Levellers with Benji Kirkpatrick and 3 Daft Monkeys, Shepherd's Bush

After an average pint of Youngs Winter Warmer at the Brook Green Hotel we headed up to the Shepherd's Bush Empire, stopping to purchase a bottle of mineral water at a corner shop. The venue was much as I'd expected, a Victorian music-hall with some lovely features, but in need of a lick of paint. We queued for a bit then were let in to a tiny lobby, only to be told 'no plastic bottles' by security! So we drank it there and then. We headed up to Level 2 and I went to sit down at the front at one side, but Bill Badger complained about the leg room and not being able to see the drummer. So I let him choose, and he sat an the second row in front of a couple of drunken chavs, and next to a bar-trotting man. So between the chav in front swaying, lashing me with his hair, snogging his girlfriend and sitting her on his lap, and having to get up for the bloke next to us, I got far less of a view of the stage. O well. Further to the 'no plastic bottles' edict, it was interesting to note the chav girl was dangling (glass bottles of) Bacardi Breezer over the balcony which most security people regard as very very dangerous. But then she had purchased these from the bar.
But enough moaning. The music was excellent, out of this world.
Bill didn't know who the first support artist was, only that it was 'someone called Benji'. I jokingly said was it Benji Kirkpatrick but indeed it was! The hoop-earringed folkster came on stage with a guitar and bouzouki and sang some great folk-punk songs, to much applause and some screams from the girls.
3 Daft Monkeys came next, and played some of their faster, dancier songs such as 'Hubbadillia' 'Faces' and 'Hey Listen' as well as my probable favourite of theirs 'Astral Eyes'. Interesting new song 'Social Vertigo' about the perils of partying with The Levs!
The Levs came on, sober enough to remember the words and play their instruments more than competently, and gave a great performance! This came as a bit of a relief for me, having heard some bad reports from previous gigs on the tour. They played all the classics such as 'Beautiful Day' 'Hope Street' and 'Men-an-Tol' and didn't shy away from politics with 'Another Man's Cause' and pointed references to Iraq. Was glad I wasn't in the mosh pit, it looked a bit hairy to me! We managed to have a bit of a dance, as security didn't seem to mind people dancing in their places, just not in the aisles. The chav couple put on their coats and left, and their seats were grabbed by a nicer couple, then they came back and looked mournful. Everyone ignored them apart from security who said they couldn't stand in the aisle, heh heh. Boaksey came on at the end in a wonderfully camp outfit, and did some mad dancing with his large didgeridoo. For the second encore, Benji and 3 Daft Monkeys came back on stage to play 'What You Know' with the Levs, to wild cheers! What a moment on the last night of the tour.
Outside we grabbed a free Chaos Theory come-on CD, saw fake Levs t-shirts being hawked and Scouse Rich busking. Would have stopped fro a chat but he was in the middle of a song, Bill didn't stop walking being a bit man-fluey and eager to get home.
Excellent night, Levellers at their best and really good support.

BBC Young Folk Awards 2007

Made a mad dash from Redhill at 5.15pm to Islington via the Thameslink train and then bus, just getting to the Union Church for 6.45pm which was when the doors were due to open. Darren was there already, keeping a place for us in the queue bless him. This was the start of this rather surreal experience, queueing outside a forbidding-looking Congregational church watching young musicians and BBC staff to-ing and fro-ing.
When we got inside there were no tables but ordinary church pews, which I'd been told to expect but they still seemed rather bizarre. The church was tall-roofed but had relatively small floor area, so we were somewhat crammed in. The tickets are usually over-subscribed, and people at the back of the queue were apparently turned away. The stage was in front of an enormous font and a beautiful rose window with stained-glass angels.
Immediately after finding a pew for 6, Darren and Mr Badger headed for the bar whilst Ben and I guarded the seats. But it was no go - only soft drinks were allowed into the church as it was a real church, and anyway the bar was not open yet!! Bet you don't get THAT at any other BBC music awards!
Mike Harding was the host, and was very down-to-earth (much as I'd expected), introducing each act enthusiastically, clearly enjoying every minute. First on stage were brother and sister Ewen & Megan Henderson, who had come all the way from Fort William to play us traditional Scottish music on the piano and fiddle. Both looked and sounded immaculate, Megan's voice was pure and faultless - perhaps the only mistake she made was assuming that the predominantly Southern English audience were going to join in with a rather long chorus in Gallic. However the Scottish contingent were clearly enjoying the song and joining in. Second came David Delarre of the already well-respected young band 'Mawkin', a relative local boy, hailing from Essex. His clever finger-jumping guitar technique provoked some jealous coments from Mike Harding! Next Ryan Young, living up to his name as the youngest candidate for the award, stepped shyly up to the mike and announced his fiddle tunes - including 'Catharsis' whis is of course the theme for Mike Harding's Radio 2 folk programme! If deliberate, that was good thinking!! 'Last Orders', not to be confused with 'Last Night's Fun' were on next - a guitar/melodeon/2 fiddles band with lovely stripy shirts, who met through membership of Kathryn Tickell's 'Folkestra' project. The first act I felt like dancing to, they quite obviously went down well with the crowd. Next came Ruth Notman and Bryony Bainbridge, who apparently met whilst working down t'pit - orchestra pit, that is! They showed superb musicianship; I especilly loved Ruth's sensitive, powerful vocals and Bryony's fiddle playing- they were my favourites to win, till they made a mistake with a song attribution and Mike Harding corrected them. Lastly came guitarist Wilber, sharing some great jazz/blues/folk guitar tunes with us - but he had a habit of saying 'yeah' every now and them as he was playing, which I found annoying after a while. Nice hair though!
Last year's winners 'Bodega' then returned to wow us with their multi-instrumental talents and launch their new album, available to the general public soon. If only chief judge John Tams had had the opportunity to sing a few songs and show the youngsters how 'tis done.
Who were the winners? Well, it was the only time a group of folkies has voted for 'Last Orders', ha ha. Worthy winners, I'm sure they'll make the best of their prizes which included a year's membership of the Musician's Union, 3 festival gigs including Cropredy, a spot on Mike Harding's show and of course the little sculpture of two Morph-like figures playing folk instruments. The rather stunned looking lads returned to the stage to play a few more tunes, then it was off to the 'backstage party' in a little church hall!
The setting might have been a bit unusual but it was a really good night. I hope to be alble to go again someday!

Get a Moo-ve on, FGW

Trains are really p*ssing me off at the moment. Yesterday I didn't get into work till 10am because a cow got hit by a train near Betchworth. Was funny hearing people phone their bosses and trying to explain though!
At first I was waiting at Farnborough North and was pleased that my normal train, the 7.26, was "only" about 10 minutes late. On Monday and Tuesday it has been 30 minutes and 15 minutes late respectively. Great, I thought, I'll be able to get the minibus and not have to fork out £6 in taxi fares!
Then the bad news when we got to Guildford. It was announced that a cow had been hit by a train near Betchworth and they had to check the track to see if it was safe (the early train had made it through no problem, unbeknown to us, just after the cow met it's demise). So they were terminating the train at Shalford, and anyone for stations beyand there had to get off at Guildford. Great.
The rather posh announcer at Guildford told us to expect a severe delay and that we'd better go via Clapham Junction for Gatwick, Redhill etc. Trouble is, only about 2 trains a day run fast to Clapham, the rest stop at every small station. I was reluctantly making my way towards a slow train when the announcement came that the Gatwick train was just about to arrive! I ran back to the platform I'd just come from, then because they hadn't announced the platform change, we all ran to yet another platform, boarding the rather crowded 3-carriage train.
So we were now running about 45 minutes late, but I was pleased that we were underway. The usual group of us that sit together kept an eye out for bits of dead cow etc by the railway side. We met with more friends at Betchworth station, who had been told the accident was at Shalford. Turned out they were the ones who were misinformed, as we slowed down and stopped next to the stricken train itself shortly afterwards. We were then told to move out of the front carriage to make room for the 200-odd people from the irreparably-damaged train who would shortly be joining us. Some people in orange jackets then propped an ordinary wooden ladder against a door and, very slowly, the grim-faced passengers from the cow train got on. Apparently they'd been there since 7.15, ie two and a half hours. One lady was noticeably pregnant so I gave up my seat for her, then Peter kindly offered his seat to me! At least us passengers had some sense of decency. It would have been nice to have been informed of the likely length of our rescue mission, maybe it would have been quicker to go via Clapham after all. As we trundled past the train we saw a very dead black cow in the bucket of a JCB, still by the side of the railway. The rest of the herd were well away from the fence, but still in the same field, poor things.
To cap it all we were kept waiting outside Redhill for a platform!!
Apparently this was on Radio 1 - I hope FGW and the farmer were suitably ashamed.

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset at the Anvil

Not in the main auditorium but in the Forge bit. I was surprised the gig didn't sell out, but I suppose that since Rachel Unthank is from the North-East she isn't as well known in Basingstoke. Still, that didn't stop her going down a storm with the audience. She sang lots of my favourite songs from her "Cruel Sister" album (Mojo Magazine folk album of the year 2005, no less!). She does a brilliant version of Cyril Tawney's "On a Monday Morning" with Becky, Jackie and Belinda's backing vocals. Bit worried about "Cruel Sister" - I hope Becky never tries to steal Adrian, otherwise she might end up as a harp! Seriously though, I had a chat to Rachel at the interval and she was really friendly and down-to-earth. I asked about one of the new songs the band sang, a round called "The Stuking Song" which would be great for Guildford Vox to sing. She promised faithfully to email me the lyrics which was really kind of her.
Jackie was nice to talk to as well. The poor woman had her 5-string violin-viola stolen recently. I hope they catch whoever did it, as I'm sure she must have been very attached to it. As a result, Jackie had to keep swapping between a violin and a viola in the middle of songs. I love the Winterset's version of "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" as well, with Jackie as lead singer.
Belinda was on fine form - I love her dry sense of humour. She sang a rather bitter song about judgemental attitudes to lesbianism, which surprised me. It was very brave of her to sing it, in case there were such people in the room - but folkies are generally very accepting and plenty of people joined in the song. I realised why Becky sings "Today I am a Boy" cabaret-style, gazing at Belinda on the piano though!
They've got a new album out soon and I'm really looking forward to getting it. Don't know what it's called yet but I'll let you know.
Hoping the Winterset tour round our way again soon!

Alton Trips

Alton Farmer's Market saw my first public performance as a Morris Dancer - see Valerie's Gallery for the juicy pics!! Was very nervous but it was good fun. I only joined in two dances, of which the stave dance, Portobello, was probably my best effort. I don't think "Nutting Girl", the hankie dance, went quite as well, I seemed to be hitting myself in the face with the hankies quite a lot, also waving them uselessly when forgetting the figures! Oh well, it's a start! The others seemed pleased with my efforts anyway. We went for an Italian meal in Prezzos afterwards, I had some very nice pasta & meatballs whilst Bill Badger had a Quattro Stagioni pizza. It was good to do something to celebrate together as well. Also visited the Kings Head at half-time where Linda and myself got some very strange looks in our costumes! We ended up buying lots of "real food" at the market (not to mention Mr Whitehead's mulled cider) so had to make a trip home to put it in the fridge.
Later we were back in Alton for the Real Ale Train (RAT), a steam train with racked-bright casks of ale on it. We also met up beforehand in the Eight Bells to join Reading CAMRA, bumping into them later at the Railways Arms. The Winchester Trusty Friend Porter and Triple fff Moonshine were delicious, but the beer ran out half way! Disgusting, a complaint to the Watercress Line manager in the strongest terms is required, I think;-) A lot of the CAMRA contingent got off at Alton in search of real ale in the local pubs. Bill Badger, Julie and I stayed on the train, sipping our beer to make it last. This was very wise as I was rather rough the next day!!
Very good day, I enjoyed muchly. Thanks to Other Val for the RAT organisation!

Spiers and Boden at the Boileroom, Guildford

(Have just switched to the new Google-powered Blogger system, hope it works OK!)
The Boilerroom, Stoke Road, Guildford is nice little venue, it used to be a pub called the Elm Tree and is about 10 minutes walk from the High Street. Nice decor, but not that much seating - could hold maybe 15 people seated, 50 without seats there. Japanese noodles are available for the peckish. Beer a bit pricey though, even for Guildford!
Spiers and Boden were on excellent form, playing a lot of their songs from 'Songs' and a couple from 'Bellowhead' including some of our favourites "Bold Sir Rylas" to the tune of Enrico (which Fleur de Lys dance "Magic Circles" to) , "Child Morris" and "Derry Gaol". There was a mad lady (in the nicest sense of the word) in a big floppy hat and huge shawl who started off the dancing. A young guy with a punk haircut also joined in, so then I got up as well! Most of the dances were step-dances - John Spiers played a Bampton morris dance as Mr Boden watched - laughing at my solo Morris attempts!! They really seemed to be enjoying themselves although the place wasn't a typical folk venue. The younger people in the crowd really seemed to be getting into it as well, which was great.
I hope Spiers and Boden will be back soon!

Val's Folk Awards 2006

BBC FOLK AWARDS 2007

Nomination Form (or wish list!)

1. FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR

The artist making the most impact during the past year either through
performance, albums or a special event.

Nominations

1. Martha Tilston

2. Eliza Carthy

3. Chris While



2. BEST DUO

The award is for the duo making the most impact during the past year
either through performance, albums or special event.


Nominations

1. Show of Hands

2. Mundy - Turner

3. Bob Fox and Billy Mitchell



3. BEST GROUP

The award is for the group (incorporating Dance Bands following the huge
success of last year's specific category) making the most impact during
the past year either through performance, albums or special event.


Nominations

1. Martha Tilston and the Woods

2. Seth Lakeman Band

3. Colvin Quarmby


4. BEST ALBUM

The most significant folk/roots album released in the last 12 months.


Nominations

1. Of Milkmaids and Architects - Martha Tilston

2. New Tricks - Hoover The Dog

3. A Short Walk to the Red Lion - ColvinQuarmby



5. BEST ORIGINAL SONG

The best non-traditional song of the past 12 months. This song can be a
new song, or if it is more than one year old, to qualify needs to have
had a significant performance or interpretation in 2006.


Nominations
1. Artificial - Martha Tilston

2. Roots - Show of Hands

3. All Souls Night - McDermotts 2 Hours



6. TRADITIONAL TRACK OF THE YEAR

The best performance of any traditional song or tune on CD released
during the past 12 months. This is a category designed to recognise the
work of people recording traditional material. It is to be a new
recording of a traditional song, from any tradition.


Nominations

1. Falmouth Packet/Haul Away Joe - Show of Hands

2. The Proud Tailor - Tim Van Eyken

3. Cruel William - Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

7. HORIZON AWARD

Best new artist or artists on the scene during 2006. Any relatively new
act who have made a significant increase in their popularity or made a
special impression during 2006.


Nominations

1. Seth Lakeman

2. Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

3. Tim Van Eyken


8. MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

This person can be part of a band, a solo artist or session musician who
can be considered to be the significant instrumentalist of 2006.


Nominations

1. Cormac Byrne

2. Dave Swarbrick

3. Nick Scott



9. BEST LIVE ACT

Any artist(s) or band making a significant impression during 2006
through live performances in folk clubs, festivals or concerts.


Nominations

1. Last Night's Fun

2. ColvinQuarmby

3. Bellowhead


10. FAVOURITE FOLK TRACK OF ALL TIME

Nominations

1. Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson

Bob Fox and Billy Mitchell, Farnham Maltings

Having promised Darren a review for this gig, I've gone and lost my notes that I made at the time. Oh dear, that's me in the doghouse!
Well, maybe Pete Fyffe will write a review for him. He's one of the founders of folking.com and was supporting Billy and Bob with someone else who's name esapes me!
Billy and Bob were both equally good, and being old mates from the pub, they were relaxed and happy on stage together, with lots of teasing each other about age, lack of hair etc. The thing that made me laugh out loud was their part-cover of Arthur Askey's 'Busy, Busy Bee' - I think they should do the whole song, in between their more serious songs about the decline of the coalmining and shipbuilding industries around the Tyne - just to see how the audience reacts!
It wasn't all 'grim up North' though - Billy included 'The Rocking Chair', a song about his storytelling Granddad, and 'Born at the Right Time' about being lucky enough to be born early enough (amongst other things) to afford your own house! I often make a grateful 'phew' as well, reading the property sections of the local papers! Bob sang a version of 'When The Boat Comes In' also including new lyrics on North-Eastern family life. Of course everybody joined in the chorus enthusiastically.
You can't help but like Bob and Billy - Bob's passionate dedication to North-Eastern folk, Billy's boyish good humour and the wonderful storytelling ability of both. I hope they continue to work together and tour round our way again soon!

Martha Tilston and the Woods, Bracknell

This has got to be my Gig of the Year 2006, an absolutely wonderful experience. I’d heard that Martha was to design the stage so that it seemed like she and the band were playing around a camp fire in the forest, and sure enough, it was, er, kind of similar. Dried foliage adorned the stage, monitors were disguised with green cloth, two pillars painted like tree trunks and there was a leafy-framed projection screen showing a forest (which changed to show videos to accompany each song). The ‘fire’ was a little wigwam of sticks with those fake gas-light bulbs inside, it was hilarious when various members of the band pretended to warm their feet against it or dry off their setlists! The band members were dressed formally as if they were part of an orchestra, except with wellies, causing further hilarity. Martha herself was wearing a stunning red dress with cute stripy wellies, she looked beautiful and I couldn’t blame Mr Badger for going starry-eyed (for once!).
The music was excellent, including plenty of new songs as well as (inevitably) Red Riding Hood from Mousetales, A Surfer Courted Me (to the tune of ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’ and two piano songs (a Steinway in the middle of a forest – amazing!). The highlight of the evening for me however was ‘Artificial' from the new album, with a brilliant video of a box-headed office drone who decides to leap across the desks and flee. Bill and I were both humming or singing that song for the rest of the week. Dammit, it’s got into my brain again! If the charts were in any way fair, this song would be No. 1 for weeks and weeks.

Pony Express

A bit of a surprise on the train this morning – as the train pulled in to Dorking West station we were surprised to see a horse on the platform! The little group of us who sit together of a morning all started laughing. The train stopped so that the horse was right in front of one of the doors, and the horse looked as if it was about to get in! A woman getting off the train took the horse’s head (it was unbridled), it neighed and jerked away, but moved away from the train. When I travelled past in the evening, it was back in its field not far from the station.
Cue extremely bad jokes about Pony Express, Neigh return to Horsham etc!

Apologies!

Sorry folks, the blogging will be much curtailed for a while as there appears to be something wrong with our dial-up, we keep getting cut off. The best I can do is post for a few short moments at work - like this!
A good reason for hubby to sign up to broadband, I think.
Did the Bramley to Shoreham Bike Ride for Cancer Research on Sunday, phew it was hard work. Nice sunny day, but some mud from torrential rain in the night. Nice thankyou t-shirt at the end - and a horse brass! For the bike?
That's all for now!

Swanage Folk Festival 2006

Bill Badger and I just went for the weekend, getting into Swanage at Saturday lunchtime. The venue, the Sand Pit gardens near Swanage sea front, couldn't have been better (although some the stall holders compained of fighting to save their stalls from the strong winds!). The main stage tent had one side of clear plastic so that you could look at the gorgeous view of sea and cliffs as well as listen to the music. During the daytime the music was free, yet the quality of the artists was still excellent - Morgan and Robson (Ms Craig was poorly, sadly), Heelstone, and the fabulous Mary Jane were some of the bands we saw in the main tent. There were loads of good, unusual stalls, including a homemade liquorice seller, a too-tempting fairtrade handbag and scarf stall, hand made shoes and lots of jewellery and t-shirts. Found a superb shop in town too, 'Ever After' which sells all sorts of things to do with fairies, made me feel about 12 again! Needless to say it was an expensive weekend!
Whilst in town I watched the Procession come past - dozens of Morris sides of all shapes and sizes, and a bemused looking Slovakian dance troupe. Later the Morris teams danced by the seafront. Joyce Gang also played looking out to sea, near the Wishing Well, and were so impressed that they took photos of the crowd - with the sea behind us.
We booked into our rather poky room in the b&b in East Stoke (the nearest we could get at short notice) and drove back to Swanage for the non-free concerts. Quicksilver were first (Grant ex 'That's Life' presenter and her with the operatic voice from Mrs Ackroyd Band) who were quite funny, Grant also a surprisingly good guitar player. Then it was lovely ColvinQuarmby, on fierce form with the new song about America, religion and war, as well as Jerry's powerful song about so-called 'care in the community', performed acoustically for extra impact. Later Martin was allowed back to his drums for some thumping good dance numbers. A really good performance of 'Angels' got a lot of cheers. There were a family from Yorkshire who sat pursed-lipped all the way through, clearly hating the music. Obviously, ColvinQuarmby are like Marmite, you either love them or hate them!
Last up were Tanglefoot, the only Badger-related band Bill likes! Great fun, really powerful songs and lively stage act. Especially liked the song about the captain who lets the silvermine get flooded because bonking his girlfriend is more important than delivering vital fuel...
Sunday evening, hubby and I walked from the centre of town to the Globe in Durlston Park, along the cliffs. It was a clear day and the sun starting to set over the sea produced some beautiful colours. Very romantic. No dolphins though!
Highlight of Sunday was the Dolmen playing in the White Horse, again for free, they started off with Mystic Fairy Folk which is one of my favourites, together with their Bon Jovi style rendition of Prickleye Bush. We had to leave after the break though, in order to get a reasonable night's sleep for work on Monday. Awww! Next time we'll make a holiday of it down in Purbeck, and we won't have to rush away.

You're In The Morris Team...

Thought about joining a Morris team since Wickham Folk Festival, and had a look on the web to see which of the local ones I'd prefer and could get to. Other Val is thinking of joining Mayflower Morris, a clog dancing team, with pretty red and black costumes. They do some really nice dances, but dancing with heavy clogs on looks like too much hard work, plus their squire blows a whistle at them!! They also practise on a Monday which is no good for me, as that's choir evening.
Jackstraws are supposedly a Farnborough side, but they practise in Hale for some odd reason, very difficult to get to from Farnborough. Didn't fancy dancing in a smock (or Daisy the cow costume!), although I'm assured smocks are more practical than the pretty dresses. No relations of the New Labour MP although I understand he likes morris dancing!
Fleet were a possibility, although further away, but they dance in bare legs - not with my tarantula-like pins mateys!
Fleur de Lys seemed ideal, as they do a mixture of traditional dances, with sticks, staves and hankies, as well as a few of their own, and I liked their purple dresses. I saw them dancing at the May Day celebrations in Guildford. They practise in Guildford which is handy for the train, although there's a bit of hanging around involved - must find something to do for 2 hours from when my train arrives until practise starts! Things will get better when the train times change in December.
I've been to practise twice now, and met most of the ladies and musicians, and they are all really nice people. The side seems to be more about having fun than being foot-perfect, although some of the ladies are very knowledgeable about the dance tradition. I've kind of been thrown in at the deep end, as the ladies were busy practising for their anniversary trip to Dublin, and had no time to teach me steps or jargon really! Still, good fun, will keep it up and see if I'm any good!

Llangollen

After Shrewsbury Folk Festival we headed up to Llangollen in North Wales for 3 days of holiday. Checking into our guesthouse room we were delighted to find a beautiful Tudor style four poster bed, complete with curtains! Very romantic. The couple that ran the guesthouse had previously lived in Camberley, only a few miles from us.
It was a bit showery on the first day, so we got our waterproofs out and did the town trail, also venturing to the Last Inn in Upper Hengoed and the Cross Keys at Selattyn, a superb pub where the older men sat gossiping in front of a real fire.
The next day we went hiking, showers not withstanding, up the steep slope to Dinas Bran castle, past Trevor Rocks to the Pontcysyllte Viaduct and across it (somewhat scary drop) to the canal junction. A lady lost her hat in the breeze and it dropped down from the viaduct into a sewage farm below - I don't expect she'll want to retrieve it! There was an entertaining boat-jam at the Cysyllte junction as boat after boat emerged from the viaduct (which is one-way only) and the two branches of canal, all wishing to go different ways. Then it was back along the canal to Llangollen, accompanied by one of the narrowboats which had extricated itself.
The next day was overcast but dry. We hired some (rather ricketty) mountain bikes from the shop in town, with the intention of doing the challenging "Conquering Heroes" trail into the mountains. But we had not gone far before Bill Badger's mountain bike got a puncture, and we had to stop and change the inner tube. I had a look at the tyre and decided it was too flimsy for proper mountain biking, so we just stuck to the towpaths and roads instead. Our first stop was Horseshoe Falls, a man made weir, very pretty and peaceful. Next stop was a tour of Valle Crucis Abbey, with it's interesting gravestones of Welsh nobles, and then a little further on to the ancient Eliseg's Pillar. Then we went on to the Sun Inn in Rhewl where we sampled delicious Spitfire and Hanby Bitter, and I refuelled with a Welsh Lamb Henry. Later I also managed a beautiful scallop salad in Gales Wine Bar - my meal of the holiday, followed by visits to the rather posh Corn Mill pub, the Wynnstay Arms and open mic night at the Sun in Llangollen.
On our final day we visited Plas Newydd, the home of the celebrated lovers known as the Ladies of Llangollen, a wonderfully eccentric place. We also had a look round the little town museum in it's unusual converted library building. On the way back we stopped off at Chirk Castle, which was more of a stately home but nonetheless interesting (and open!), then next stop was one of our favourite pubs, the Bell at Waltham St Lawrence.
Holidays are never long enough!

Shrewsbury Folk Festival

Well I enjoyed it, but then I wasn't camping, ha ha. The weekend started off with some heavy showers on Friday, which can't have been nice for the campers, and on top of that it seems the camping site had been oversold, as people with camping tickets were astonished to be turned away as the festival campsite was full. I heard a rumour that the campsite had only been inspected two days before, when the site manager was heard to say, "Oh dear, it looks like it might not be big enough". On top of that, the showers and most of the toilets provided weren't connected to a water supply. The festival itself also seemed somewhat oversubscribed, with people warned not to go to the loo during some of the more popular acts in the main tent, as they might not be allowed in again! We just sat through some dire acts in the afternoon in order to have seats for the better acts in the evening. Towards the end of the weekend the organisers opened up the back of the tent, but then people were too far away from the bands to see and hear them properly.
By contrast our guesthouse was comfortable and friendly, although the ensuite shower was very pokey. There was a 20 minute stroll through the Tudor streets of Shrewsbury to the festival site at the Quarry gardens, carefully averting my eyes from the shops on Wyle Cop.
Apparently there was some local opposition to the folk festival, with residents fearing it could ruin their lovely gardens, but I think we were pretty considerate, picking up litter and putting down bark where trampling created muddy bits. We shall see if the Festival is allowed next year! A few of the local pubs joined in the festivities - one of the highlights for me was watching the Morris dancing in front of the Wheatsheaf whilst eating Kiwi flavoured iceream from Benetti's cafe. There were also various folk sessions in other pubs, some advertised and some spontaneous.
We met up with quite a few friends there - Bev, Jane, Val and Matt (showing off his new top hat), Bill and Fiona, and even Peter Darby and his wife, who were at the festival dancing with Oyster Morris.
Seth Lakeman was very popular, with lots of teenage girls competing for front spots and shouting, "We love you Seth" (us married women had to pretend not to be so enthusiastic). Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers also packed the main tent, she started off with a bit of a strange song, about Susie and her trapeze flyer lover, but soon got going with some fabulous folk songs and tunes. Got a really good front spot as well! Oysterband were one of the highlights as well, playing a set of popular dancey songs, but sadly not singing "The Flood" one of my favourites of their new material. Nancy Kerr and James Fagan were my highlights of the second tent, they have bought a new narrowboat (getting rid of poor Violet Sarah?) and will be moored in Bath - we will have to tell Patrick of his new neighbours! The others liked Suntrap, but I don't like their own material, preferring their traditional songs.
Despite a few hiccups a very good festival - I'll be back next year if it's running. I just hope they find a bigger camp site, a larger main tent and maybe a couple more stages!

Wickham Folk Festival 2006

Not the most comfortable of festivals but there's no denying that the line up was fantastic. The artists included:
Spiers and Boden
Richard Thompson
Shooglenifty
Oysterband
Seth Lakeman
Blue Horses
Steeleye Span
Flook
ColvinQuarmby
Martha Tilston
Kirsty McGee
The Larry Love Band (Alabama 3 Unnplugged)
Huckleberries
Arlen
The Dolmen
The Fold
All but the last two I'd heard of before, and wanted to see, and the last two I've become a fan of since the festie!
Spiers and Boden were perhaps a bit out of their element as Thursday night headliners, perhaps they'd have fared better with their band, which would have pleased us dance lovers, but they were still a hit with the crowd. A lot of people seemed to just turn up for Richard Thompson, who did unbelievable, amazing things with his guitar! I stood closer to get a look, and so that Richard could hear my insistent requests for Vincent Black Lightning and Beeswing (at least he couldn't accuse ME of being stuck in the 60s!). Would have requested the ceilidh-player adultery song but don't know the title ;-)
Blue Horses have gone a bit heavy rock (according to Mr Badger). I only stayed for 1 song and then had to go outside and sit down, as the indoor hall was too hot for standing. They're not to Bill's taste any more but they seemed popular with the crowd - including Cardiff Ladies' Morris!
Colvin Quarmby were very popular and the crowd were screaming for an encore - which they didn't get! Saw CQ and their entourage sat round a big table in the canteen eating their free dinner but was too shy to come over and say hello. If Other Val'd been there as well I would have said hi and well done.
Other Val discovered Chris and Thomas, a Simon & Garfunkel like guitar duo. She bought the CD but was not tempted with a t-shirt - even though she'd have had 2 men on her chest!
Martha Tilston and friends just get better and better - it will be interesting to hear her with her new band. Huckleberries a bit disappointing, they've gone all psychedelic, not my thang. Kirsty McGee didn't play her song about Hell which is my favourite - will have to request it next time - even though she had 2 spots!
The Dolmen from Weymouth were a good discovery - I had a good old dance to them till the stifling heat of the hall got to me. Their rock version of Prickleye Bush has to be heard to be believed. Bill bought the latest CD, bargain at £5. Also discovered The Fold, they're great - being from Brighton they're inevitably much like the Levellers but also a bit like 3 Daft Monkeys.
I wouldn't camp again though, the field was very flinty, stubbly and furrowy (Viv and Harry's camper van nearly got stuck!) not to mention floodlit by noisy generator powered lights. In fact, me and Bill ended up driving every night. A quet field with a curfew for families and me would have been nice, then another field for the loud, chatty, party people.
The main stage was unfortunately in a car park, OK if you brought a seat but not as nice as a field. The wasps and flying ants weren't too bad, just a bit of a nuisance. An the plus side, the Nepalese Curry was delicious! At £4.50 not too much of a rip off for festie food.
Peter Chegwyn please take note! And thanks for a marvellous festival. Happy days!

Guildford Vox at the Cyder House, Shackleford

Susie Clarke, one of our choir members, is a regular there as part of a duo called the Cyder House Players, so it is she we have to thank for our gig there.
Bill Badger gave me a lift out there, but couldn't stay due to a CAMRA committee meeting. However it was easy to spot fellow choir members there, due to instructions by Anna to wear something bright green! I cheated by wearing a sage linen skirt which was nice and cool, with a black top (our other permitted colour). I've bought an apple-green t-shirt from M&S for next time (yuck - bright greens really don't not suit me).
The singing bit was outside on the patio, and the acoustics were good. Susie and Richard played first, and sang some funky soul numbers including 'Sexual Healing' and George Michael's 'Faith'. Susie has a marvellous, expressive voice and has obviously been hiding her light under a bushel!
Then we were on. Our set list included our Nigerian Lullaby, Sloop John B, Bright Morning Star, Haul Away Joe (Show of Hands do a version of this with a rude verse), Whim-Away, Name of the Game and the Zulu Wedding Song. All of these went down very well with the crowd - but nobody liked Puit D'Amour, which was apparently by Bronski Beat. It didn't go down that well in Guildford High Street either. Anna really likes it though - how to tell her it's not a crowd pleaser?
Had really good fun, sad it's the last rehearsal on Monday till September. Will really miss the choir...

Tolpuddle Martyrs' Day

Phew, what a scorcher! Hot drive down to Tolpuddle in our little non-air-conditioned car, thankfully no delays, to arrive at a very hot music festival. David Rovics was on fine form, the people from the Venezuela and Guantanamo campaigns loved him - he is so knowledgeable about world affairs, with the Latin countries particularly dear to his heart. The brother of Omar Deghayes, Guantanamo prisoner no. 727, arrested seemingly in a case of mistaken identity, was there to campaign for his release.
Heron, one of Quintin's favourite bands, were there - pleasant but they didn't grab me. Maybe I'll give them a few more listens. Billy Bragg also played in the scorching afternoon heat - and had a particular go at the Dagenham and Barking CLP, who were there with their banner! Good if it urges them to give the BNP more of a challenge. There was no escape from the heat whilst listening to the music - the marquees were just as hot as outside.
I attempted to join the march behind the Swindon Against Bombing banner but the heat was too much for me and I had to go and sit under a tree! Kevin was wearing a Billy Bragg 'Socialism of the Heart' t-shirt and as the march went past him, he heard someone say 'Nice t-shirt mate' - it was Billy himself!
Even hotter on the way back - we stopped at the Langton Arms, Tarrant Monckton and the Wyndham Arms, Salisbury on the way back to take liquid refreshment and cool down. A good day - we may go for the whole weekend next year :-)

Big Session Festival 2006

Another stunning, hot weekend oop Leicester. Bill and I stayed at the Travelodge - he booked it well in advance and so we got a really cheap room. It was nice and quiet as well, although Other Val informed us that 'Vanessa and the Blacksmith' were also there (they sound like a folk song!)
Other Val kindly gave us a lift there which was very helpful. Stopped off at Gareth Turner's pub in Malton, the Telegraph, had a really nice meal and some good ale. Matt was poorly with a cold Friday morning and we were afraid he wouldn't be seeing him, but thankfully he rallied and was able to make his own way there by train. Met up with Sarah and Steve, with their lovely baby Georgia - great to meet Steve at last! Sarah was heavily pregnant at the last Big Session. Also met up with Camp Oyster again, the Oysterband yahoo group, albeit briefly as we helped put up the controversial Gazebo for them. Didn't see any OTF boardies but apparently they were about.
Bill being the organised one had acquired a map of all the good pubs in Leicester, and he and the Helliwells explored quite a few of them. I had a bit of (I think) sunstroke and had to duck out from the main pub crawl! However 'Out of the Vaults' and 'The Swan In The Rushes' are two I managed to get to - I can really recommend them to all you ale lovers out there!
The music line up was far better this year, as this is now the second year of the Sesh maybe the Oysterband found it easier to book people! On Friday night saw the Levellers - or at least the Levellers minus Simon Friend (on holiday, apparently) with Dan Donnely as substitute. He did an admirable job of singing 'Men An Tol' and playing mandolin, mouth organ etc. considering he'd only been given a week to learn the songs. Dan's own set on Sunday was well received, I joined a long queue for CDs! Missed out on Spiers and Boden as they clashed with the Levs, but I heard they were on good form - although they seemed a bit lost at the House Band session later on! They did bring out Mr Boden's new baby wearing cute ear-defenders though - aww!
On Saturday, Seth Lakeman was if anything more popular than the Levellers, with people pogoing away to Kitty Jay and Lady of the Sea - astounding! Is this the same person who played at little old Farnham Maltings just over a year or so ago? Amazing what being nominated for the Mercury Prize can do. Be good, be lucky!
Martha Tilston was on the second stage, played a really good set, accompanied by Tim and Matt - another band destined for greatness, I feel. But the Oysterband really made my day with their own set - how did they manage to persuade June Tabor to sing 'Wheels On Fire' - she seemd to love every minute and even had a bit of a dance! But that is the Oysterband for you - they really are the 'instruments of joy'!
Met up with my cousin Wayne in the morning - Brucianis was shut so we found a nice breakfast cafe in Silver Street and had very good fried breakfasts there as we caught up on all the news. Also managed to speak to my cousin Shaun who is a drummer in an 80s cover band. Still haven't seen them though, would like to, they play to packed venues so they must be good. Would love to see Shaun in his Goth makeup!
Back at the festival, listened to Dan's set, also Uisgedwr who were on marvellous form. No money for CD by then though! Gave Chumbawamba a miss, I'm not a fan, went to Ceilidh which was a bit less sweltering than last year - Random were the band, and were very good. Still can't strip the willow though!
Oysterband to finish off the festival - another good spot, and liked their new songs. Needed to recover from all that dancing and singing - we stopped at the Bell at Waltham St Lawrence on the way back to sup some ale, that helped!

Glastonwick 2006

Stayed at a b&b just across the tollbridge from the festie - very handy, although being run by a loud, clueless Eastern European woman. The countryside round Shoreham is stunning, and the sunsets over Lancing College were fab - took a few photos of those as well as the music.
The lineup was maybe not as good as previous years - although McDermott's 2 Hours and David Rovics were on on the Friday, and John Otway and Bob Grover's Dates were there on the Saturday - but the bar was definitely better, with 4 serving hatches instead of 1, preventing the long long queues of yesteryear.
Friday - met up with Gail, Dave, Mike and Rosie from the Ranters (McD2H's fan messageboard) also Glyn whom we knew from Cardiff beer festival. Nick Burbridge came over to chat to us about his new album, still untitled but he's very pleased with progress so far. David Rovics came to say hello, he had recognised me from my photo on Myspace, thought that was really nice of him. At least he reads the comments on his Myspace site, unlike most bands!
David Rovics was as gritty and left-wing as ever - he's a like a cross between Woody Guthrie and Michael Stipe. He played some fab songs, 'I'm a Better Anarchist Than You' went down a treat, as did 'The St Patrick's Battallion', a song about some Irish-Americans who joined up to fight the Mexicans - till they realised they were on the wrong side, and ended up fighting the US instead!
Then McDermotts 2 Hours were on, and they were FABULOUS! Ben Paley, the violinist, was in superb form, as was multi-instrumental Matt in his stylish hat! Ben really seemed to be enjoying himself, which made all the difference. Nick sang Dicey Riley, which is my Ranter's sign-on, so sort of my tune. I'm glad he didn't do the verses about how old and ugly she is though!! They also played All Souls Night, from the new album, a superb slow dance song. A small bald bloke insisted on dancing with me to this, much to Dave's amusement! Luckily he found requited love with a pink haired lady later on ;-D The famous Dirty Davey was played, which got everyone dancing (even Bill), as well as Darkness and Sail, Fox on the Run and Move On Molloy, the fan's favourite from the new album demo. Bone's Farewell, another one of my favourites, was sung as well, a very beautiful tribute, I'm sure Bone would be proud, if listening from above.
Lastly the rather drunk Attilla the Stockbroker performed some doggerel as we went to say thanks to the band.

Saturday - in the morning had a walk around Shoreham, found the beach with some difficulty - maybe as an SSSI they don't want many people visiting? Didn't see a Childing Pink but visited the fort and had a look at the Marlipins building, the oldest building in Sussex. Very nice too. Can reccommend the food and beer at the Red Lion, Shoreham.
The spirit of the punkfest seemed to return in the afternoon session, as various people with dodgy haircuts spat out their hatred of the System, and people spontaneously chatted with total strangers. Verbal Warning were good, but Tracey Curtis was a bit disappointing - she seemed to sing out of tune, and her songs only seemed OK, the usual left-wing vegan type stuff. The John Otway lecture was very amusing, with some interesting socio-political bits about Woolies, record companies and the media. Later he played in the Hall but Otway's act is very visual, only the front row could really see what was going on, so it was a bit wasted on me at the back. The best act of Saturday in my opinion were Bob Grover (ex Pirhanas) and the Dates, tuneful, dancey punk rock with meaningful, spiky lyrics - loved it. Looked around in vain for an album to buy.
Bloody good weekend - as ever! Thanks Attilla!!

Spanish Holiday Part 3 - Galicia

Finisterre
We drove over the huge bridge at Ribadeo and into Galicia, then went down to look at Lugo, which Bill had thought was a small Roman town much like Silchester! However it's a very busy city with a small touristy area enclosed by Roman walls, making it very difficult to park. In the end we found a dodgy space on a yellow line - didn't get caught though ;-)
The walls were good to walk around, having a wide path on the top. THere was also a good museum in the town, Museo Provincial, displaying pieces on seemingly every aspect of Galician life and history.
The drive to Finisterre was fraught, as we ended up in A Coruna thanks to the awkward Spanish road-signing, but we made it to the End of the World in the end - a little drive from Finisterre town up the Cabo Fisterra brought us to our hotel, the pousada 'O Semaphoro', the old semaphore house of Finisterre, right next to the lighthouse. We watched the sun go down from the cliff edge, magnificent, and watched as various pilgrims reached their final point on the Camino de Santiago and celebrated. We had the restaurant to ourselves, but the menu del dia was excellent value and delicious, especially enjoyed the scallops and the cheesecake. We also sampled some of the local white wine, Albarino, Bill liked it even though he's not a white wine drinker!
The rooms were unfussy, pretty and full of character - ours was called Soto Vente and had gorgeous sea views, with shutter to keep the lighthouse light out. But to my dismay there was fog in the night and the foghorn from the lighthouse kept blasting out! Was completely shattered the next day!!
Finisterre town was a hardworking fishing port, much as I'd suspected, there were some posh restaurants for tourists, some down-to-earth cafe-bars for fishermen, but the food at the pousada was so good that we ate there both nights. We explored some of the towns along the Costa da Morte, most of them disappointingly over-developed but some nice things to see, like the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Barca in Muxia, where the Virgin Mary supposedly arrived in a stone boat. Inland, we found the medieval castle at Vimianzo, restored at the cost of millions of euros, with all the information boards in Galego - not even in Spanish!! There were also lots of local craftsmen inside - lacemakers, woodturners and leatherworkers to name but a few. Bill was tempted by a handwoven basket but how would we have got it home?
Later, we found a dolmen near Berdoyas, and took it in turns to sit on top for pictures.
Quick stop for souvenirs, Bill bought a Finisterre t-shirt with Celtic designs and I bought a necklace with a scallop-shell pendant, then we headed off on the road to Santiago!

Santiago de Compostela
Worst nightmare of hotel-finding as Bill did not have a map showing the hotel on, the name of the village it was in, or any directions! The hotel was Hotel Congreso , 3km along the Estrada road (the only address that we had, confusing as Estrada also means street in Spanish!). Hotel Congreso was a big modern hotel, catering mainly for coach parties, the food and service was fine but it was a pity the pool wasn't open till after we left. It was a fair way out of town, so Bill drove to the outskirts of Santiago and we walked into the centre.
The Cathedral of St James was everything I'd expected and more - queues of pilgrims filing behind the breathtaking golden, laquered Baroque altar to kiss the bejewelled St James (I did as well, yes I know I'm an atheist but I couldn't resisit!). The vaulted building was packed with important works of art, and deeply meaningful religious iconograpy, including (conspiracy theorists please note) a Masonic all-seeing eye in a triangle above the altar.
There were many other interesting buildings and plazas to see, all with interesting histories, so we nearly wore our shoes out around town. Cafe Casino in Rua Do Vilar did the best raciones, cakes and coffee.
Time to hand in the car, and take the plane back from Santiago to Stansted - the airport was quite big, compared with Santander, and there wer a few weary pilgrims also waiting around - a good flight with views of France, Jersey and the Isle of Wight back to Stanstead, then train journey home in the rain.
Never long enough, holidays...

Spanish Holiday Part 2 - Asturias

Arenas de Cabrales
The Cabrales mountains were gentler than the snow-capped Picos near Potes but still very beautiful. We found a short walk which Bill had copied out of the guidebook, along a river to a bathing pool by an ancient bridge, wonderfully cooling after the hot drive in the car. The hotel in Arenas was easy to find and very friendly, although we had to laugh at the piped 'easy listening' music in our room! The restaurant in town was very good, we sampled local veal and Cabrales cheese (Bill loved it). At a local bar we bought delicious local scrumpy (sidra) for one euro a bottle, and witnessed the Asturian pouring phenomenon. The waiter holds the bottle above his/her head and pours a little into a wide glass as far as possible below (without looking!). The customer is then expected to knock back the cider within 10 seconds, whilst the cider remains fizzy. You'd think that at 6% we'd get piised quite quickly, but attempts to pour it ourselves limited intake!
Next day we attempted the famous Ruta de Cares, from Puente Poncebos to Cain through the Cares Gorge. The path exists because of a water channel tunnelled through the mountains, and I often had to stop to splash myself with cool water from there as it was a blisteringly hot day. The path climbs up and up till there's a sheer drop of hundreds of feet down the side to the river below, but the path, by then carved into the mountainside, is so wide that you don't feel scared - unless you deliberately look over the edge. We saw that the local goats manage the steep mountainsides effortlessly. A few scary bridges across as well, not the wobbly type though, thank goodness! We made it to Cain for a well earned ice-cold lager at a bar with a shady terrace, then we went back the same way, experienceing different views.
After a good shower and night's sleep we loaded the car with cider, cheese and chorizo then set off for Oviedo and the contrasting City life...

Oviedo
Finding the Gran Hotel Espana was relatively easy but parking was a problem - we parked across the road in a public carpark whilst we checked in and ended up being charged 3 euros! Spanish lesson No. 1 - libre does not mean free!!! Ended up paying 9 euros a night to park in the hotel carpark.
We wandered around Oviedo in the evening, admiring the beautiful cathedral and the medieval palaces around it, now mostly Government buildings. Had some lovely food at El Raitan - baby squid in black bean sauce was, err, interesting! Then it was off to the sidrerias in the nearby Cider Quarter for some more tutellage on pouring technique! Great fun.
Next day we visited the Cathedral, where allegedly some of Jesus' nappies are kept. 2000 year old nappies?!!? The inside was beautifully restored, with a magnificent Baroque altar and the remains of many of the kings of Asturias in the impressive Camara Santa. The park and shops were next on the list, but try as we might we couldn't find a CD shop! Apparently they are only to be found in malls on the outskirts of town. Luckily we visited a sidreria noted for its support of Celtic folk music, and asked where we might purchase some Asturian folk music - the barman had good English and pointed us in the direction of a good souvenir shop! No Celtas Cortos but bought some Llan de Cubel and various others, all good.
Most annoying thing - long, boring walk to Los Monumentos on a hot day only to find that the visitor centre was closed! The palace is more of a folly, being built in the mid 1800s, and the ancient church heavily restored. The church, which we visited last, was open but this was unexpected, leading us to miss the bus back into town. Another long walk - bah! Still, more delicious food and cider down town soon restored my mood.
Had a walk around Aviles on the way to Luarca, well worth a look, beautiful medieval buildings and peaceful atmosphere (away from the industrial bits!).

Luarca
This was my choice to stay, as I fancied a few days by the beach. A cute little fishing town, it reminded me of Looe in Cornwall. We stayed at the Hotel Gayoso, reputedly the oldest hotel in Spain but heavily refurbished in 70s style, never mind. Bill panicked as the man on the desk took his passport - but this was returned later in the evening. Unfortunately this was when the weather started to break, so I didn't get much of a tan. Spent the morning driving around trying to find the Playa del Tauran, as reccommended in Footprints, but there's no public access from Luarca or from the campsite - update your guidebook, please!! Had to settle for the rather smelly, grey beach in Luarca. Next day we fared better, discovering the beaches to the west of Luarca towards Tapia de Casariego, but it was too cold to wear a bikini, we just settled for romantic walks by the sea.
Meal of the holiday at the Meson de Mar - a black paella (Arroz Negra) - monkfisk, prawns, calamares, crab, rice and red wine with the addition of squid ink, creating a delicious meal that looked like a pool of tar!! More cider at the Govara(?) de Po
and Galician beer at the pretty El Cambaral. A good cafe in the plaza as well, with delicious cakes!

Spanish Holiday Part 1 - Cantabria

Came back from hols last week, driving and walking around Northern Spain. Here's what I've been up to...

Santander
Arrived at Santander, stepped out of the little Ryanair 747 to warmth and susnshine, great!! Hubby was very stressed, we went to get the car from Hertz and they kept trying to get him to upgrade - but he insisted on the little Kia which he'd booked originally. Just as well, as it turned out later. After only a short time to get the hang of the Kia and driving on the other side of the road, we had to try and find the hotel, only a short distance from the airport but easier said than done, as it was in a side street. We found it by fluke, after getting lost, but it was a relief! After Bill had had time to chill, we headed into Santander and walked along the cliffs to the beach, which was beautiful despite development, and almost empty. Nice little park nearby as well with traditional boats diplayed, also a small zoo with seals and penguins.
In the evening we found a friendly bodega for a meal - the only tapas we had whilst in Spain! The waitress brought over free liqueurs and a map of Santander, even though she spoke no English and we spoke no Spanish - what a lovely lady.

Potes
It was a stunningly beautiful drive from Santander to Potes, up into the mountains along a breathtakingly sheer gorge. We arrived at Tama and headed up a little concrete track, much to Bill's skepticism, and arrived at Casa Gustavo, a very special guesthouse. The building is owned by an English couple, Mike and Lisa, who restored it from a wreck - it's medieval or maybe even earlier, with lots of wooden beams, wood floors and doors, and stunning views up the valley to the Picos di Eupropa mountains. The food was excellent, served at 9pm Spanish-style. It was all locally sourced and imaginitively prepared - we were on full board and ate arond the table, chatting to Mike and Lisa and the other guests. Jugs of local wine were on the table, and liqueurs to finish, ensuring we never got to bed early!
We found some really good walks, thanks to a guide book that we borrowed from another guest. The first was a cable-ride up to Fuente De, then a walk back down - as it was all downhill it really took it's toll on our legs. Fantastic views though, spotted some mountain choughs and a Chamois deer, as well as the infamous 'Blue Daffodil' ;-) The second was a walk around the Berdoya Valley - Bill was annoyed that we were accompanied most of the way by a dog from a village, but I thought it was rather sweet! I bet he does it with lots of hikers!
The only disappointing thing was the trip down to the local bar in Tama to watch the UEFA cup - Middlesborough lost 4-0 to Seville. Pants!

Rare Quiet Weekend

Yesterday I made my first completely solo roast meal!! Roast pork with crackling, broccoli and leek with vegetable gravy. The roast potatoes were a bit overdone and the crackling was slightly burned, but all was edible and I felt rather proud.
I am as sick as a dog today though - can't be my cooking as Bill Badger is fine. We were planning to go and see Boo Hewardine tonight but I'll probably be too ill.
Oh well, back to bed :-(

Guildford Vox at the May Day Parade, Guildford

The second gig for my choir.
Well it was dry but rather cold! Was glad I bought my fleece. The dress code we'd decided on was plain black, blue and/or green. I was determined to wear my green skirt from Monsoon, so had to buy plain black top, tights and shoes to go with it!! But the fleece was light blue, bit of a clash. Mindyou some people cheated with brown coats or white trainers, so we ended up looking like a bit of a motley crew.
We patiently waited for the parade to get to the top of the high street, and watched some Morris dancing and clog dancing before we got to sing. Anna changed the set slightly, so we sang 'As I me walked out one May morning, I heard a bird sing - CUCKOO!' (a round) which went down well. However 'Puit D'Amour', a French bourree (spelling?) seemed out of place with the very English dancers, plus something seemed to go wrong, could see Anna frowning as she was conducting, and the crowd losing interest. More dancing, and we sampled the racked-bright Hogs Back TEA which the Pilgrim Morris were carrying around with them! Also Fertility Cake was on offer, very tasty too.
Next we walked down to the Castle Green where the men erected the Maypole (amidst much innuendo), and the Morris teams danced around it, although not with the ribbons. We committed a faux pas by facing away from the May King and Queen and towards the crowd, though I thought that was more sensible. We sang another couple of songs; 'Hey Ho' a folky round went down well.
Next we filed into the Star, where the Chelsea/Man Utd match was on - very loud. Luckily the noise didn't penetrate to the back room, where we squeezed in to sample more beer and a very good buffet. Disappointingly, we didn't get as long a set as we'd been promised, as all the individual Morris people seemed to want to sing (some better than others). 'Bright Morning Star' and Abba's 'The Name of the Game' went down very well, and the Zulu wedding song, 'Hamba Lulu' got a huge round of applause although some of the Morris people were clearly thinking 'WTF??' ;-D
We had to vacate the pub by 2.30pm so the Morris dancer went on to frolic by the White House, whilst I caught the train to Reading to meet Bill and our CAMRA friends at the Reading Beer Festival. Was good fun too. My beer of the festival was Twickenham Spring Ale, which has fantastic tangerine and grapefruit flavours from the American hops that are used.
Was rather hung over the next day though!

Val on Myspace

Hi all,
You can now visit me on Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/valtrav
Lots of cool friends!!

John Kirkpatrick at Guildford Institute

I hadn't seen John Kirkpatrick before and didn't know quite what to expect, thought an evening of squeezebox playing might be boring - how wrong I was. Not only was John an accomplished melodeon, concertina and accordion but an entertaining folk singer and raconteur. Excellent songs about Brunel - even making the Clifton Suspension Bridge sound interesting and 'Bright String of Pearls' which went down well as I suspect a lot of folkies are trainspotters as well :-/
THe song of St George got everyone singing along patriotically, whilst 'Arthur McBride', the anti-recruiting song from Norfolk got me all skeptical again 'The Queen wouldn't scruple to send us to France, where we would be shot in the morning' - so wise!
And a jolly time was had by all ;-D

Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival, Easter 2006

Better late than never, here's Val's F&GFF folk awards!
Best Performance - Dave Swarbrick, Swarb's Lazarus. Doing remarkably well considering he'd been so ill with emphysema that he'd had his obituary published in the Telegraph. The new lungs seem to have taken to him well, though there was a frightening moment when he had to pop outside for a cough. His fiddle playing was stunning, sometimes exhilaratingly fast and sometimes slow and soulful, but always faultless. His joy at playing was obvious - so good to see him back on the stage again, and I expect he feels the same way!
Best Person I hadn't heard of yet - David Ferrard, a superb singer with unusual, uplifting songs, mostly his own material.
Tip for the Future - Isambarde, a new band from Coventry.
Best band I hadn't seen before - Uiscedwr, liked their material and their performance was great as well. Micheal McGoldrick Band were very good as well, similar material to Capercaillie.
Funniest Act - Les Barker just pipping it in front of Last Night's Fun
Biggest Disappointment - Dave Newey from Arlen, not quite as good at vocals as songwriting.
Band I thought I wouldn't like but did - Saw Doctors who I didn't like last time. However the sound man did a superb job and we could hear all of the (very catchy) lyrics this time. Bought the CD as well.

The Levellers at Dorking Halls 30/03/06

I can only apologize for not posting for so long! Someone introduced me to Myspace and I've been busy trying to suss that out, also been away (more about that later).
We missed the support due to traffic problems, which was just as well as he wasn't very good. Simon Friend accompanied him but even that didn't help as he played and sang out of rhythm.
Briefly saw Neil of Chanticleer and his wife, who'd got free tickets, and Angie and Gill from the Board at the end, unfortunately Bill Badger was keen to go by then fearing more traffic jams.
The Levellers were on good form, belting out non-stop dancey sing-ey music whilst the fans down in the mosh-pit went wild, pogoing and slam-reeling ecstatically. The volume was a little loud even for me - I was in the balcony near the back, but when I left my ears were ringing as if I'd been standing next to the speakers. Mark Chadwick sent a little girl away from her front spot because she was holding her ears and saying 'ow' - I'm sure it wasn't because she hated the music!
The band didn't let the fans down and played their greatest hit and signature tune 'One Way' which had the whole hall singing. Fabulous night out!

Martha Tilston at Farnham Maltings

Bill, Other Val and I braved the cold to see Martha Tilston (Steve Tilston's daughter) at Farnham Maltings. We thought Steve Winchester would be supporting, but he was unavailable, so we were treated to a set by Andy Steadman of Sequoia, more of a Coldplay-like indie band than a folk band. However Andy's acoustic set fitted in fine with the evening, and his thoughtful songs with their catchy melodies were very well received. Darren needn't have worried about ticket sales, the little venue was crowded and more chairs had to be fetched!
When Martha came on stage I could see that she'd changed, become more confident and serious. Tim Cotterill (ex Legacy) also joined her, playing mandolin and fiddle, with the occasional accompaniment of Luke Parker on guitar.
Her new material seemed far more mature and rounded, perhaps travelling to Africa and India has helped her to grow.
She started her set with 'Cycles' - a song about doomed relationships that follow a very familiar pattern, an experience I'm sure many people can relate to. Somewhat different from the rose-tinted romanticism of her 'Mouse Tales' days. THere were still many romantic songs in her set, including 'Queen Jane' about an uncharacteristically affectionate Henry VIII mourning his wife who died in childbirth, and 'Seagulls' - a song about falling in love in Brighton. Her trademark quirkiness was evident (I'm glad to say!) with an adaption of the traditional song 'A Blacksmith Courted Me' to tell the story of an ex about to get married as 'A Surfer Courted Me' and also 'Red Riding Hood' where the wild girl from the wood tames the Wolf with the power of her love, ably assisted by all the angels in Heaven. 'Willy of Winsbury' was a traditional song that I'd remembered from previous gigs, Martha's version is about a girl who gets pregnant, her father is at first angry but when he meets her boyfriend Willy he quite fancies him himself!
A very enjoyable and uplifting set, made all the better for the occasional sad song in amongst the romance.

The Oysterband at Forest Folk

Hosting the Oysterband at Forest Folk was a very brave decision by Charles Gale. Forest Folk is located in a little scout-hut type building in the hamlet of Boarhunt near Bishops Waltham, with a tiny bar and pool table at the back. Charles had planned to leave some room for dancing but everyone expected chairs (nice, comfy new chairs, by the way, courtesy of the National Lottery).
Oysterband kicked off with a brand new track, 'The Generals are Born Again' which left the audience in no doubt as to their views on war and organised religion. THen they played 'Native Son' an anthemic and supremely dancey number which is a firm favourite with their fans. The cheeky drinking song 'Our Lady of the Bottles' and crazily fast '20th of April' came next. Temptation became too much for some, and a small group of people started to dance at the front, which blocked the view for the seated folkies. Poor Charles had to tell them to sit down, I felt sorry for him, caught in a no-win situation.
The Oysterband slackened off the pace a little with slower songs until half-time. However they were surprised to be interrupted mid-song with Charles thrusting a bit of paper at them with a car registration on. Apparently one of the floor-spot artists, a night-shift worker, had been wedged in by a Vauxhall and couldn't get home to bed! I think it must have been a bit of a culture shock for the band as well, JJ admitting that it had been a long time since they'd played a folk club.
The second half started off with solos by Alan Prosser and Chopper, giving them the chance to showcase their talents. Then the band returned somewhat ironically with 'Another Quiet Night in England' which it certainly wasn't! The band played more of their political songs, then to finish played the irresitibly dancey 'Blood Wedding' to which more fans leapt up to pogo to at the front. Charles was had no chance of stopping them (us!) this time, and sat disconsolately on the edge of the stage till the Oysterband played an encore and finished. They weren't given the chance of a second encore but there seemed to be no hard feelings, and the band came out afterwards to meet the fans and chat.
So many people shook hands with Charles on the way out and thanked him for a fantastic evening that perhaps he thought the Oysterband weren't so bad after all!

Folk Brittannia - BBC4

Have been feeling both mentally and physically exhausted recently, so have not had time to go out much - but have watched lots of telly. So I thought I'd post about the Folk Britannia series on British folk music instead...

1: BALLADS & BLUES
Friday 3 February 9pm-10pm
From the post-war, highly politicised folk clubs to the 1950s skiffle scene that captured the imagination of the nation's youth.
This was rather boring, starting off with American folk music roots - Leadbelly, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and the like. All very well, but it's not like the Yanks invented OUR folk music!!
Why did they not start off with Britain at the time music was just starting to be written down, times of trauma when folk songs provided expression of the hopes and fears of the ordinary people - for instance pagan times, Normans v Saxons v Celts, the English Civil War, Nelson, Revenuers, highwaymen...would have been far more interesting. I bet Martin Carthy could really have gone to town.
The programme also really stuck the knife into Euan MacColl, which I thought was rather unfair. Euan MacColl did so much for the 60s folk revival, he was made out to be a real purist but he wrote many 'new' folk songs, beautiful ones too - a very unusual thing to do at the time, including surely the best love song of all time "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". He had a genuine love and understanding of the ordinary working people. There's also worse things to be than a Marxist in my opinion!


2: FOLK ROOTS, NEW ROUTES
Friday 10 February 9pm-10pm
In the 1960s the folk boom takes hold, and bands like Fairport
Convention and Pentangle bring the music into unexpected new places.
Bands experimented with crossover music - tut tut!! But then surely we are a crossover culture - Normans, Anglo-Saxons, Celts (a misnomer in itself), Danes, Jutes, and now Asians, Africans, Eastern Europeans all living here and thinking of themselves as British. June Tabor got sniffy at the drum-and-bass merchants, who are still unwelcome in most folk clubs today, but then she is often accompanied by a piano which as I've said is not really a folk instrument. People in glass houses...
This episode was far more interesting and informative. It was great to hear about Fairport, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny and the seminal 'Liege and Lief' album.
One of my earliest memories is Steeleye Span singing 'All Around My Hat' - all due credit to them for pioneering folk-rock. Maddy Prior had/has the voice of an angel!
Also to hear about Davy Graham whom Phil Beer keeps mentioning and who wrote the theme music for Folk Britannia - 'Angi'. But if you ask me, Paul Downes plays the
definitive version!!

3: BETWEEN THE WARS
Friday 17 February 9pm-10pm
Folk-rock enters the 1970s mainstream, a political edge returns to music in Thatcher's Britain and, today, two very different scenes see folk music flourishing once more.
Ah, them were't days, the late 80s/early 90s - when I first started getting into folk music without even realising it. I loved Kirsty MacColl's album Kite, I loved the Pogues (even though my sister and I used to tease each other that we fancied Shane MacGowan), and of course I was the Levellers biggest fan back in the days when they were a political band. Nice to see the Levellers getting some recognition for a change.
Wasn't really into Billy Bragg but knew he was a top bloke. If only I'd discovered Christy Moore back then - love his work now, of course. But then folk was a 4-letter word back then.
Laughed at Jim Moray's reception at the BBC Folk Awards - I can well imagine it from them museum-pieces in the audience!! I agreed that certain folk clubs need to be more inclusive - next cold snap they will lose all their old-fogey members!! Folk music is far broader than the finger-in-ear purists think. It is OUR music, the people's music, after all, not exclusively Martin Carthy's or Fairport's style of music. That said, some folk clubs are better than others, and some festivals have a broader scope than others.
Comments/discussion welcome, as always!

'Daughters of Albion' at the Barbican

What a horrible venue! A concrete and plastic monstrosity in the middle of an urban jungle. Not a good setting for folk music, you might think, and the sell out crowd of hippies young and old didn't look very comfortable. Bill and I hadn't eaten, but there was a queue for the cafe and a bouncer on the door.
However the seats were nice and confortable, and we had a good view despite being in the cheap seats, on the far left at the front. We could see the artists arriving on stage, and as the BBC were recording, were being filmed each time clapping in the background.
The Daughters of Albion were June Tabor, Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy, Kathryn Williams, Sheila Chandra & Lou Rhodes, with a surprise appearance from Vashti Bunyan. Far from being enslav'd and weeping as in the Blake poem, the ladies were feisty and romantic, performing a variety of songs, some from women composers such as Lal Waterson, Kirsty MacColl and PJ Harvey, some written themselves, and some anonymous traditional songs from the women's perspective. Eliza Carthy was an excellent compere and my favourite of the seven - she has such a powerful, expressive voice and cheerful stage presence. Hadn't seen Sheila Chandra before - she used to be in a band called Monsoon whom I'd vaguely heard of - but was very impressed with her version of Reynardine. Kathryn Williams was very heavily pregnant, and did a rather breathy version of 'This Woman's Work' which is apparently about childbirth. Lucky her waters DIDN'T break on stage - that would have been embarrassing!!
June Tabor sang accompanied by the piano, which I don't quite agree with - it's not a folk instrument, not unless it's a badly-tuned pub joanna! But enjoyed her version of Lili Marlene. Norma Warterson was very good as well, although Eliza did tend to drown her out during their duets. Lou Rodes has a lovely deep voice, think she should have put her shoes on, there's a lot of discarded takeaways and dog poo on the streets of London! Vashti Bunyan was a bit disappointing, she only had a weak voice and she made a mistake during her song, coming in too early on one line. Perhaps she was just nervous though.
The concert had a great atmosphere - you could see that the performers liked and supported each other - and it was nice to feel the sisterly vibes coming from the audience as well.
The ladies got a standing ovation at the end, well deserved too!

Richard Thompson at the Anvil, Basingstoke

Some trauma getting there. Just as I was on the train to Ash, my mate Mike Whittall whom I hadn't seen in ages texted me to say he'd meet me in the Squirrel. However I'd already asked Simon and Jane for a lift to the Anvil from Ash, where they live.
I'd told Simon that I wanted to be picked up either at Ash station or the Dovers Arms. So I texted back to say 'meet me in the Dover's instead' which he duly did. But then I hadn't realised that while Simon was picking me up from the station, Helen was driving us all from Simon and Jane's house! So in the end I had about 2 minutes in the pub with Mike and his work colleague before dashing out to meet a rather annoyed Simon.
Then, just as we were heading up past Frimley, Jane realised she'd left the tickets at home, so we had to drive all the way back. Helen seemed more annoyed with Simon though, for being so unhelpful!
Whilst Other Val and Bill Badger were in the Cricketers, Simon, Jane and myself found our seats and listened to the support act, Jeb. He played blues, it was a bit samey but OK, not as awful as some support acts can be.
We met Bill and Other Val, then shuffled in for Richard Thompson at 8pm, and he played right through to 11pm - great!
Richard has an amazing stage presence - you can tell straight away that he's a superstar. And his playing! Astounding! I'd love to see a guitar-off between him and Martin Simpson. The songs he'd written were all top quality. He played Vincent Black Lightning and Beeswing which are amongst my favourites of his. Didn't like the jazzy stuff so much, but as least I could watch his skilled fingers on the guitar. The double-bassist he had accompanying him (also called Thompson!) was very good as well.
A great night out, well worth £19.50!!

Last Night's Fun at Electric Theatre, Guildford

Bill Badger and I had seen Last Night's Fun at Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival before, but he wasn't that keen on them, although I thought they were a hoot. So I persuaded him to get 2 tickets for the gig, and was glad I did.
A few years ago Last Night's Fun just did jigs and reels, they were really an Irish pub session band, except better musicians than most. Now they do a balance of songs and Irish dance music, with ample opportunity to show off Denny Bartley's and Nick Scott's undoubted talent, as well as Chris Sherburn's dry Yorkshire humour! So Hubby enjoyed himself after all. Chris is rather easy on the eye as well, I have to say ;-)
Denny's slowed-down ballad version of 'Whisky in the Jar' was masterful, but Nick Scott did a breathtaking solo on the Uillean pipes, which was the highlight of the evening for me.
Cheered me up on a dark Winter's day!

Boo Hewerdine at West End Centre, Aldershot

Kev and I went to see Boo Hewerdine (ex The Bible and collaborator with Eddi Reader and kd lang, amongst others) by bike and train - brr chilly!
It's debatable as to whether Boo's music is folk or blues, but I'd say don't worry about labels - just go and enjoy. He is a genius at acoustic guitar, a pleasure to listen to. Songs of his that I recognised were 'Bell, Book and Candle' (apparently featured on Emmerdale) and 'Try The Patience Of Angels'. Boo is pretty successful - it's great that he still plays at little places like the West End Centre. His stage banter is very entertaining as well, he's got a very dry sense of humour and is pretty good at one-liners. Didn't fancy winning a CD by dancing to his danciest song though, and nobody else did!

Tom Robinson's Castaway Party, Clapham

Always good fun, the Castaway parties. Tom started doing these free concerts as a thankyou to his fans, but now since he's become a Radio 6 DJ these are the only concerts he does. He often invites old friends such as Raphael Doyle to join in his music, also Tom invites young, relatively unknown artists that he likes to showcase their talents. Some of these I also like!! This year there weren't any guest acts I disliked, and I really enjoyed Tom Robinson Band as well. Guests included Chris T-T who had an excellent song/poem about the Countryside Commission (not very complimentary ;-) ), Stoney (a rock band from Sheffield) and the lovely Lee Griffiths, who is a bit of a regular.
Other Val travelled down with us, and joined us for Sunday Lunch in the Priory Arms, Stockwell before the Party and for drinkees at the White Horse (Sloany Pony?!), Parsons Green afterwards. Met Magnus and June from CAMRA there, as well as regular attendees Len and Sue, who are also big Bluehorses fans.
Bill Badger took lots of photos, although we couldn't find anyone famous to pose with the News and Ale. I'll put them in the gallery when he gets around to downloading them ;-)

Tabbush Sisters at Cranleigh

Went to see the Tabbush Sisters at Cranleigh Arts Centre, since Anna sold the gig to us so well (not too heavily, mind you!). I don't normally like unaccopmanied a capella type singing but the Tabbush Sisters (Anna, Freya and Nonny) did far more interesting songs than most, and sang rounds etc rather than non-stop barbershop type stuff. They sang everything from Elvis to Cyril Tawney to Tracy Chapman, with a few of their parent's (Carolyn Robson and Paul Tabbush's) favourite trad. folk songs as well. Didn't think Anna looked like her sisters, but Freya and Nonny (Veronica) were very much alike. Anna refused to say how old they were, only that they had a combined age of 70. A lot of people from my choir (and Anna's other choirs and Freya's choir!) were there - Nonny may have to give in and start one in Cardiff, she said!
After the gig, met up with Darren Beech who happens to be a good friend of Nick Burbridge. I hope Darren can persuade McDermott's 2 Hours to come to Farnham Maltings, that would be ace! Also put in a good word for the fellas with Laurence of Electric Voices (as did Darren).
Very good concert - I just hope Anna is not going to teach us any of her more difficult songs!

Ceilidh at Godalming

Bill and I decided to see the New Year in with a ceilidh, rather than our usual fancy-dress evening down at the Prince of Wales. The band was Bursledon Village Band, who were very good, and had made lots of effort with sparkly waistcoats, flashing hats, Bridge Violin etc! We could bring our own booze, which worked out much cheaper, and there was a nice buffet in one of the back rooms. The time flew with something to do, other than sit in the pub drinking beer.
The caller was not as good as one's we've previously experienced - he seemed rather too serious, and missed the midnight moment because he was determined to teach us 2 more dances. Somehow did my back in, not used to being pushed around on the dance floor I guess. Still, we had a great time and met some nice people.