium whilst the more dedicated CAMRA members continued the ale trail. All those cod, scampi etc. made me hungry so we had traditional pasties and fudge in the Hoe park.
Nice weekend, beer wasn’t up to much in some of the pubs but it was good to have a change of scenery.

Paul Downes at Dorking Folk Club

Bill and I went to see Paul Downes (Other Val being at Farnham Maltings to see Last Night’s Fun). Steve Winchester was also there as a floor spot, which was a pleasant surprise.
Paul is an excellent guitarist and performs some great songs. He played ‘The Moth’ my favourite from his repertoire, also ‘Cursed Anna’ which was Bill’s favourite. He had everyone singing with ‘There but for Fortune’ (written by Phil Ochs) and ‘On a Monday Morning’ by the late Cyril Tawney.
Also caught up on the gossip about Show of Hands – apparently one of the songs Steve Knightley wrote for ‘The Path’ (concept album about the South-West Coastal Path) was originally going to be called ‘Spaniard’s Knob’ after a well-known landmark along the way! The other gossip was that Paul’s ex-wife is one of the ladies from ‘Dangerous Curves’ – wonder which one? Bet Other Val would know.
Nice music, shame about the beer in the club that night - tired Ringwood Best.

Canal Weekend

We were invited to spend last weekend aboard a narrowboat with our friend Patrick, who is a bit of a canal expert. It was not his boat, just one he was looking after, usually home to a lady called Nikki whom we have never met. The narrowboat was 52-foot, battleship grey (easier to maintain that way, apparently) and tastefully furnished, and came complete with a young cat, Amy! Amy was somewhat disconcerted with 3 people aboard her habitat, none of which were her owner, but was unfazed by the change of towpath scenery each night.
We met Patrick at Wolverhampton, and found the Great Western pub where we sampled some delicious Holdens beers. We settled in, slept, ate bacon sandwiches next morning, then sallied forth towards Stourbridge. Bill settled in to the steering and lock-opening straight away, but it took me a little while to become confident once more. A pleasant day and some nice pubs in Stourport, my favourite of those we visited being the Royal Exchange.
The next leg was up Delph locks (with short break for baguettes and Bathams at the Vine) towards Birmingham. There was a bit of drama as Pat nearly got himself squashed in a lock trying to retrieve a hat I'd thrown towards the boat and missed! Luckily Pat only got his shirt wet.
We arrived about 6pm and Patrick was dismayed to find a canal festival near where he'd planned to moor, but it was in the process of packing up. Bill and I had our plans for getting home thrown, as a bus did not turn up and we had to walk 1/2 hour to the station, not getting home till past midnight.
A wonderful, relaxing weekend despite it being hard work at times!

Hobbs Farm Music Festival, Saturday

I got a lift down to Hobbs Farm, near Yapton in West Sussex, with Matt and Other Val. It’s always a pleasure to travel through the downs – I navigated Val through Petworth and over Duncton Hill, fantastic views. The farm was a pretty, typically Sussex place with flint stone walls, oak beams etc – there were a few craft stalls, a real ale bar with ales from Gribble, cheese stall, music stall, hog roast and corn roast (for the veggies!)
We arrived, put the tent and deckchairs up, then we immediately tucked in to some of my Westons Dry Cider, aarrr!
First music session we went to was a French band with Breton pipes, hurdy-gurdy and melodeon. It was all French dance tunes, no singing, so I became slowly hypnotised by the turning disc on the hurdy-gurdy. Next there was a young man on his own, playing acoustic rock – we sat outside in the sunshine and listened from afar, as he was rather loud. Eating cheese and fruitcake and supping Val’s Hogsback Autumn Seer was very pleasant indeed!
Next up was Nick Burbridge, playing with Mal Simms (bodhran), to my surprise and pleasure – Mal used to attempt to teach me bodhran at Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival. Poor Mal seemed to be struggling to keep up with the fast tempo of Nick’s songs, which made me laugh! The crowd was a bit thin, but then if you don’t put it on the gig list on your website, Mr B (or Mr B's webmaster)!
Nick played a lot of my favourites including ‘Refugees’, ‘Darkness and Sail’ and ‘Dicey Riley’, finishing of course with Dirty Davey. Perhaps ‘Summer Song’ was not such a good idea with so many kids in the audience – hope they didn’t get any nightmares! Nick came up for a chat afterwards, as me, Val and Matt were cooing over some piglets, probably because I was wearing a McDermott’s 2 Hours t-shirt, but he may have recognised me from Glastonwick. He’s a nice chap, and it’s good when someone you admire likes you! I also had a chat to Mal as we were in the queue for the hog roast – half of his band Legacy had moved to Eire but he had a new band – and Tim Cotterell, the violinist, was touring with Martha Tilston.
Next were a not-very-good Irish band and more bands of talented youths, so I voted to slope off to the Good Beer Guide pub in Yapton, the Maypole. Had some very nice Berrow S’Port (appropriate for England on the way to winning the Ashes), then it was time to catch the train to Shirl’s.

Wallingford Bunkfest - Sunday

Bill and I visited Wallingford Bunkfest in Oxfordshire for the first time, just for the Sunday as we'd visited George and Eileen on the Saturday. The weather was fantastic (at first) and the atmos was friendly.
A 'Singing Train' on the Wallingford Bunk line was included in the ticket price, so we tried that first - it just went one stop, but very slowly, taking an hour (no change from modern train services, you might think). The music consisted of a singaround, but due to the carriage being long and narrow you had to be sitting with the musicians in order to hear properly. The best musicians were a violinist and a woodwind player who also sang harmonies, but they had a small child with them who kept trying to talk to them through the performance!
Next Bill went to the main tent and I disappeared to see 3 Daft Monkeys on the Singing Boat, for which I had to pay £5 extra. But I had heard good things about them on www.otf.org.uk and thought it would be worth it to hear them and to escape the stifling heat on the River Thames. And indeed it was! Also met up with 2-in-a-VW and Riff-Raff from the OTF board and caught up on the news. Was very impressed with 3DM and bought both their albums (£15 bargain).
I then joined Bill in the main tent for Cloudstreet, the Aussie duo we'd seen at Bridgnorth, and Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers who were brilliant as ever. Jon Spiers kept winding Eliza up, as she was out of tune on (Mr. Boden's) violin, which was amusing - she has inherited a fair amount of Waterson scariness!
Fininshed off the might with Mad Dog MCREA, an Irish/Bluegrass band and had a bit of a dance - but the stifling heat became a spectacular storm. Bill had to drive home through the pelting rain and lightning which was entertaining. It took us a bit longer to get home but we made it!

Bridgnorth Folk Festival 2005

Had a good time in Bridgnorth, where we met up with Other Val and Matt, Viv and Harry, Claudine and other friends from the folk scene. Can’t remember all the bands that we saw but Bellowhead (John Spiers, John Boden with Benji Kirkpatrick with a brass band and other random accompaniment) and ColvinQuarmby were the highlights. It was a shame the tent was so packed I couldn’t get out from my seat to dance! Show of Hands also packed out the main tent – they’re always good but were a bit more subdued, less chatty than normal. Blue Horses (folk-goths) playing in Bridgnorth High Street were also very good – youngsters were pouring out of the pubs to see them! Also bought the Meridian CD, ‘Prime’ – mainly because of Anna Tabbush’s stunning voice, and the beautiful ‘At the Break of Day/The Glimmering)
Got to meet Jerry Colvin again – and stroke his shirt – woo hoo! Other Val kindly prepared us a meal and we and the others shared beer, wine, cider and snacks – great fun, I almost wished we’d camped! But the lovely landlady of Bearwood Lodge b&b took pity on us on the last day and gave us a lift to the festival, saving us from walking down and up Bridgnorth’s formidable hills. Then Matt gave us a lift all the way back home – star man!

Porthmadog

Gareth kindly dropped us off at Llechwedd Slate Mining Museum near Blaenau Ffestiniog before saying good-bye. We both had all our luggage with us, but the guides allowed us to leave it in the gear-house – as long as there were no bombs in there! I had been down the mine before, but Shirley hadn’t been down any mines so it was a novel experience for her. There was also the cottage of a famous harpist preserved (he bore a strong resemblance to Gareth!) and a replica miner’s pub – which did not serve any CAMRA-approved beer but dished up a delicious homemade soup called lobscows. By chance we discovered a free bus which took us from Llechwedd to the steam train station in Blaenau – far better than having to walk down with all our stuff! A stunning journey from Blaenau to Porthmadog on the train – but the sky was becoming overcast with ragged little clouds…
We had a quick drink in Spooners Bar in the station, which also had a steam train on tracks in there, found the b&b, Harbour Court, then went out for a Chinese meal.
During the night we were kept awake by gales and drumming rain, but Yvette, our landlady, assured us that things would clear up by the afternoon. We decided to take the bus to Portmeirion, which I had been to before but had lots of shops and cafes to hang out in during showers. As promised, the weather got better and we were able to wander round the gardens and eccentrically-designed houses. Sadly the tide was in, so our beach balls that we’d won at Llandudno Pier didn’t get the chance to chase us around Portmeirion’s beach! We walked back to Minfordd and took the steam train back to Porthmadog. Took Shirl to the Ship near the harbour for an excellent evening meal (the pub was owned by the owner of the next-door bistro), we did the Times T2 crossword together – one of the answers was Knobble which Shirl didn’t believe was a word!
On the last day I thought I’d try something I HADN’T done before – so I researched bus times to Rhyd Ddu, then train to Caernarfon. We missed the train in Rhyd Ddu due to the bus running late, but did get a chance to meet Mojo the Cat in the café there. Another stunning steam-railway journey on the West Highland Railway took us to Caernarfon, during which I realised I’d already visited the castle, which I’d found quite boring anyhow. Shirl and I didn’t have much time in Caernarfon but we did a little of the town trail and found a really nice café for lunch, called RhiKas.
Next morning our last personally-cooked breakfast from Yvette then the long journey back for Shirl, (slightly shorter journey across to Bridgnorth for me) which we shared as far as Crewe, playing cards and looking at the scenery. Shirl said goodbye and said she’d enjoyed the holiday – then I got the bus to Bridgnorth to meet my much-missed husband!

Llandudno

Llandudno was the first for of call of my Welsh holiday – thanks to lovely hubby’s train organising skills I arrived at 4pm after a hassle-free journey. Soon afterwards I got a text from my sister saying that she and her boyfriend had just crossed the Severn Bridge! Alarm bells immediately rang, even though I’m not a driver myself, as I was sure that the better way was to stay on the English side of Offa’s Dyke then turn left and head across. Hubby agreed – the M6 towards Birmingham being the more usual route from somewhere like Southampton – but my sister had faith in the AA routefinder. Meanwhile I went for a walk across the prom and pier, sussing out the good pubs, shops and eateries in town.
Four and a half hours later Shirl and Gareth arrived in Llandudno, poor Gareth being a teensy bit stressed after all that driving and both being ravenously hungry. We wandered down Mostyn Street till we found a little Italian restaurant called Romeros which was still open at 9pm on Sunday night. We had lovely pizza and pasta there, and all began to relax a little.
Next day Gareth drove us to Conwy where we visited the beautiful Conwy Castle, with superb views of Conwy and the sea. Gareth took many photos, being a keen photographer, both with an antique camera and a high-spec digital one. A tame herring-gull featured in a few – think it was more interested in pinching people’s sandwiches though! We had lunch at the Kings Head (not as good as I’d expected) then headed up the Great Orme by tram (cable car out of action). Shirl and Gareth enjoyed the views, and making ‘HSBC’ out of rocks at the quarry. Unfortunately I didn’t have a trail map, so we missed a lot of the archaeological sites – but then Shirl and Gareth didn’t want to do a lot of walking anyway.
Another meal out in the fish n chip restaurant, a few pints in the Cross Keys – then it was bye-bye to Gareth and off to Porthmadog for us sisters for the next 3 days.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Robert Muller on being my 1000th visitor! I'll buy you a pint next time we have a work trip to the pub ;-D

Pennine Way Weekend 3

An easier journey to Glossop and more of the Pennine Way - this time with Bill Badger, Graham and Johnny P! John did really well, we all agreed, being as how all his kit was brand new and he had never done any hiking before. I met them after they'd walked Standedge to Crowden, all looked fit and well.
We had a nice evening meal in the 'O Sole Mio' Italian Restaurant (yes, it really was called that). The guys set off early to walk from Crowden to Edale, I joined them at Snake Pass to walk the last bit, over Kinder Scout down into Edale, as did Jane, Andy and family, Simon for a bit. Bill said he felt like Ellen McArthur coming home from her round the world yacht race, suddenly everyone wanted to get in on the historic Moment!
The weather was superb on the last day, with great views from Kinder Scout, including an impromptu air display from the local mountain rescue guys. Despite Jane and I waving, we did not get airlifted away by hunky blokes in a helicopter. Nice to dream though! Nice pints of squash and huge slices of cake were available at a farm along the way, before climbing the last annoying hillock and coming to Edale Village. The official end was the official start of the walk, the Nag's Head which served some lovely beer - Graham had the Gray's Bitter! Simon also handed around a hip flask of dangerously tasty cask-strength Laphroaig.
Back to work, back to reality for Bill but on to North Wales and five days hubby-free holiday for me!

Pennine Way Weekend 2

Another complicated journey from Farnborough Main to Vauxhall, underground to Kings Cross, Kings Cross to Leeds, Leeds to Hellifield then Hellifield to Ribblehead. Had a look at the famous Ribblehead Viaduct before walking up the Dales Way towards the Pennine Way to meet hubby and Graham.
The first day of walking was not that scenic as it was drizzly, glad to get to the Golden Lion in Horton-in-Ribblesdale for a hot meal and some Taylors Landlord beer. David and Gwen, relations of hubby, joined us and kindly paid for the meal and drinks as an early birthday present for him! Was also impressed by the pints of tea or coffee and the hot buttered Chorley cakes on offer at the Pen-Y-Ghent Cafe.
The second day however showed us some stunning scenery - firstly the 360-degree view from the top of Pen-Y-Ghent mountain (didn't like the steep descent on the other side though) then the views of Malham Tarn and Malham Cove. The limestone pavement on the cliffs above Malham was very pretty but not so nice to walk on! Another steep descent down into the village, but at least there were good steps.
We stayed in a 1670's former cafe (the b&b name 'Malham Cafe' caused us confusion, as there was another one still open!) and had superb meals and beer at the Lister Arms. The lads also tried the Buck Inn, also good for beer, whilst I got an early night.
Next day I declined to walk as I had nasty blisters on both feet, then wished I had as the bus didn't turn up. This was the only one that I could catch to get me to Gargrave station in time for the train home, but I was in a bit of a dilemma because I wasn't sure I could afford a taxi from Skipton with the cash that I had. Nor could I get a signal on my mobile to get hold of hubby! I tried walking along the Pennine Way even though I knew I wouldn't get there in time, then finally got a signal, and hubby told me to go back to Malham and he'd pay the taxi fare. Buses, I hate em!

Pennine Way Weekend 1

Last weekend I joined Bill Badger on his Pennine Pub Crawl (new blogspot address BTW - http://www.penninepubcrawl.blogspot.com due to access problems). After a series of bus and train rides (Haltwhistle to Brampton bus ride particularly scenic) I arrived at Alston for the start of my walk, Bill and Graham being already a third of the way through theirs, the whole of the Pennine Way north to south.
Alston to Garrigill was an easy 5 mile walk, uneventful apart from some glaring bullocks. We checked in at the Post Office b&b but I wasn't overly impressed - our room was rather smelly and there were lots of little 'do not' signs everywhere. Saying that though, the landlady was friendly and the breakfast was very good.
Next day I chickened out of the 17-mile walk from Garrigill to Dufton via Cross Fell, as I was feeling unwell and shattered, not having slept much on the rock-hard bed. I had to walk the 5 miles back to Alston, facing the bullocks and horned cows on my own! Got the bus from Alston to Penrith (slept through most of the ride) had lunch and a quick look round Penrith and then got the bus from Penrith to Dufton. Found the b&b, luckily the landlady was in, and settled down with a huge pot of tea and waited for the lads to arrive. Also met a south-to-norther called Tony, from Steyning!
Later we went to the Stag for dinner but had to wait 1 1/2 hours till we were served! None of us were impressed. Beer was nice though.
Next day (Sunday) a harder walk from Dufton to Langdon Beck, taking in High Cup Nick and Cauldron Snout. Views from Nichol Chair amazing. Graham created his own Pennine Way, not crossing the Maize Beck but having to cross later at Langdon Beck village. We attempted to ford Maize Beck, ignoring the perfectly good bridge, in the name of correctness but gave in after 10 minutes! Bit of a scramble down Cauldron Snout which did indeed look like a witch's brew, then some tricky ankle-twisting rocks most of the way to Langdon.
B&b, Outdales, was up the hill a bit but very friendly - they even offered us a lift to the pub and back! The pub being the Langdon Beck Inn, which had superb food and beer (Jarrow Bitter) as well as newspapers to catch up on the Test scores.
Last walk (Monday) was Langdon Beck to Middleton, past High Force and Low Force waterfalls. The path was very good, lots of opportunities to admire the falls and the river. The weather was very sunny - a superb walk. Lunch and icecream in Middleton before heading back. Got the bus to Darlington, where I picked up some cheap, quality groceries from the market and had a swift half of Sam Smiths in the Glittering Star. Then train journey back to Farnborough and my own lovely bed!

Great British Beer Festival - Tuesday

Had to get up at 6am yesterday to get the train to Kensington Olympia for the Champion Beer of Britain Briefing Meeting, which was to be held at 9.30am. Just as well I did, for there was some confusion over badges. Arrived at the famous Gate B, the staff entrance. My bag was searched and tagged, then I wandered up to the Staffing Office for a badge. But, shock horror, I should have been given one at the gate! They didn't have any judges' badges at Staffing for some reason, and referred me to the Press Office, which was locked. After a while someone found some visitor's badges and I acquired one of these. Didn't get an actual badge till 10 minutes before the debrief, reason being that some of the badges had printing errors, like Raplh McTell's 2004 (sic) version :-D and had to be reprinted at the last moment.
To my delight I was chosen to taste the Golden Ales, a brand new category of golden, hoppy beers of less than 5.3%. I love hops, me. Doug Fish, a fellow branch member, was given Best Bitters to judge. The other Golden boys and girls were Chris Smith from XFM, Keith Bott from Titanic Brewery, Fiona Shoop from Fresh Magazine, Nina Bates from Flying Firkin and the chairman Phil Roberts from Exeter and East Devon CAMRA. We did comment we were maybe such a girly panel (Keith had a pink shirt on) as Golden Ales appealed especially to women!
To explain the rules: there are 6 tasters to a table for the category tastings, usually with the two CAMRA people at either end. The tasters are usually from different backgrounds - some brewers, some suppliers, some beer writers and some MPs/DJs etc with no beer tasting experience (and therefore less prejudices!). Seven beers are tasted from each category. The CAMRA tasters try to let everyone have a say and discourage people from guessing the beers etc. Marks are given out of 10 for appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste. The top 3 beers on average score win Gold, Silver and Bronze in their category, and the Gold medallists (9 of them this year) go forward to the final panel to find the Champion Beer of Britain.
The first beer up was brown rather than golden, which was a bad start, and had a serious haze on it which was another! There was some discussion with the Best Bitter tasters, who had a rogue golden beer amongst their brown offerings, but apparently there were no changelings and we'd been given the correct beers.
However the next beer was absolutely superb - golden, flowery and citrussy, with a fantastic hoppy aftertaste. The fourth beer was very nice with a delicious aftertaste. The fifth absolutely reeked of sulphur and tasted sulphury as well, overwhelming and hop or malt character which might have been present. A shame, I thought, if it were in better condition it might have been a really good beer.
We all agreed that we weren't quite sure whether to go for the second one, so we ordered some more of it, just to make sure ;-) Number four was another contender so we tried a bit more of that as well. Then Phil handed our score sheets in.
After a quick dash to the Ladies we adjourned to the buffet whilst the Final Panel sat to judge the Champion Beer. There must have been fierce arguments (not just Ralph McTell and David Davies, heh heh) because the announcement wasn't made till 3pm! Also on the final panel were Nigel Bardon DJ and 4 CAMRA bods, including the ever-popular Roger Protz.

The results:
Champion Beer of Britain: Crouch Vale Brewers Gold
(our nomination won! Quite right too)

Second: Grainstore Rutland Panther

Third: Woodforde’s Wherry

Mild Category
Gold: Grainstore Rutland Panther (Rutland)
Silver: Brains Dark (Cardiff)
Bronze: Elgood’s Black Dog (Cambridgeshire)

Bitter Category
Gold: Woodforde’s Wherry (Norfolk)
Silver: Holdens Black Country Bitter (West Midlands)
Joint Bronze: RCH PG Steam (Somerset)
Belvoir Star (Leicestershire)

Best Bitter Category
Gold: Harveys Sussex Bitter (East Sussex)
Joint Silver: Mighty Oak Burntwood Bitter (Essex)
Joint Bronze: Timothy Taylor Landlord (Yorkshire)
Olde Swan Entire (West Midlands)

Golden Ales Category
Gold: Crouch Vale Brewers Gold (Essex)
Silver: Jarrow Rivet Catcher (Tyne and Wear)
Bronze: Oakham JHB (Cambridgeshire)
(I love all these beers so I was well pleased with the outcome)

Strong Ale Category
Gold: Hanby Nutcracker (Shropshire)
Silver: Bullmastiff Son of a Bitch (Cardiff)
Bronze: Fuller’s ESB (Fullers)

Speciality Category
Gold: Cairngorm Tradewinds (Inverness-shire)
Silver: Young’s Waggledance (London)
Joint Bronze: Daleside Morrocco (North Yorkshire)
Ridleys Rumpus (Essex)

Real Ale in a Bottle category
Gold: Durham Evensong (Durham)
Silver: Young’s Special London Ale (London)
Bronze: Titanic Stout (Staffordshire)

Shame that Triple fff Pressed Rat & Warthog didn't win, it was absolutely superb at GBBF, but the trouble is, it's not a classic mild...I wouldn't change it for the world though!
Met up with Martin, Jenny and Roy from East and Mid Surrey, Julie and William from Surrey/Hants Borders, and also bumped into loads of friends as one does including the Lash Brothers, Kath Gammon and Dan Barr (who kindly gave me a huge bundle of beermats he'd won on the tombola).
I won a GBBF 2002 t-shirt, just a BIT too big for me at XXL (think I'll give it to Bill) and a Battersea Beer Festival sweater (size L, much better). I ate a very nice pork and chive sausage hot-dog with spinach instead of onion, then got more beer - but I forgot what I'd bought!! It was definitely time to go home so I caught the 18.17 train back towards home.
Was so drunk that I walked home, went for a lie-down till 10pm, then realised I'd left my bike at the station! Had to get dressed again and go and get it!! I'm such a lush :-)

London to Cambridge Bike Ride 24/07/05

Bill took me by car to the start of the ride, the M25 wasn’t that busy of a Sunday morning and it didn’t take long to sort the bike out, so I started at about 9am. At the start there was some argy-bargy in the peloton, with the male racing-bike riders trying to get past the girlies and MTBs by rudely snapping at us and pushing! And this a charity ride that isn’t supposed to be a race!!
I was still very wary of my new cycling cleats, after having got one shoe stuck to the pedal yesterday, and having to walk through Halfords with one shoe on and the other still on the bike to get it removed :-[ So I was freeing myself in plenty of time for junctions and along the crowded gravel track through Lee Park.
I knew the weather was going to be bad – so I wasn’t that worried when, just a few miles from the start, it began to rain. I put my pac-a-mac on, and my gore-tex helmet cover, and kept going. By the time I reached the second food point (never stop at the first one!) it was raining quite heavily, and the riders were crammed into the tea-tent trying to shelter. I had a cup of tea, a banana, a doughnut and a pee, and also asked the mechanics to sort out the brakes on my front wheel, which were loose and in contact with the tyre.
The route was rather undulating, not as flat as I’d been expecting. There were some pretty villages that the route took us through, such as Roydon and Clavering, but with the raindrops on my glasses and the steam from my breath, I couldn’t really appreciate my surroundings.
By the time I got to Ickleton I was completely saturated, right down to my undies. I was cycling past another official food stop, the Red Lion, when I saw a sign ‘Beer Festival and BBQ’ – bingo! I grabbed a seat, queued for the loo and got myself a beer (Tom Wood’s Bomber County, lovely). The queue for the food was quite long, in the rain again (I’d stupidly left my coat on the chair) but the cheeseburger was huge and only £2.50. A funny team of cycling guys in the pub – all with Foska tops on and one wrapped in a tin foil cape!
Then it was only 10 miles to Cambridge but I was knackered by then. I pushed the bike up the last big hill not because it was particularly steep but because I couldn’t face cycling it! The rain was now very fine but still heavy, some people had their lights on so that they would be visible to the cars, as the road into town was quite busy. I was merrily following a cycle path into town and saw a sign that said ‘cyclists please dismount’, but could not be bothered to struggle out of the cleats. The cars coming out of the side road were stationary so I cycled behind a big BMW – only to nearly get run over by a car trying to cut round it on the left (where there was no room to get through anyway)! I had to grab the back of the BMW to stop myself – bet the driver was not at all impressed! However despite their drawbacks the cleats provided excellent grip in the rain, I think I’ll keep them on the bike for now.
I made it to the finish line at Midsummer Common, Cambridge at about 3pm – huzzah! I soon became cold once I’d stopped, and just wanted to get back home, so I did not stop to enjoy the beer tent and massage, and got staight on the lovely warm 15.30 coach.
The coach’s windscreen wipers broke down in the rain on the M11, and I thought I’d be stuck there – but 4 lycra lads jumped out and fixed it, to loud cheers from the rest of the coach! Got back to London and found my bike, which had been a bit battered in it’s lorry, – will have to get the gears fixed now. :-( Next time I will take the train. Thanks to lovely Bill for coming and picking me up again!
Can’t say I enjoyed it but it was certainly an achievement – cycling 50 miles in the rain!

Puss Cat – Good News

Good news about the cat that Bill ran over, she is now reunited with her owner. We had a phone call late on Friday just as we were about to pop down the Prince of Wales with Simon and Jane, it was the cat’s owner who was already at the pub! The message we left behind the bar on Sunday had worked. Bill told the man where the cat was, and he then asked his wife to go and pick her up from the vets, but he was still in the pub when we arrived. He was really nice about it, luckily. He explained that the cat (called Womble) liked to follow him to the pub, and was used to living in a cul-de-sac where cars drove more slowly and had time to get out of the way. Poor Womble, I hope she’s learnt her lesson now!

Redhill Beer Festival Meeting 20/07/05

It was a hot evening and I thought I’d take the opportunity for a longer cycle ride before meeting up with Kath in town, so I cycled along Route 21 to the Inn on the Pond, where I had a lovely half of Harveys Best, sitting outside watching the sun setting over the North Downs. Was late to meet Kath though – she’d told me 7pm in the Sun and I thought she’d said 7.30pm. She didn’t seem too annoyed though. Had a mediocre half of W J King’s Summer something-or-other there before heading off to sup the outstanding Harvey’s beers at the Garland. Martini the cat greeted me with a loud meiow, always nice when the owner recognises you! On the beer front, the Armada and Tom Paine were particularly superb.
The meeting really dragged but progress was seemingly made – at least there were no troublemakers, in contrast to Cardiff meetings of old! 3 of us from the old days of Cardiff Beer Festival were there (me, Kath, Martin) out of only 5.
Smooth journey home for a change, with Martin as far as Reigate.

Steve Knightley at Forest Folk, 18/07/05

The little scout hut at Boarhunt was packed, a rare occurrence.
Bill and I were almost drumming our fingers through the floor-spot acts, even though the last one was 2 members of the Reivers who were brave enough to play a Show of Hands song! Steve was fantastic (as regular readers would expect) – his gigs are somewhat different when he is without Phil, more introspective and confessional. He talked a little about the Cuatro, which is quite similar to the Ukulele, wonder if I could one day play Steve’s version of Widdecombe Fair on it.
Free strawbs and pizza slices at half time, the only moan would be the queue at the bar again with locals obviously being given precedence. The Ruddles County was a bit rough, according to Bill, who doesn’t like it anyway. Forest Folk is still one of my favourite venues though.

Guifest 2005

Superb weather throughout – I got sunburnt on the Saturday though which was not pleasant. I’d assumed I had sufficient base tan and therefore didn’t need to put on sun cream! Bill laughed though, he’d used sun cream and had not burnt, despite being much fairer.
Friday : The Twelve Sullivans played an excellent set, but were half an hour earlier than in the programme. They were giving out free Guinness providing you downed it in one during one of their Irish drinking songs (I cheated and sipped most of mine before).
The Pogues were the headliners of Friday. There was some speculation as to whether Shane McGowan would be joining them, as he had apparently been double-booked for a gig with the Popes, and also had to cancel a lot of gigs due to ‘stomach problems’ (a euphemism for being paralytically drunk?) However Shane was there, and was sober enough to sing and walk just about! He kept wandering back and forth with a huge bucket of water, presumably the band had given it to him to help him sober up. Maybe when he wandered off stage there was somebody pushing him back on again! The rest of the band were very skilled though and the crowd had a great time with old faves like The Irish Rover.
Saturday: Paul Weller was the headliner, and being a local boy (from Woking!) he was very popular. He is very mellow these days, and only played That’s Entertainment from his Jam days whilst I was there. You Do Something To Me is a great song though. Got sunburnt, sunstruck and blisters on Saturday, so wasn’t in dancing mood anyway!
Bought a little red Ukulele (my Grandad Naylor would have been proud) but needed a tuning whistle which the stall didn’t supply. Hope to have fun with it in future though. Amazing how many musicians stopped to chat to me whilst I was strumming it! Embarrassing!
Sunday: Probably the most fun day, with Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain to kick off. Daniel Bledingfield was surprisingly good, at least he writes his own stuff and can sing . Shame about all the screaming 13-year-old girls! Lulu was as good as ever at 55, looked fab. Men were shouting ‘I love you’ to her! Was surprised that she wrote The Man Who Sold The World, that’s one of my favourite songs. Preferred David Bowie’s version though.
I took part in the World Record for Air Guitar, shame Bill didn’t want to put his name down. We air-guitared to Sweet Child O’ Mine accompanied by 2 world champion air-guitarists - one dressed as a farmer and the other as Slash from Guns N Roses!
Bill listened to headliners Status Quo, who were, well, Status Quo. I wandered off to see Hayseed Dixie but couldn’t get near enough to hear them, then visited the local band’s stage to listen to some heavy metal merchants. Popular with the lads though.
Couldn’t ask for a better weekend, £75 well spent I say!
On the way back from Guilfest a cat ran out in front of the car and Bill unfortunately hit it. There was a loud bump and we were horrified to see the cat still as death in the middle of the road. I ran back to the cat, meanwhile another car passed over it without hitting it and picked the cat up in my fleece so that it didn’t get run over again.

Whilst Bill found the emergency vet’s number, the cat came round and tried to stand up, but I spoke soothingly to it. I picked it up like a baby and took it round some of the houses nearby to see if anyone recognised it, with no luck.
There was an anxious 6-mile drive to the vets, the cat looking around confusedly from my fleece but not meiowing or struggling. Thankfully, when the vet checked it over there were no broken bones, just a few cuts and bruises. We are now waiting to see if anyone claims her.

Westerham Brewery Visit

Keith from East and Mid Surrey CAMRA had emailed me details of the Westerham Brewery Open Evening - £5 drink as much as you want sounded pretty good to me! The event started at 6.30pm, and it was easy to get to the brewery by train after work to Edenbridge and then cycle to Grange Farm in Crockham Hill. I thought I’d get a snack in Edenbridge on the way up, but there didn’t seem to be any fast food near the station.
I soon found out why Crockham Hill was called Crockham Hill, and had to push the bike up into the village! Still no takeaways to reward me, so I cycled on to the brewery, and was relieved to see sausages sizzling away on a big barbie round the back.
The beers were great and there was a large range on offer, served in glass jugs. I tried Summer Perle, British Bulldog, Black Eagle SPA, Little Scotney Ale, Grasshopper, 7X and 1965 Special, but Summer Perle was my favourite.
I met some lovely people there – there were 2 people from Maidstone CAMRA and some well-educated bikers (much like my friend Simon) from Biggin Hill who kept me entertained, they were joined later by the Vicar of Biggin Hill. This led to a rather drunken conversation on whether God exists, whereupon the Vicar told me there’s no real ale in Hell. Time to worry I think!!
The lady on the desk, I assume Robert Wick’s wife, was also very interesting and knowledgeable about the brewery. Whilst she was standing there alone for most of the evening, you couldn’t get near Robert to ask any questions, but then people often overlook us women!
I also tried the sausages, which were made with Westerham beer by Priory Farm, and had won a Silver Medal. Delicious!
Wobbled back to the station and made it home somehow!

Priddy Folk Festival - 10/7/05

Priddy good one!
Just a little village festival, with a lot of the profits seeming to go back to the community - which is how it should be. THe atmosphere was very laid back. Beer from Hidden Brewery, also cider from local producers. Nice bacon sarnies too.
Wandering Soles were good, Steve Tilston http://www.steve-tilston.co.uk/ on fine form and Seth Lakeman Trio http://www.sethlakeman.co.uk/ excellent. Out in the (much cooler) club tent, Christina Crosby and Andrew Bazley were both very good, the former being a Joan Baez type and the latter being an excellent blues-guitarist.
Loscoe State Opera http://www.loscoestateopera.com/ (don't worry they're a far cry from opera!) were the surprise of the event, being much like the Levellers but with a flute and an accordion. They did spiced-up versions of traditional songs and went down a storm, a great way to finish off the festival.

Abbotsbury Family Festival 2005

First we stopped off in Dorset to see Bill’s Dad George, who hadn’t been well, and to take him and girlfriend Eileen out for lunch. There was a slight detour down the Bride Valley, as Bill couldn’t remember where the pub was! Luckily we came across it in Litton Cheney. It was a Palmers pub, called the White Horse, and served good, cheap food – shame about the beer quality though.
George and Eileen seemed to enjoy their meals and the scenic ride. We caught up on family news as well, before heading back to Abbotsbury Gardens to meet up with Other Val and Matt. Also bumped in to Darren from folking.com, who was sitting just in front.
There is a running joke at Abbotsbury Folk Festival that Steve Knightley is in fact a rain god, and if he sings Tall Ships (plenty of rain lyrics including ‘so we look for a storm in the sky’) he can bring on the bad weather. This year he was forbidden to do so, as last year it absolutely tipped it down right on cue!
However he did sing The Preacher (‘she was running through the rain’) and Widdecombe Fair (‘we waited in the rain, but the boy never came’) and that was enough to bring a couple of light showers.
The next band was Karine Polwart’s band. Karine has a very powerful voice with a strong Stirling accent, and sung some interesting songs. One to look out for in future.
Next was a turntable artist from Afro Celts. The music he played was good but without any song titles, and rather loud. It would have been nice to chat to each other without having to move away from the speakers!
Next, thankfully, Messrs Spiers and Boden, celebrated step dancer/singer and amazing accordionist! They are a duo that seem to get better and better (much like Phil and Steve) – and had us all singing along.
Lastly, Show of Hands to finish. Steve played a couple of new songs, which were superb – The Dive (not about Nettlebed but a father-and-son diving team) and Roots (about politicians/media killing folk music). This time no rain! Another fab day out.

London's Burning

Well, today we had our very own 9/11, but we were oddly stoical about it, in total contrast to the Americans. People at work just said 'Shocking, isn't it' and 'It makes my stomach go cold'. The only people who showed any high emotion were the foreign students, one of whose boyfriend was due to be in London sightseeing (but got stuck in lovely Redhill instead).
I was worried that it would take a long time to get home and that the trains would be absolutely packed. But the 17.14 was only a few minutes late. Was relieved that Rachel, John and Chinese Chris were OK, not all that worried about Clive - only the good die young. Again the mood on the train was oddly subdued, no-one even mentioning the disaster till Chinese Chris said, 'Bad news' and it took me a few seconds to work out what he meant. He knew some people working near Edgware Road, so I hoped they were OK. Some people whinged a little about the inconvenience. But it was as if it was bad taste to pay any attention to it.
The older people are immured to bombings because of all the IRA bombings we had a while ago. And we are a very stoical, resillient country.
Hubby has now gone to a meeting in Woking, not allowing the b*stards to get him down, in his own words. He has had only one apology for abscence.
We Brits are great eh :-)

Farnham Library Gardens Tea Party 2/7/05

Doesn't sound wildly exciting does it? Well it was a fete supposedly designed to get people to volunteer for various local charities - as a result not many people turned up! But luckily Bill had forwarded me an email from Darren Beech, the folking.com guy who organises the Farnham Maltings folk club, to say that Jo Quinn and Paul Taylor from Mary Jane would be providing the musical entertainment along with some others. And it was free!
I fancied a cycle ride that Saturday, as Bill was away visiting his Dad in Dorset, so I cycled to Farnham via the Blackwater Valley Path. Got a bit lost and ended up as the track ran out in Tongham, so I cycled (with a lot of willpower) past Hogs Back Brewery under the A-road to Runsfold then into Farnham. I was a little late for the 1pm kickoff but as it happened Penelope Keith (who was due to open the fete) got stuck in traffic too, so they hadn't started the music.
Andy Stedman, a local singer-songwriter, was first up, with his guitar. He apparently "offers an indie calm with floating melodies, delicate vocals and strong lyrics" - personally I found it a bit boring, nothing I hadn't already heard. Nice clothes though. I wandered around the fete, tried some free cake, entered the local conservation group's quiz and failed to win any decent booze on the tombolas.
Next were Jo Quinn and Paul Taylor. Jo has a superb voice and is a good actor too, which makes her performances stand out. A few of the worthies sat and listened to their set, and they got lots of applause at the end.
Next were a band led by Naama Hillman, whose style I didn't like that much - too poppy. By this time I was hungry, the fete not including the usual BBQ stall, so I strolled across the road to Cafe Piccolo and had Spinach, Cheese and Rice Soup, very nice too.
Arrived back just in time for Siansa an Irish group, no harpist this time but a flautist, an electric fiddle player, a bouzouki/guitar player and a uillean piper. These were very good and had the largest audience - some people's kids even danced to the fast jigs. I had won a can of Boddingtons and was happily sipping it and tapping my foot to the rhythm. When I ran out of beer Darren Beech kindly shared some of his with me "as you're a regular"!! What a lovely guy.
I really wanted a CD - but had spent all my money on the soup and charities! I went over to Darren and asked how long he was staying till and if he'd save me a CD, he said yes no problem and so I stayed till the end of Siansa's gig. Cycled fast into town, grabbed some money out of the cashpoint, cycled back again! Very happy with my CD, would love to see Siansa again at the Maltings in November - hope it doesn't clash with anything.

Beer Festival Meeting in Redhill

On Tuesday I thought I'd attend a Redhill Beer Festival meeting, as I'm supposed to be organising the Products and Membership table. Kathy caught the minibus with me, which saved me hanging around town on my own.
Firt port of call was the Sun, for some dinner (not 'tea' as some heathens might call it). We decided on the 2 for £6.25 option, Kathy had Chicken Burger (actually a fillet of chicken in a bun) and I had Chilli and Nachos, both fine and good value. We passed on the beer though, the range wasn't great that night.
Next I took Kath to the Hatch, as she hadn't been there before. A bit of a walk from the town centre but worth it. The Goldings was good and the Spitfire even better - just a tad expensive at £2.70 and £3.00 a pint!!
Then back to the Garland with its comprehensive range of Harvey's beers. Martini the Cat gave us a friendly welcome, gatecrashing on our meeting, still nosey at 20 years old! The beer was as good as ever, the Tom Paine being on particularly fine form. Sat and listened to the meeting, my only contribution being to ask for 2 tables-worth of space to be included in the site plan for me. At about 9pm a violent storm distracted us with loud booms and hailstones against the windows. Kathy and Sally seemed to be running the show fine, with Nick from SHB being very helpful.
I left shortly before Nick, but was dismayed on reaching the station to see that all the train had been delayed due to signalling problems, the result of the storm. Decided to play it safe and stay over with Kathy on the sofabed in the Bungalow, very cosy it was too, but I was dying for a shower in the morning. At least I had a change of clothes in my locker at work, the way that us chemists do.
Hope Nick made it back OK, will ask him next time I see him...

Oysterband Big Session Festival, Leicester

Phew it was HOT! And not just the music!
We arrived at a very strange b&b that seemed to be run by a cross between Jimmy Saville and Larry Grayson, who insisted we were 'good people' - well... The housekeeping wasn't up to much, the breakfast was large but only served between 7 and 8am (a bit mean at the weekend, we thought) and there was no shower, only a bath. Still, the garden was nice and the beds comfy.
Val and Matt drove us up, and were camped with the Oysterband yahoo-group. Bill knew them all but I didn't - wierd! Sarah Smith was also there, blossoming nicely if a little sleepy at times!
DeMontfort Hall was a superb venue for such a festie - nice big hall (built 1915), plenty of field space. More beer in the beer tent next time though, guys!
The gigs were mostly Oysterband with one or two other bands on every now and again! Eliza Carthy's set was a little more downbeat than normal, maybe she just wanted to play slowies because of the heat. Rev Hammer and Mark Chadwick were very relaxed - I joined Dim, Wonderhorsie, Rosie and friends at the front for that one - only trouble was, Rev's voice wasn't that good and he didn't seem to want to give the vocals to Mark very often. Rev later hogged the mike from JJ when he guested with the Oysterband for 'Drunkard's Waltz' - what an ego!
Justin Sullivan's set in the Hall was quite gloomy, and the sound was bad - went to catch Show of Hands in the Tent but it was packed, I only heard muffled singing from a distance. They should have swapped locations really.
Whapweasel were indeed one of the best Ceilidh bands I've seen, but it was far too hot to be ceilidhing really. Bill and I danced 2 sets at a time, then had to rush back to the table for lots of water.
I also met Cousin Wayne down town, it was great to chat to him again. We went for a drink in Brucianis icecream cafe, a bit of a nostalgia trip for me as Grandma used to take me there as a kid. We reminisced about our departed grandparents and Auntie Mari, I caught up on news of Wayne's community work, Cousin Shaun's band etc. Could have talked all day! Afterwards I did some shopping, bought much-needed sun hat and sandals. Leicester is fab ;-D

Southampton Beer Festival

Well I WAS planning to have a quiet night in last night! Arriving home I realised I didn't have my keys with me - Bill Badger had borrowed them (because they had bike keys on them) to cycle to Guildford on Wednesday night, and hadn't replaced them in my bag. Bugger!
Was just walking round the house when I spotted a half-naked man in a car. It was Patrick, an old friend from Cardiff, getting changed before going to meet Bill at Southampton Beer Festival. I explained the situation to Pat, he agreed there was nothing to do but accompany him! We headed off to Farnborough Main, met up with Johnny P at Basingstoke when we changed trains, and the three of us chatted and caught up on all our news.
I thought Bill would guess straight away that I'd locked myself out, but he just assumed I'd fancied a beer or two ;-D Bill had had a few to drink already, and reccommended some good ones - Westerham Black Eagle, Oakleaf Hole Hearted and Dark Star Landlord's Wit to name a few. I also tried Enville Old Porter and Ringwood XXXX Porter - very nice too!
Ate a really nice Chicken Korma from the Guildhall canteen, £5.50. I also won some jelly-babies on the tombola, but they don't really go with beer.
Met my sister Shirl later and blagged her a cheaper ticket, as she was only staying for a half. She tried the Sam Adams Lager, which she drank very slowly! We sorted out holiday plans for August - North Wales seems likely. Then it was off for the last train back to Farnborough.
Fantastic evening - if somewhat unexpected!

Booze Tour of Belgium and France

Yesterday it was Simon's birthay and so to celebrate he and Jane, me and Bill went across to Belgium in Simon's Volvo estate, to buy lots of Belgian beer, French wine and to have a meal over there as well.
We left Simon and Jane's house at 9.15am and had a clear run to Ashford for the Eurostar, which we boarded about 10.30am. On the train we ate our pack lunches and Simon very kindly shared out a bottle of champagne! Very civilised.
First stop was Cite Europe for wine, cheese, choccie and sausage - we bought 5 bottles of wine, all red. Got a (relatively) cheap Chateauneuf du Pape, I look forward to sampling it on a suitably special occasion. Simon bought a motorcycle jack, an unusual souvenir but apparently it was a lot cheaper than it would have been at home!
We had some problems getting back on the motorway as one of the slip roads was closed, and we had to go back the way we'd come a little before heading the right way. The 'deviation' (diversion) signs were quite small and you could not see the arrows till you were right next to them, so we nearly caused a few accidents trying to get into the right lane at the last minute!
Eventually we were on our way to Belgium. We stopped at Noel Cuvelier's beer shop in Abele, just over the border, and were in there for over an hour as Bill seemingly looked up every single beer in Simon's 'Belgian Good Beer Guide', which we'd cunningly bought him as a birthday present.
The next idea was to sample some draught Belgian beers so we headed for Poperinge (famous for its hops)and the Palace Hotel, which offered draught Hommelbier, St Bernardus Tripel, Kerelsbier and Maes as well as a huge range of bottled beers. A friendly bar with lots of Belgian breweriana. I tried the first 3 of the draughts, then feeling tipsy got back in the car to Veune where Simon knew a good restaurant. Unfortunately he couldn't find the precise one he had in mind, but we tried the Ibis and found it was pretty good! We had 4 course meals - I had foie gras, asparagus, duck and meringue tart - washed down with Hoegaarden. Coffee to finish, which came with marble cake and little Toblerones, superb.
Headed back to Calais and the ferry, congratulating ourselves on our 'haul' finally getting back home around midnight. Great day, looking forward to next year's trip!

Glastonwick Beer Music Poetry and More Beer Festival

This year the festie, organised by Atilla the Stockbroker, was held at Shoreham airport and we were fortunate to get lifts down and back with Other Val and Matt. The weather was sadly a bit blowy with occasional rain (usually when queuing for beer at the outside beer tent!) but otherwise the atmos was great. There were loads of people there from Surrey/Hants CAMRA, as well as Glyn, an old friend from South Wales, but did not spot any boardies from The Alternative Levellers Messageboard, where I 'live' online.
Got there at about 2pm and started drinking beer - there was a long queue for the beer tent as there was only a small hatch and 2-3 people serving. Kevin and Other Val decided to go to the lunchtime music session - apparently David Rovics was very good - whilst I continued drinking beer and eating Val's party-eggs!
After the lunchtime gigs at about 5pm Val drove us into Brighton, almost too late to browse through the North Laines (my spiritual home) - couldn't resist the posh choccies in 'Montezuma'. We ended up, inevitably, in the Evening Star on Surrey Street, one of my all-time favourite pubs. Dark Star Expresso Stout - outstanding!! Shame I missed their mocha stout at the festie. Hurriedly ate some fish 'n' chips from the pier before heading back to Glastonwick for more beer and the evening music.
First up was Jim Bob, an ex Carter USM member. He was awl right, a lot of people were singing along to his songs so I guess they must have been old hits, I was never really into Carter USM.
Then all the Carter USM fans disappeared and all the Adverts fans appeared! Silver fox TV Smith took to the stage with his guitar and played some of my favourites like 'Thin Green Line', 'David Gilmore's Eyes', 'Lion and the Lamb', and 'One Chord Wonders'. He seemed to be having a great time, and played 'Bored Teenagers' as an encore 'because you're a crowd and I feel like pleasing you!' Indeed he was in such a good mood that he signed my 'Red Sea Crossing' CD and posed for a photo with 'News and Ale' for Other Val!
The band I'd been waiting for however was McDermott's 2 Hours. An Irish folk-punk band, band leader Nick Burbridge was one of the main influences on the Levellers and wrote 'Dirty Davey'. I got a front spot as all the Adverts fans left, and met a lady called Liz who was in need of a dance partner! So we pogoed right in front of Nick and Matt - we attempted an Irish reel but was afraid of sending Nick flying which would have been RATHER embarrassing. I did throw my beer all over my face as I was pogoing, hopefully I wiped it off before any of the McDermotts saw me! They played mostly fasties with the odd slowy to give me and Liz time to get our breaths back, the craic was out of this world. Was singing along, as many of the words as I could remember, I do like songs with a message.
After the gig I noticed a 'Live at Ferneham Hall' CD which the McDermotts recorded at Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival (see previous posting) so I bought it to see if I could hear myself. Then quickly sneaked back into the hall to see if the guys would sign it. Chased after Ben Paley the fiddle player first, who had trouble remembering his name - he'd obviously tried a few real ales! Matt the bassist signed second and shook hands with me, he seemed rather shy. Then asked Nick and he was happy to autograph and chat about the difficulties of playing with no monitors. Then he said he'd spotted me singing along and thanked me (much to my surprise) saying it made all the difference to the atmosphere. Then I shook hands with him and he gave me a whiskery kiss on the cheek as well!! I shyly said thanks and hurried over to see Dil the drummer. Dil was even more chatty - he put a 3-fishes symbol on the CD as well, and when I asked him why he said it was an old family emblem (not the arms of Kingston-upon-Thames as I'd thought). Strange, these people from Pembrokeshire!
Could have stayed and talked to the band all night, but Other Val, Matt, Bill and Doug were waiting to go home so I skipped back to them to boast of my hobnobbing and kissing activities! Best beerfest ever by far ;-D

Battlefield Band and Guests, Norden Farm

Hi there, sorry I haven't posted for a while - have been ill, but am better now ta.
Went to see Battlefield Band and guests from Uzbekistan in Maidenhead - just with Bill this time. Battlefield Band kicked off the evening with a few of their fans' favourite numbers, and a song about Iraq. A couple of young Scottish dancers - John Sikorski & Donal Brown, dressed in black jeans and t-shirts. Wot no kilts - I'm sure the ladies in the front row were disappointed! But the way they whirled each other around at high speed was pretty impressive.
Then the Uzbekistani band came on - ABDULAKHAD ABDURASHIDOV on the Nay (flute type thing), AKHMADJON DADAEV on the Gijak (fiddle type thing) and vocals, ILYAS LUTFULLAEV on Dutar (two string mandolin) and kushkar rubab (guitar type thing) HUSAN NOSIROV on Doyra (bodhran/tambourine type thing). They were wearing traditional Uzbeki robes which were black with gold embroidery, available from their stall for £200! Their music was so exotic sounding, a bit Arabic, a bit Oriental, a bit Eastern European - like nothing else I've else heard. Then came on the Uzbeki dancers, Saida Mansurhodjayeva & Nargiza Khodjakhanova in the most amazing dresses and with very long hair in plaits. They looked like princesses in their brightly coloured, low cut, gold and sequin embroidered, flowing dresses and gold headdresses. One of the dances was very sexy - apparently they'd performed it at Edinburgh Prison where it went down a treat with the inmates.
After the break both the Scottish and Uzbeki musicians played each others' songs and the dancers attempted a Scottish/Uzbeki crossover routine!
The encore was even more impressive with Husan playing 3 Doyra drums at once, the (rather large) fiddle player in a dancing duel and a bagpipe duel!
Fantastic evening - just what the doctor ordered!

Paperboys, West End Centre, Aldershot

Went to see the Paperboys at the West End Centre with Bill, Val and Julie. Not many people there, I don't think it justified standing-only tickets. Most people weren't dancing anyway (although I did spot Val giving a little wiggle!) I was sat down as I was feeling a bit faint, having blagged a chair from the roadie.
I liked the Paperboys' crossover styles of Celtic, bluegrass, Cajun, Latin and more, all delivered with bags of energy. The flautist was the outstanding musician of the team, thought the (blonde) violinist was a bit run-of-the-mill, probably just in the band for sex appeal! Front-man and composer Tom signed my Molinos CD, and was happy to chat about his music and the aims of the band. All in all a very good night.

Rory McLeod, West End Centre, Aldershot

Ken and Other Val joined us on the candlelit table at the West End Centre for Rory McLeod's gig. Poor Rory seemed to give a hurried performance with a lot less chat and more songs than he did last time, perhaps he's got fed up of being told to 'hurry up' or 'get on with it' by hecklers in the crowd, or being 'hooked off' by venue staff anxious to get home! Personally I like his stories as much as the songs. Rory played a lot of my favourites such as No More Blood For Oil, Too Old For the Orphanage, London Kisses, What Would Jesus Do and some new ones to me, such as Emperor's New Clothes and the Miner's Picket Dance. His encore was a trombone tune which didn't work very well as it was 'out of tune'!!
Rory seems like a top guy, and likes to meet the people from the audience at break time. A group of young girls seemed pleased to talk to him - he seemed pleased as well! Married man, girls, I'm afraid!!

Curry Nite

Yesterday Ian the Minister came over to stay. I had trouble getting back in the evening due to a cancelled train - but got to Farnborough in time to meet Ian and Bill Badger leaving the Tumbledown Dick. The boys had been expecting to try Hogs Back beer, which was advertised in large letters outside the pub, only to be given halves of vinegar. At least they only ordered halves! Johnny P arrived at about the same time as me, then we all headed off to the Swan, where we had much nicer beer (Elgoods Black Dog Mild in superb form, also some very nice Pride of Pendle from Moorhouse).
We had to drag ourselves away at 9.15 for our curry appointment in the Gurkha Kitchen. The poppadoms were so good Ian ordered another round on top of the free ones you get whilst you wait. We went straight on to the main courses, Ian and Bill going for Chicken Tikka Massala, John for Hot Chicken and me for a medium Nepalese King Prawn curry

Evening Wedding Reception

Andy and Gill's evening doo was at the Alton Grange, which was a lot posher on the inside than on the outside. The CAMRA contingency didn't have places at tables, as we weren't at the lunch, so we commandeered the lounge bar (with much rearranging of pot plants and comfy chairs). Real ales were available from Triple fff and the buffet was very generous, so we were more than happy. Bob arrived in a suit, we remarked upon the unusualness of this sight! Val had changed into a lime green top and black trousers, Julie had a black outfit with purple 'party cardy'. Didn't see much of Andy, think the boys were buying him drink after drink! Gill was bopping away still in her beautiful wedding dress, having to hold up the train. She insisted that we dance with her, who were we to say no? The DJ played the usual dance selection of 60s, 70s, 80s stuff with a bit of modern pop, he finished far too soon though. Highlights were Jules and Val's lesbian slow dance to Robbie William's 'Angel', Val and Nick waltzing to Wham!, and Bill and me high-kicking to 'New York, New York'.
A good time was had by all!

Andy and Gill's Wedding

This afternoon we went to Andy and Gill's wedding in St James Church, Rowledge. The church was ever so cute, and it was a lovely service, with a good organist and choir as well. Both Andy and Gill looked great, very relaxed, and very much in love. Outside the Church it was sunny but a bit breezy - various people had to hold Gill's train and veil to stop them blowing around. There was a CAMRA Pals official photo, with Other Val, Matt, Julie, Nick, Hannah, Hannah's boyfriend, Bill and myself with the bride and groom in the porch of the church, I hope nobody blinked! I took a couple of photos on Bill's camera, they will appear in Valerie's Gallery at some point, when I can get the @&*$ing thing to work!!
Then Matt drove Other Val, Julie, Bill and myself to the Sandrock where we had a pint before heading back home for food and maybe a change of clothes, ahead of the evening doo. Then we get together with some other CAMRA-ites who have been pub-crawling all afternoon, that should be lively!

Election Fever

Bill and I cycled down to St Peter's Church to vote - yes the Liberals were still handing out sweeties. Saw the Tory incumbent for the first time as well, chatting amiably with the Liberal hopeful. No sign of the Labour guy, he has probably resigned himself to losing Farnborough South.
Was tempted to vote Monster Raving Loony as he the only one I'd 'talk to in a bar' (Billy Connolly's definition of an electable person) - he's the landlord of the 'Dog and Partridge' in Yately.
But in the end I did the right thing, I voted Liberal. Gordon Brown says the War in Iraq was fought for economic reasons and I believe him. Gordon Brown wants me to vote Liberal!! I don't want to belong to a country that pours out the blood of its soldiers, not to mention that of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, for cheap oil. When Gordon Brown takes over Labour Party leadership, then I'll vote Labour again, like the good socialist I am.
That's not the only reason of course. Here are the 10 good reasons to vote Liberal from their website:

WE OPPOSE: Putting targets first
WE PROPOSE: Putting patients first
Faster diagnosis so your NHS treatment can start more quickly


WE OPPOSE: Tuition fees & top up fees
WE PROPOSE: Scrapping student fees
Further education affordable to every student


WE OPPOSE: Compulsory I.D. Cards
WE PROPOSE: Spending the money on 10,000 more police
Funded by scrapping compulsory I.D. cards


WE OPPOSE: Selling your home to pay for care
WE PROPOSE: Free personal care for the elderly
No one forced to sell their home to pay for care


WE OPPOSE: Ignoring climate change
WE PROPOSE: Cleaner transport & cleaner energy
Cleaner transport, cleaner energy and a cleaner environment


WE OPPOSE: £1.5 billion on the child trust fund
WE PROPOSE: £1.5 billion towards reducing class sizes
Spend the £1.5 billion Child Trust Fund when it matters most


WE OPPOSE: Means-testing pensioners
WE PROPOSE: £100 extra per month starting with the over 75s
A million pensioners off means-testing


WE OPPOSE: Hidden tax increases
WE PROPOSE: Only one tax increase - on income above £100,000 per year
Only one tax increase on income over £100,000


WE OPPOSE: Unfair council tax
WE PROPOSE: Local income tax, saving typical households £450 per year
Local Income Tax is both fair and affordable


WE OPPOSE: Bush & Blair on Iraq
WE PROPOSE: Never again
It's time to restore trust in government

I agree with all of these.
Shame there was no Green candidate, that would have been my second choice.
Vote Tory? Nevvah!!

Oxtale

Just a quick post tonight...we went walking today around Dunsfold (of the Seven Ponds) loosely based on a walk in 'Walker's Britain' - for more details see Bill Badger (my other half). It was a hot day, and Bill was very careful to take precautions against sunburn with sun cream and a hat. I was less bothered, being a brunette, but drank a lot more water. The heat and my heavy winter boots made it rather hard going (that's my excuse!) and we had to cut the walk short - but only by scrambling up a very steep hill.
We stopped off at Budgens in Ash Vale on the way back, and Bill spotted some oxtail reduced to £1 so he bought it for the evening meal (I fancied curry, but still). The cookbook advised casseroling it, so Bill baked it in a casserole dish with some mushrooms, no sauce. Boy was it tough to eat! I had to pick it up and gnaw the meat off the tailbones, my gums are still hurting now. It just tasted like scrag ends of beef, very fatty, not really worth the effort. I will only eat oxtail in soup from now on. Still, good story to shock my veggie friends with ;-)

Real Ale Wobble Around Alton

Phew! Have just got back from Alton, where Bill and I have been cycling on this lovely sunny day.
We loaded the bikes onto the back of the car and headed off for the Chawton Park Wood car park in Medtead and the start of the cycle ride. We had planned to do a 15-mile published ride along bridleways, but the first bridleway we came across was very muddy and slippery so we decided to modify our route to only use roads! Maybe with proper mountain tyres we could have coped, but not with semi-slicks.
First we took the minor road into Medstead, then northwards towards Bentworth. Time for a drinkee already, we visited both the Star (Ringwood Best in fine form) and the Sun (good half of Cheriton Pots from their wide selection of beers) at Bentworth, and ate our sandwiches beneath a tree. Then down a rather hilly single-track road to Alton, where we visited the French Horn, supped some lovely Hook Norton Best and gazed at the funfair opposite the pub on 'The Butts'.
We were still feeling fit, so we decided to extend our route via the Selbourne Arms in Selbourne, so we headed up the B3006. The road looked deceptively flat on the map but we were surprised with some relentless upward slopes! We were well deserving of our Itchen Valley Pure Gold when we arrived (the best beer of the day, in my opinion). It was also pure joy to sit out in the Selborne Arms' beer garden with the cherry-blossom and bluebells out, and the birds singing. We didn't want to leave.
The last stretch back to Medstead involved a hilly road up to Newton Valence, another steep hill on the other side of the A32 towards Four Marks (I pushed my bike up most of it) and a short stretch of the A31 before turning off down the wide residential road to the Chawton Park Wood carpark again.
It must have done me good because my legs were all wobbly when I got off the bike, and I had to sit down for a bit and recover! A lot of work needed I think before I can do the London to Cambridge in July!

Eleanor McEvoy, West End Centre, Aldershot

Bill and I had seen Eleanor McEvoy at Fareham and Gostport Folk Festival, so we knew we were in for a treat!
The support act was Tristan Seume a very talented guitarist, reminiscent of Paul Downes. However half an hour of acoustic guitar with no lyrics did send me off to sleep a bit. Perhaps he should ask Eleanor to write some lyrics for him.
At last Eleanor came on stage (despite rumours of fog in Dublin) and gave a stunning performance. She seems to me like a cross between early Sinead O'Connor and Thea Gilmore. She can play fiddle to a very high standard as well as acoustic and electric guitar, her songs are highly emotionally charged and uplifting. The stories behind the songs are always entertaining as well. Sone of my favourite songs were Whisper a Prayer to the Moon (sadly unavailable on album in the UK - WHY NOT!!??!), The Rain Falls Down (a song about being dumped by email), and the ironically-named You'll Hear Better Songs (Than This) - now out on single - buy it!! She also covered Chuck Berry's classic Memphis Tennessee - a wistful, slowed down version.
The audience at the West End Centre were very appreciative and there was a long queue for CD's - Eleanor kindly signed mine, and we had a little chat - agreeing the gig was a lot less fraught than at Fareham, also a very good one! I hope she tours round our way again soon.

Holiday Part 2 - Scotland and back

A long drive from Manchester to Dumfries in Scotland, where Robert Burns came from. Lots of museums there, all mentioning Robert Burns and his family, curiously omitting any references to his mistress. Perhaps the religious Scots prefer to think of him as a hero of the working classes, and idealise him somewhat. Found a reasonable B&B on spec, and were treated to Peruvian music at breakfast – very uplifting.
We climbed up Criffel mountain the next day. The path was very boggy and we had to pick our way carefully, till we got to the more rocky areas nearer the summit. At the top the wind was bitterly cold, so we lingered only for a couple of photos before making our way down again. Next we had a look at the ruined Sweetheart Abbey in New Abbey, founded by Devorgilla, Lady of Galloway, in memory of her husband John Balliol (founder of Balliol College Oxford and ex King of Scotland). Devorgilla is buried in the presbytery with a casket containing her husband's embalmed heart (they must have ripped the heart out of his body to do that - a bit sick?)
Then on to our B&B in Kippford, Roughfirth House. I can recommend this place highly – it has amazing views over Rough Firth, Almorness Point and Rough Island. The pub in town, the Anchor Hotel, served good food and excellent beer from the Sulwath Brewery. We spent a day walking around the area, doing a loop up to Castlehill Point and back through Rockcliffe, stopping at the excellent Cottage Tea Shop there for coffee and a light lunch (I had homemade mushroom soup – Bill had whisky flavoured ice cream!). Next day we explored Castle Douglas and decided to inspect the Sulwath Brewery Shop – also meeting the owners and getting an impromptu brewery tour. The lake in Castle Douglas was nice to look around, and you could also purchase locally-made ice cream from the Warden’s Office (alas no Whisky flavour).
We were a bit reluctant to leave in the end and may well go back there to explore the area further!
However the bright lights of Glasgow were beckoning. We checked in to our B&B (huge room) near the Tennents Brewery, then headed off into town to meet the minibus to take us to Fyne Brewery, at the top of Loch Fyne. And what a great trip it was! The minibus took us along most of the length of Loch Lomond, and we saw some amazing views of the loch and the mountains. Then we saw the tip of Loch Long before arriving at the start of Loch Fyne, The Brewery was at a small farmhouse in a truly beautiful setting. The owners had moved there from Alresford, not far from myself and Bill! There were 4 beers to choose from, and we were told to just help ourselves – Piper’s Gold, Vital Spark, Highlander and Summerled. The owners also brought out pastries containing haggis, curried egg or smoked salmon!! We were told later that they’d refused to accept payment from CAMRA for the visit so it was a truly generous welcome. It was my idea of heaven – sitting outside in the sun supping beer and eating pastries in good company.
Bill took photos of the Brewery and I took a photo of the farm’s Highland Cattle but they looked a bit fierce – didn’t go too near. Then the equally stunning trip back, and a commotion when the driver refused to stop at a good pub on the way back, saying the minibus had only been booked till 7pm. These jobsworths!
Bill went to the CAMRA AGM on Saturday and Sunday, and I went shopping. Was particularly impressed with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street (Bill not fooled by my arty pretence when I said I’d visited the Buchanan Galleries!) Also went with Bill to the Gallery of Modern Art and the Transport Museum, both very good for free.
We visited as many pubs as we could get to (the underground was on strike, and Rangers/Celtic playing each other) – my favourite was the Babbity Bowster but I have to admit that the Deuchars IPA in the Samuel Dow was the best beer of the holiday. There was also a folk club meeting at the Samuel Dow, which Bill and I joined – we won a bottle of wine in the raffle! Had a good curry in Sauchiehill Street with Julie and Nick, but the best meal in Glasgow that I had was the smoked venison salad at the Babbitty Bowster.
Bill drove all the way back, reluctant to grant me a pee stop till he’d got over half way :-[ We stopped for lunch at the Plough in Bignall End, Audley (near J16 of the M6) – a very good range of beers including one from Townhouse. I had a lovely Lamb Rogan Josh there as well.
Bill then drove all the way back to Farnborough but still had the energy to take Simon and Jane to the Sandrock, Wrecclesham for a few bevvies before dropping the hire Ka back to Kendalls. What a star! :-*

Holiday Part 1 - North England

Hi folks, sorry I haven’t posted for a while! Lots to sort out after my hols. Bill and I were registered for the CAMRA AGM in Glasgow, so we thought we’d make a week of it by touring around the North of England and South Scotland as well, and hire a Ka to do so rather than take our very old VW Polo.
First we’d booked a very nice B&B in Fenny Bentley, called Cairn Grove. We booked a table at the Bentley Brook Hotel, a pub famous for its homebrewed ale, and had a nice meal there, which included chicken stuffed with black pudding. Next day we went walking in Dovedale. The walk started well, as the weather was sunny and the path easygoing. At Milldale Bridge we found a little snack bar, and ate a couple of pasties, which the local ducks were very interested in. We visited a couple of pubs in Alstonefield and Hopedale, then headed back along the top of Dovedale back to the B&B.
Then as we approached Ilam Heights, we were confronted by 2 fiercely barking dogs on the other side of a stile from us. The owner was there, calling them to come away, but the dogs took no notice. Bill climbed over anyway and we headed down the public footpath with the dogs still barking at us – then as I walked ahead I heard Bill give a yell! The Collie dog had bitten him on the leg, drawing blood. When the owner was confronted, he apologised, but Bill was angry and shaken. He was so put off that he lost the path back towards Fenny Bentley and we had to walk a much longer way through Ilam to get back. Then to cap it all it started to rain, and we both got soaked. Very glad to see our cosy B&B again!
In the evening we went to 2 pubs of character, the Black Horse in Hulland Ward, where due to staff shortages I had to pull our beer (but we were given it for free!) and the Barley Mow in Kirk Ireton, where beer is still served from gravity through a hatch.
Next stop was to visit our friends Ian and Kathryn in Manchester. Ian is a close friend of Bills from University, now a Methodist minister. It was strange to be walking down the street and hearing little old ladies greet Ian, thinking of him still as a ‘typical student’ At least he wasn’t wearing his dog collar - that would have been really be unnerving!! Ian took us to the Lowry Gallery which I enjoyed very much, then the boys went to see the War Museum whilst I slipped into the Lowry Designer Outlet Centre :-D Bought some surfer trousies for £5 from Trespass – bargain!
Kathryn joined us for a little while in the evening, she too seemed to be settling in well which was good to hear. We went out to Ian and Kathryn’s local pub for a meal, then back to the guest room at the (?) manse. Nice to have a huge house loaned to you by your bosses! Next morning off to Scotland as Ian had a funeral to take - not the best bit of the job I suppose.

Sarah Grey and Keiron Means

Other Val fancied seeing Sarah Grey and Keiron Means down at Dorking Folk Club yesterday, so Bill suggested we all meet up at a pub in Dorking for dinner before the concert started. I suggested the Kings Arms, as the Christmas Meal we go to there is always good. I took the 18.14 to Dorking and ordered basket meals for everyone – adequate at £5.50. Val wasn’t that impressed with her ‘trio of sausages’ - all the same fairly cheap looking type! But my burger was fine. She enjoyed the Welton’s Nice Pair though (!) and Bill and I liked the Cottage Southern Bitter. We also tried the Surrey Yeoman, ex Hogshead, purloining the leather sofa and supping some lovely Hogs Back TEA.
Sarah Grey and Keiron Means are an unusual mother/son band. Sarah plays banjo, Keiron guitar, and both sing. Sarah is American, Keiron half-American and they both live on Skye. I expected Keiron to be a bit of a mummy’s boy - he seemed very manly ;-) although Sarah was obviously the leader. Their repertoire consisted mainly of Appalachian songs, many derived from songs that immigrants had brought over and given an American twist to, for instance ‘Gypsy Davey’ became ‘She’s gone with Brady’. I’m not really a fan of Banjo music, and most of the songs sounded too similar to me, but Val and Bill appreciated the concert more. The best bit as far as I was concerned was Sarah’s telling of the stories behind the songs.
On the way back, I was so tired I fell asleep in the back of Val’s car. I hope I didn’t snore too loudly!
Another interesting development on the train – I asked Finance Lady if Clive had been hassling her as he pointedly said ‘good morning’ to her and not me the other day, ‘good morning’ being a bit of a wind up to me as well (long story). She said no, she was at school with him! And she gave me his surname as well!! Woe betide him if he hassles me again, I can give his full name to the BTP. Superb, thankyou lovely Finance Lady ;-D