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!