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.