Val Addiction

The End

2008-12-28T11:58:00.003Z

Hi there everyone

I'm giving up writing this blog - increasingly I've been finding it harder to post here, and I have other interests on the web on which I now concentrate. Thanks to everyone who has read the blog, especially the regular readers. I will leave the blog up as it is, I won't delete it, as it's good to have a record of these past 4 years or so. Since I started the blog as a happy-go-lucky 34 year old, I've had 3 miscarriages and a divorce, but I deliberately haven't referred to these things as there's seldom any point in depressing other people. Instead I've tried to emphasise the fun and entertaining things of life, such as my romance and second marriage with Patrick, truly wonderful.

But before I go, here is a list of my favourite gigs of 2008, in no particular order:

Oysterband at Pontardawe

Demon Barbers at South Petherton

Show of Hands at Saul Canal Festival

At First Light (bloody good Irish band, with some Lunasa members) at Bath Folk Club

Flossie Malavialle at Whittlesey Straw Bear

Love to you all

Valerie

Weekend in Kent and Sussex

2008-11-16T16:07:00.003Z

A weekend of joy and sadness. On the way down to my birthday weekend in Greatstone, Kent my sister told me that my cat, Holly, had died. Holly had been a good friend to me through illnesses, miscarriages, divorce...she was a beautiful Autumn-coloured cat with white paws and bib, bossy but very affectionate and liked nothing more than to snuggle up in bed next to me at the end of the day. She was unique and I will always miss her.
Greatstone was a nice place, a strange mixture of desolation and seventies bungalows. The weather on Saturday wasn't good so we visited the museums in Hastings (lunch at the excellent FILO brewpub) and Battle (1066 Museum somewhat disappointing). The bonfire parade and fireworks were very enjoyable once more, although less bonfire societies were there this year, due to Rye not being last of the season this year. I bought a flashing pink wand to carry along the streets - tasteful!
On Sunday we did a car tour through Felixstowe and Dover to Ripple, the village near Deal which our narrowboat is named after. There was a windmill, a little church and a lovely pub (where I had a good pint of Harvey's Sussex) and a pink thatched cottage called Raspberry Cottage (get it?). Patrick took lots of pictures, he's hoping to put a few on the boat.
Then it was into Deal for lunch at the Bohemian (a cracking seafront pub) and a walk along the odd looking pier and a look at the fishing boats hauled up on the shingle.
Bit of a long drive to stay the night with Simon and Jane and visits to the Good Intent and the Sandrock, then up at 6am for the drive back to work in Midsomer Norton!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2008-11-06T13:12:00.003Z

I had lots of presents this morning - a bottle of Maderia, 2 books, some smellies for the bath and 2 boxes of chocolate - all from Patrick!
Bought cakes for my colleagues from Muffins in Midsomer Norton, very nice they were too. Yes I did try one myself!
Off to a Laphroaig Masterclass Whisky Tasting this evening, at the Ashton Manor Hotel in Bristol, courtesy of Simon. What a great present!
It's going to be a really good birthday. I'm looking forward to the next one as there will be lots of special stuff going on...but not looking forward to being 40!!!

Weekend on the Narrowboat

2008-11-03T13:13:00.002Z

A couple of weeks ago we had nothing particular on, and were both a bit fed up of working on the garden and spare room, so I suggested a weekend aboard Ripple. Patrick, of course, readily agreed!
This also gave me the chance to try some motorway driving on the way to Saul Junction. I didn't like merging, especially as there was an annoying Skoda right behind me trying to nick my gap on the inside lane, but one I was there I was fine - even overtaking a cement mixer, a caravan and a horse box!
Ripple was fine when we got there, but Patrick had to remove a quantity of oily water from the engine compartment before we moved, so that the automatic bilge pump wouldn't start up in the marina.
We decided to head towards Slimbridge so that we could visit the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, as well as the Tudor Inn! The cruising was pleasant despite the odd shower. We moored up just past the bridge and headed for Sir Peter Scott's bird sanctuary, where we were persuaded to become members of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, which meant we could come and go for free. We also heard some stories of the oil tanker disaster from first hand experience, and other stories of life working on the barges, from one of the volunteers there - which made Patrick's day!
Evening meal at the Tudor was a bit disappointing, and there was only one beer that we liked. The Bell at Frampton serves better food, beer and cider, but sometimes some of the young lads get a bit rowdy.
Next day it was hammering with rain so we treated ourselves to all-day breakfast at the Black Shed, which was 'nicely' decorated for a halloween party later! Back to the bird sanctuary for a longer wander and a cuppa at the kiosk near the canoes. We decided not to canal-bash all the way down to Sharpness, but cruised westward for an hour or so before turning back towards Saul.
A lovely, relaxing weekend - back to reality now!

Folk Awards Nominations 2009

2008-10-16T12:01:00.001Z

Yes it's that time again!

My nominations:

Folk Singer of the Year: Flossie Malavialle

Best Duo: Show of Hands

Best Group: Oysterband

Best Album: The Kansas Sessions (Kirsty McGee)

Best Original Song: Dust Devil by Kirsty McGee

Traditional Track of the Year: Alan Tyne of Harrow by Kerr/Fagan

Horizon Award (Best Newcomer): Flossie Malavialle

Musician of the Year: Cormac Byrne (again!)

Best Live Act: The Demon Barber Roadshow

A mixed weekend

2008-10-13T12:02:00.003Z

Went to Banbury Folk Festival this weekend - I'd intended to drive there, but the traffic was very heavy and there were lots of a***holes about so I chickened out by the time I'd got to Chippenham!
After some trouble finding the hotel and the Mill Theatre, we settled down to watch the festival's patron, Isla St Clair. A bit different to the normal Folk Festival fayre, she sang North-West Scottish songs, some Burns and of course Speed Bonny Boat. The song "Save Our Glens" went down particularly well with Patrick! I think she was a bit nervous at being in front of the Festival crowd, probably being more used to TV audiences, but she went down a storm!
Uiscedwr were as excellent as ever. Anna was looking happy and healthy, which is good! Cormac Byrne as amazing as ever, and he seems to be sharing the singing and anecdotes now as well. Shame James wasn't with them, I liked his guitar playing and songs.
In the morning, which was beautifully sunny and warm, we went on a blissful trip along the Oxford Canal aboard the "Dancing Duck" dayboat from Tooleys Boatyard. Rob McKinnon was on board, and sung us some wonderful songs which we could join in and sing.
Went to a dance workshop with Herbaceous Border at Saturday lunchtime, but there disaster struck. In a hurry as our food took longer than expected, I dumped my handbag down with the Morris dancer's bags and noticed a small, thin woman with short grey hair standing by them. She offered to look after it for me, which in retrospect should have raised alarm bells, but I took her for the wife of one of the dancers and was in too much of a hurry - as there were a bit crowd of people around I didn't think anyone would dare steal it. However when I finished dancing both the handbag and the woman were gone.
She was probably just after my cash but a lot of other things were in my bag - car key, house keys, mobile phone, bank cards, cheque book, passport, council tax bill, wedding certificate (the last three because of all the name change stuff I'm having to do at the moment). Patrick was concerned about our house being burgled so he drove back to Bath and then we had over an hour's wait for the "emergency" locksmith to turn up (we had been told 6pm but he arrived at 7.10pm).
Then it was drive all the way back to catch Flossie Malaiville and Keith Donnelly at the Town Hall - an unusual combination, possibly a smart career move for Flossie to ink up with someone with lots of contacts in the business, but their music and humour are quite different. We thought Flossie would do better with fellow Brel admirer Robb Johnson. Move to the South Flossie, s'il vous plait!
Biddenden's Cider at the Pegg Inn was delicious but I just wasn't in a drinking mood (unusually, you might say).
Next came Patrick's favourite of the festival, Vin Garbutt. He was on good form despite pharyngitis, cracking some good jokes and singing some thought-provoking songs. I especially liked the song about the New Zealand children - I just hope Gary Glitter never tours there!!
We had a pint or two in the Woolpack, which had a beer festival on (Ossett Porter and Purity Gold very good), then popped back to the Town Hall for Tom Leary and Kevin Dempsey, followed by Waterson:Carthy who ended the festival.
A good little festival - just watch out for Fagin's missus!

Aardvark Ceilidh Band at Subscription Hall, Stroud

2008-10-07T11:51:00.002Z

It's the first time I've been to a non-folk festival ceilidh in aages - and I really enjoyed it. Adrian, our friend from the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society, kindly gave us a lift and tried to teach me some ceilidh moves - with varied success!Aardvark Ceilidh Band were pretty good - sort of folk/prog rock fusion music, with guitar riffs from Pink Floyd or Led Zep creeping in at times. Trouble was, the caller sounded muffled and so I couldn't hear the instructions - luckily the dances were mostly well-known ones like Roger de Coverley and the Shetland Strip the Willow so the regulars were able to show us what to do - or shout at us when we went wrong! Everyone seemed good natured, nobody was (outwardly!) impatient with us when we made mistakes or weren't quick enough - despite some very good dancers being there (we were in Cotwold Morris territory, of course).
There was only one real ale on at the bar - but since it was Champion Beer of the Cotswolds, Stroud Brewery's "Budding", I wasn't complaining! The dance floor was rather bouncy, even for a sprung floor - apparently they've had problems with it in the past - but it was a huge hall, similar to my old haunt Godalming Borough Hall, with plently of room for dancing.
Very good - will definitely be back when the wonderful Climax Ceilidh Band are on in February, if not before!

PASSED!

2008-10-07T07:22:00.000Z

Finally passed my driving test yesterday after the 4th attempt. I am so pleased! Now I can drive to work, drive to folk concerts, drive to any Morris dancing or choirs that I fancy...freedom!!
Patrick is pleased because now I can drive him to the pub ;)
The only thing is, now I have to negotiate the double mini roundabouts in Radstock on a daily basis. Poo.

Honeymoon on the Isle of Wight

2008-09-30T17:44:00.003Z

The weather was brilliant all week, which was amazing given the afwul weather which preceeded the wedding! Our cottage in Whippingham was lovely, there was a nice outdoor pool (which we didn't in the end make use of, as we were out every day) and red squirrels in the garden (very camera shy ones).
The nearest pub, the Folly Inn on the River Medina, is quite a famous pub amongst yachties, and it does excellent food - so we made good use of it in the evenings. Other favourite pubs included the Bargeman's Rest (huge meals and good beer - we missed out on the live music this time, but usually that's very good too) and the best beer on the island, "Long Willie" at Fat Cat Bar round the back of the Sandpiper Hotel in Freshwater (rumours of it's closure were thankfully unfounded!).
The Isle of Wight Cycling Festival was on, so we hired a couple of bikes and joined in on one of the rides (the Around Chale Pub Crawl, of course!) as well as our own rides around Yarmouth and the river Medina.
Patrick couldn't believe his luck as, cycling down the disused railway from Newport to Cowes, he learnt about a shipment of wind turbine blades about to be shipped from the River Medina to Marchwood - he completed our cycle ride to West Cowes then rode back like the wind to photograph the barge ("Bladerunner 2") with his posh camera! I was quite happy, I just went shopping in Old Cowes for a while and met him later :)
Walking was good too - a walk from Freshwater Bay to the Needles in perfect weather was completed by a visit to the Needles Old Battery and their little tea room.
My treat of the holiday was a trip to the Alum Bay Sweet Factory, where I purchased my favourite Rhubarb and Custards as well as Blackberry and Apples. Yum yum! I also made a sand frog at the sand souvenir place, well it had to be done. A good childhood nostalgia experience!
Returned relaxed and happy to home - bit tired though ;)

The Wedding of the Millennium

2008-09-24T12:17:00.004Z

Despite my worries, the Wedding went almost perfectly and the day was extremely enjoyable! It was good to see so many of our friends and family there to support us and share in our celebration.
The hair appointment wasn't a disaster, as I'd feared because it was with an unknown hairdresser - Amy did a good, professional job. However I didn't trust the makeup artist and ended up doing the makeup myself!! These are the kinds of problems you get trying to sort these things out in a new city.
The cake was ready at Marks and Spencer in the morning so Jane and I went down to get it - it was packaged securely so it was fine in the boot of her car till it got to the Swan Hotel in Bradford on Avon, which was where our Wedding Breakfast was. Jane and Shirley tied, zipped and buttoned me into my wonderful dark burgundy wedding dress, and I'd finished my makeup and nails just in time before the Rolls Royce (1965 from Ace Wedding Cars) arrived.
It was an exciting journey from Bath to Bradford on Avon in the Rolls, and we passed near both town centres so there were lots of people to wave at! The Rolls was very luxurious inside, with lots of leather and wood panels - the driver was nice as well, obviously enjoying his chauffeuring.
As soon as we drew up at the West Barn, I was collared by both the Registrar and the photographers! I was a little late by the time they had finished with me, but recognised Show of Hand's "You're Mine" at last which was my cue to walk down the aisle to meet Patrick.
Well, thankfully I managed to get through our vows and ring words (which we had chosen ourselves) without crying! A lot of people did get rather emotional, naming no names. The Registrars were great and it was such a beautiful ceremony. There was a slight cock up with signing the register as I forgot my Dad's middle name, but it was all sorted and after more photos I went back down the aisle to Eliza Carthy's version of "The Little Gypsy" and everyone started clapping along!!
The meal at the Swan Hotel was excellent and the boat trip in the evening aboard the Barbara McLellan couldn't have been more appropriate! As Patrick had steered trip boats before, he was allowed a little while at the tiller. It was a good opportunity for people to mingle and chat to each other without loud music blaring, and with beautiful views along the Kennet and Avon canal. Plus all the money went to the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, a worthy cause.
No official photos as yet but some friends and relations have taken snaps - they will appear on Facebook, Myspace and Valerie's Gallery soon!

Hen Weekend Part 2 - The Detox

2008-09-10T18:29:00.003Z

Next morning the Hens and I roused ourselves - some earlier than others - and had breakfast. Claire, Kathy and Sancha departed and so Julie, Jane and I headed for town to do some Sunday shopping. Julie bought loads, in particular at Pink Lemon, Bijoux Beads and the Roman Baths Shop, so that we worried that she would be unable to take it all back on the train! My sister, Shirl, arrived a little late and the four of us had a really good lunch at the Cafe du Globe before Julie parted.
The remaining three of us headed for the Thermae Spa for two hours in the large complex. We chilled out in the rooftop pool with beautiful views of the Regency buildings of Bath and the Somerset hills, detoxed in the aromatherapy steam rooms, and went round and round in the 'lazy river' of the Minerva pool. My skin always feels great after a visit to the spa, and I always feel very relaxed too. It might have been somewhat over budget but I think it's a great asset to the town.
After the spa it was goodbye to Shirl as she left to catch her train home, and Jane and I went to meet Patrick and Simon in the Moorfields pub where they too were looking very relaxed and happy after Patrick's stag weekend aboard Ripple.
Hey not long to wait now - only 3 more days till the big event!!

Hen Weekend in Bath, Saturday Crawl

2008-09-10T12:10:00.003Z

I had a great time on my hen night! Several of my friends were staying over, so some met me at the house before getting the taxi into town. The first port of call was the Coeur de Lion, a superb little pub - a country pub in the middle of the shopping centre of Bath. Slater's 'Top Totty' was the obligatory pint here! The retired men at the bar looked somewhat confused at a hen night arriving in their local but took it all in good spirit.
Next was the Green Tree, another small cosy pub with a long back room. The regulars gave us a few 'oh no, not a hen party' looks but the bar staff were really friendly. Sancha had some very wierd looking cider - bright blue, apparently flavoured with blueberries!
Then it was off to the Garrick's Head for a meal. Most of us thought the food was great - I certainly enjoyed my lamb cutlets, and Jane enjoyed her beef skirt! Claire and Kathy found their chips a bit underdone which was disappointing for a gastropub with such a good reputation. I was taken aback by the service charge - at a pub restaurant?? The service was vey good though. Beer was great as well.
Next port of call was the Salamander, one of Patrick's regular haunts. The Bath Ales 'Wild Hare' was magnificent but the pub was very overcrowded. We could have sat in the dining room bit but it was closed - why?
Lastly we staggered to the Raven, not far away. They had been a bit more enterprising and opened their upstairs room and bar. We met up with some kindred spirits - a group dressed as pirates, celebrating someone's birthday. Julie has a photo of me with 'Captain Jack'!
After the Raven I vaguely remember getting a taxi outside the Abbey and, upon arriving home, crashing out on the sofa still in my dress.

Choirfest 2008

2008-09-01T12:18:00.002Z

Last weekend we headed East for Choirfest, a series of singing workshops at Mellow Farm, Dockenfield with optional camping, ceilidh and singing around the campfire! This is run by my old choir leader, Anna Tabbush with her family and friends. It was a great opportunity to meet up with my old friends from Guildford Vox and learn some excellent new songs. While I was singing, Patrick explored the area, walking to Frensham Ponds which isn't far away from the peaceful little campsite.
This year Paul Sartin (fiddle player with Bellowhead, amongst other bands) had to drop out as a tutor, but instead we had Lucky Mayo, a Zulu singer from Zimbabwe. He just stole the show, I'm afraid, with his exciting performances of 'Mbonu Baba' and 'Inkululeko' complete with Zulu drum and dancing (we had to pretend to hold shields and spears!). But I'm sure the Tabbushes and Sarah Morgan didn't mind. Other songs that I really enjoyed learning were Mike Harding's 'King Cotton' taught by Carolyn Robson, and the traditional 'Old Sir Simon the King' taught by Freya Tabbush. I don't think I could sing it (all two verses and three choruses) in one minute though!
There was tons of food at the barbie, as usual, and the ceilidh in the beautiful medieval barn was excellent fun. Weather was great on the Saturday, but it was stormy from the early hours of Sunday so I didn't get a lot of sleep! Luckily there was a sunny spell at lunchtime, so the tent dried out a bit before Patrick packed it away.
Good to see everyone again and I hope to be back next year and make it a regular thing!

REM at the Rose Bowl, Southampton

2008-09-01T11:57:00.003Z

Yes, REM, dear readers! A band you will have heard of ;-)
We were very excited to get tickets for REM as they don't tour the UK that often and there are very few venues that can accommodate them. We did have to pay somewhat over the odds on Seatwave to get them but REM were amazing and it was well worth the money to see them.
The Rose Bowl, Hampshire's cricket ground which is actually in Hedge End, was an ideal venue but with a few transport problems. The car parks all seemed to be reserved when we got there, so we parked in a housing estate maybe half a mile away and walked back to the ground. There were plenty of food stalls, bars and loos in the brand new stadium, and we found seats quite easily as most people were standing on the plastic mats which protected the pitch.
The support acts were The Guillemots whom we missed, then The Editors, who have been reasonably successful though I'd never heard of them. Quite similar in style to REM but their songs got a bit samey towards the end.
When REM came on we stood, though could still only see Michael Stipe as a speck in the distance. There were huge displays either side of the stage and behind it so we could still see images of the band performing. The atmosphere was electrolytic! They played a well pitched set, including a few songs from their latest album which is quite punk-rocky, like their earlier stuff. Patrick was pleased that they opened with Bad Day, it's one of his favourites. And of course they played Orange Crush, Losing My Religion, Electrolyte, The One I Love, Imitation of Life, What's the Frequency Kenneth, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Nightswimming, Animal before finishing with Man on the Moon.
Can't wait till they come back to the UK again - and will definitely get their new album asap!

Good news and bad news

2008-08-18T12:19:00.004Z

The good news - I have been taken on permanently as a lab technician by Sun Chemical. This saves a lot of worry with mortgages, furniture buying, wedding expenses etc etc.
The bad news - I've failed my driving practical test again. But only just. Next time I will hopefully be less nervous - I know I CAN pass it, as long as I know how to get out of trouble. Unfortunately the Trowbridge Test Cenre is shutting at the end of the month, so I'll have to drive all the way out to Chippenham and back each lesson next time - unless I can get a cancellation. Had another driving lesson in the Micra on Sunday - best thing is to get straight back into it and not give in - even if it takes 7 or 77 attempts!
PS I've now got Broadband (or widebeam as Patrick calls it!) so I've managed to update my gallery for the first time in ages. Have a peek!

Trowbridge Village Pump 2008

2008-07-30T12:16:00.006Z

I was expecting maybe a village festival in sleepy Farleigh Hungerfod? No way! "The Pump" is a huge festival - not quite as big as Shrewsbury but getting there.
The festival kicked off with "Brits Night" - one act from Wales (Allan Yn Y Fan) one from Eire (Cara Dillon), one from Scotland (Battlefield Band)and one from England (Oysterband). In practise of course, each band had a mixture of Brits in it, and some of the Irish artists none too happy about being "Brits" for the night!! We arrived half way through Cara Dillon who gave her usual faultless performance. Was disappointed with the Battlefield Band who had changed their line up and didn't seem to rock as much as when I'd seen them before at South Hill Park. Oysterband were fab as usual, but seemed to suffer from poor sound quality. Trouble was, we had to leave half-an-hour into their act, as we both had to work the next day. Disappointment was to follow on Friday as two acts I really wanted to see (Ben Paley's and Michael McGoldrick's) were on in the afternoon. A bit more consideration for us working people next time Trowbridge!!
Arrived in time for festival food and '6 Day Riot' who were OK but not my kind of music, and the lead singer's voice somehow got on my nerves (too harsh?).
Show of Hands gave the performance of the festival, with the main tent overspilling with (I'd guess) over 2000 people all of whom that were able were standing up and clapping at the end!! 'Roots' is without a doubt the most popular protest song that Steve Knightley has written, and seems to strike a chord with country folk wherever he goes. Phil introduced Little Feat with breathless enthusiasm, but they were SO disappointing! Maybe sound was a problem again, but in my opinion, only the lead guitarist was noteworthy in any way. Sadly we couldn't stay for Peatbog Faeries, both being knackered from staying up late for the Oysterband.
Saturday had some great acts on, including Richard Digance, Devon Sproule, Richard Thompson (Patrick wasn't impressed but I think he's brilliant), Vin Garbutt (relatively sober), Jackie Leven, the Demon Barber Roadshow (excellent new songs, and great clog/rapper/Cotswold morris dancing).
Sunday was somewhat uninspiring, so we spent most of the day doing things around the house.However we did pop across to Farleigh Hungerford to see Hard Travelers and Hotel Palindrone from Austria. Hard Travelers were somewhat uncoordinated, it being only their fourth gig together (why then were they given the main stage?) but have the makings of a good band - Woody Guthrie goes rock!!
The funloving guys from Hotel Palindrone noticed some French dancing experts in the audience (the same ladies who had taught us a few dances at Cyser's gig in Bath), so they endeavoured to play mazurkas, schottisches or tunes suitable for other French dances. Albin even jumped off the stage to teach us an Austrian dance! However there wasn't a huge audience as most people had gone to see Don McLean in the main tent. Wouldn't it have been funny if Steve Knightley had been invited on stage to join in with "American Pie" - he'd never live it down, given the opening verse of 'Roots'!
A good end to a superb festival, can't believe I've never been tempted to go before!

3 Daft Monkeys/Show of Hands in Cardiff

2008-07-30T11:50:00.002Z

As part of the Welsh Proms some enlightened individual had decided to book three West Country acts (although most were fellow Celts, being from Cornwall). The 3 Daft Monkeys seemed somewhat overwhelmed at being in St David's Hall, which is a grand venue and where I was presented with my degree fifteen years ago(!!) They started off with a song based on the traditional Cornish tune 'Ryb An Afon' which went down really well with the audience. The superb acoustics meant Athene's violin skills and Tim's lyrics could be much more appreciated than any other 3DM gig I've been to. The audience also dutifully swayed along to 'Social Vertigo'!
After 3DM came Fisherman's Friends, the Port Isaac male choir who were exactly what I expected - a small choir from a Cornish village singing sea shanties. Good but stage banter but somewhat risque for Cardiff!
Show of Hands were next up, and soon got the audience singing along to 'Cousin Jack' (for which Fisherman's Friends and Paul Downes joined them), 'Haul Away Joe' and even 'Roots'! They got a standing ovation at the end which has become almost expected now. 3 Daft Monkeys joined everyone on stage for the encore, which was a close-harmony rendition of 'Haul Away The Anchor' - possibly the first time Tim had sung a sea shanty?
Well worth the drive out to Cardiff once more.

Finally moved house!

2008-07-21T07:18:00.003Z

Yes, we're finally in! All there is to do is return to clean the flat, then post the keys back to the landlord.
It took several Micra carloads to get all of our stuff into the new house, and at the moment the lounge is piled up with cardboard boxes. We are still a little short on furniture, as we moved from a furnished flat. When book shelves arrive on Friday we should be able to put most of our huge collection of books away!
It is a lovely little house, with not much that needs doing - the back garden will be the big thing, as it's just gravelled over at the moment. Patrick is looking enthusiatically at sheds!
In breaks we managed to visit the Royal Oak Folk Music and Beer Festival (our new local). Sadly we missed Mike Scott, though we bought one of his CDs that were on offer at the bar. We also missed Kerr/Fagan/Harbron/Burton but I expect we wouldn't have got into the pub! We did manage to see Hilary Pavey and Dave Totterdell, Amy and Fiddler's John and Stanton Delaplane who were all very good.
On Saturday we met up with some of Cardiff Branch of CAMRA who were doing a pub crawl of Bath, was very good to see some of the old crowd again. Beer of the festival was definitely the superbly hoppy 'Cruel Summer' by Mallinsons, which we sampled on Sunday as we celebrated moving in!

Priddy Good Day

2008-07-17T11:47:00.002Z

Went to Priddy Folk Festival on Sunday - I really wanted to see Martha Tilston and the Woods, as I hadn't seen them for ages. We just about got there on time for Martha, who was excellent. The crowd was quite small due to a clash with a guided walk, but she brought the house down with 'All the Angels' and 'Artificial'. Martha told us she was carrying a little person - let's hope the baby inherits the Tilston folk gene too.
Sieze The Day were the discovery of the festival - hard-hitting folk-protest with a bit of pagan mysticism thrown in for good measure. They have obviously been touring for a long while - surprised I hadn't come across them before. Patrick bought the live album which is great - my favourite track is 'Designer Baby' but you might want to cover a little-one's ears as it gets quite graphic!!
Nancy Kerr and James Fagan were very good, the sound was far better than last time we saw them. They had a very different set and some new songs for us - which were very enjoyable. Mike Scott, whom we'd seen before at the Bath Folk Club as a floor spot act, was very popular and proved that you can have a folk song about how good in bed you are!! Everyone sang along to 'Old Ones Still Doing It' too. Dubious...
All in all it's a good little festival, at the heart of the little village, with a variety of things for people to do as well as listen to music. Hope to be back for the whole weekend next year!

Seth Lakeman at the Cheese and Grain, Frome

2008-07-10T11:58:00.003Z

As it was pouring with rain after work, Patrick and I decided to explore a couple of pubs in Frome before the gig. The Globe was all right, and we had a cold pint of Butcombe Bitter before heading off in search of food and more beer. Heading up the hill, I spotted a Blindman's Brewery pub, the Lamb Inn, with a notice in the window displaying meal times. The Beer Nose said YES and indeed there were 8 handpumps with mostly beer from Blindman's, a couple of guests from other micros and Rich's Farmhouse Cider. We noticed the unusual pies and sausages on the specials boards - I had a prawn and spring onion pie and Patrick had a Chicken Jalfrezi pie - both surprisingly delicious. Apparently they had their pie machine specially brought down from Bolton - I bet that pleases Patrick! We also bought a 2 pint takeout of the cider to drink later but it leaked out of it's carton - we will bring the proper carrykeg next time!
We had to queue up outside the Cheese and Grain till 8pm as the rain fell harder, but the reward was a standing space almost at the front. We didn't like the support act - not that she was a bad singer or guitarist, but she played Janis Joplin style blues-rock which was totally different to Seth's style of music and not really our thing. Seth came on at about 9.30 but we had to leave at about 10.45 as I was getting very tired. I did insist on staying for 'Kitty Jay' though! I wonder how many fiddle bows Seth gets through in a tour - the bow started to resemble two pony tails on a stick by the time he'd finished! I also liked the new song 'Haunt You' cowritten by Steve Knightley - but it reminded me of a certain person's strange behaviour that I've been hearing about...obviously not that happy with her new partner if she needs to pester her ex!! I need to buy the album. It's great that it's No. 8 in the charts but we folkies need to get it to No. 1, I think.
A great evening and Seth and his band were on top form. He needs to get on the stage earlier next time though ;-)

Saul Folk and Boat Festival

2008-07-08T19:28:00.004Z

The weather was not kind to Saul, but kinder than last year when the Festival had to be cancelled due to the site being flooded! During the downpours, everyone crammed in to the excellent beer tent, the Drum and Monkey, and listened to whoever was playing in there (usually a blues guitarist or a skiffle band).
Oysterband and Show of Hands were headlining - two of our favorite bands! The Oysterband have apparently been playing for 30 years now - how they still find that amazing creative energy in their performance and music I don't know! The sound was excellent at their gig and we did some pretty wild dancing up in the mosh pit. Our friends Ian and Janet, who were staying with us on the narrowboat (now in it's new moorings just opposite the festival site) also enjoyed the Oysterband, despite not being folkies.
Sadly they could not stay for Show of Hands - a lot of people decided to head off on Sunday because of the weather, but the main tent was still absolutely packed when Show of Hands appeared on stage. They must have brought a lot of their fans from the West Country with them! Steve and Phil were somewhat cheeky to do a medley of about 5 songs when they'd been told they could do one more - but the stage manager was out of order to shout at them during an instrumental. The crowd were going wild and we soon drowned him out with our singing!! I hope Steve and Phil were not too offended and come back again next year.
It was also a pleasure to see Mawkin again but not too sure about Mr Causley. He had a nice voice but seemed to have a bit of a huge ego - and made quite a few mistakes. Maybe we just caught him on an off day. Ruth Notman was on very good form, she has matured as an artist a great deal since I last saw her. Poor sound spoiled Kerr Fagan Harbron's performance which was a shame (we were sat at the back which didn't help) - I know how good they can be when the sound's good! Patrick enjoyed Kevin Brown, a chap from Lancashire who plays blues guitar and composes his own songs - the luxurious location of the Cromwell paddle-steamer's lounge seemed just the right place to listen to him somehow.
Very good festival and the rain didn't spoil it at all for us!

More news

2008-06-17T17:16:00.002Z

Have just passed my Driving Theory Test and picked up the keys for our new house in Oldfield Park, Bath from the estate agents. And it's a year since Patrick and I became boyfriend and girlfriend (although we'd been friends for 17 years beforehand - well you can't rush these things!!)
A momentous day indeed ;)

Middlewich 2008

2008-06-17T09:56:00.003Z

Back again, this time with Narrowboat! It was great staying on Ripple and going to the Folk and Boat Festival. Simon and Jane found a superb mooring not far from Patrick's first home in Booth Lane.
The music was good this year, though I think Big Session had creamed off some of the top folk acts. Middlewich still managed to bag the Churchfitters, an Anglo-Celtic band from France, whose bassist makes his own instruments out of saucepans, hacksaw blades etc. Brilliant, as I knew they would be!
Uiscedwr were the highlight of Saturday, with Cormac Byrne's stunning bodhran playing winning him my vote as top folk musician in the world once more. And the band have a great sense of fun too. Good to see Anna, their lead singer, looking so well after her bone marrow transplant. No more blood transfusions - she must be so pleased! Patrick liked Devon Sproule, but she was far to pretty and talented for my liking ;) He also liked the unexpected Aussie, Rory Ellis, with his hardbitten blues and protest songs.
Lau were superb and got a standing ovation at the end of their set. They play with such passion and skill that they win over even the most picky of folkies. And who better to finish of the festival than the Peatbog Faeries with their dancy trancey Scottish tunes?
Booze and food were good too with delicious homemade pizzas being cooked at the festival site, good meals at the Narrowboat pub, and real ale scrumpy cider available in the beer tent (I sampled large amounts of Timothy Taylor Landlord and Ty Gwyn Cider - mmm!)
Numbers seemed a bit down on last year, maybe due to the economic downturn, but still great fun and very good for Middlewich.

Vertical Gardening

2008-06-03T07:21:00.007Z

Patrick and I are members of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society, and we help keep the old canal looking beautiful by turning up to work parties and removing any plant growth that might be covering the locks or hiding them from view, get a bit of water flowing through some of them, etc. Hence 'vertical gardening'. Bob is in charge of the work parties and Richard is the chief tree-feller, whilst Adrian is chief fire-starter and tea maker!
This Sunday we were clearing away trees around the bottom lock at Combe Hay so that there could be a nice view from the footpath up the flight towards the Bull's Nose. The work was quite hard, involving dragging felled branches across the newly-filled bottom pound, but was worth it for the final result - a stunning view, of which Adrian and Patrick took quite a few photographs. A few of us were resting on our laurels (no pun intended!) after a hard afternoon's work when we noticed that a tree overhanging the footpath was rustling and inching downwards. We carried on talking as the tree inched downwards a little more, then Richard advised us to get out of the way as the tree was about to fall! The tree fell across the public footpath, and Richard set about chopping it up for firewood. Bob went to inform the landowners, who were only too pleased to have the problem dealt with and receive some firewood for their stove.
Later, as we chatted about our near miss, we noticed a tiny baby fieldmouse by the gate. He seemed totally unfazed by the huge humans standing around making cooing noises - perhaps we were just far too big for him to comprehend. Eventually he disappeared back into the undergrowth. Aww!
Quite eventful for a vertical gardening session!

Singers night at Bath Folk Club

2008-05-22T17:10:00.003Z

As I'd never been to a singer's night before I thought I'd pop along to Widcombe Social Club and see what it was all about. I was somewhat taken aback to find Nancy Kerr on the ticket desk but she was very welcoming and assured me that if I sang people wouldn't mind if I wasn't a professional, as it was just a bit of fun and a singalong. However a lot of the singers were professional, not a bad singer amongst them, unlike the usual folk club fayre! GOOD you might say, but I got the impression that the stereotypical toothless old boy in the corner of pub wouldn't have been welcome - maybe by Nancy but not by Louise! To my mind, the old boy in the pub, who knows more folk songs than I've had hot dinners, and perhaps comes from a long line of local singers, is what English folk music is all about.
I felt that it was really Louise's talent spotting night for the Bath folk club and, despite the best efforts of Nancy as compere, wasn't that inclusive.
Oh the song I sang - 'Country Boy' after the singing of Eliza Carthy (and Anna Tabbush)! It seemed to go down well although my voice began to shake and get fainter in the second verse due to nerves. I'm glad I chose one that most people know. The lovely lady from Cloudstreet, Nicole Murray, even joined in with a harmony!! I just had to buy Cloudstreet's live album, 'Clouds on the Road' after hearing Nicole close the evening with a fantastic song 'Time is a Tempest'.
A good evening - but I don't think I'll be going to Singers' Night in Widcombe again.

New Job!

2008-05-14T12:09:00.002Z

Good news - I've finally found gainful employment after 2 months as a 'kept woman'. The new job is with Sun Chemicals in Radstock, making up samples of specialist ink. I'm enjoying working in a lab again, and I'm with a nice friendly team.
Trouble is, I'm now at work while the heat wave continues!!

Su Hart and Friends at the Bell, Bath

2008-04-30T09:36:00.002Z

And now for something completely different!
Su Hart, my new choir leader, told us she'd be launching her first solo album at the Bell this Monday. Having heard her with the group Baka Beyond I knew I'd be in for a treat. The Bell is a superb venue as well, although perhaps not for an album launch night - most of the punters are just after free background music and a few beers (superb range of real ales by the way - I had RCH Pitchfork which I hadn't had in a long time - delicious!). The sound quality was very good, and as the band started more and more people started to pile in. Inevitably most of the choir turned up to see Su but a lot of other locals also arrived - perhaps notified by mobile phone from their mates already in the pub "There's this fantastic band on tonight, get yourself down here ASAP!" With the exception of Robb Johnson they were probably in an entirely different league to the usual bands at the Bell.
The exuberant mixture of Celtic, African and Carribean influenced songs soon got people dancing - including myself and Patrick. A crowd of people collected in front of the stage, and as the Bell is quite small things soon became rather cramped. A man in a turban type thingy was doing some very enthusiastic dancing, he seemed to know all the words and later joined the band on stage for one number.
We did buy the album as well, of course. It's called "Worth It After All". Patrick's favourite track is Zombie Jamboree (a bit different to the Spinners' version) - he can't stop singing it. I like The Great Valerio - but then I would!! You can buy it online at www.baka.co.uk
I'd also recommend seeing Baka Beyond or Su Hart and Friends live - you're guaranteed a good time!

Roy Bailey and John Kirkpatrick at Bridgewater

2008-04-29T16:36:00.002Z

Roy Bailey is not doing bad, seeing as he's the same age as my Dad and is enjoying his 50th year on the folk music scene. As Patrick said, it's a shame you can't put preservation orders on people! His compassion and practical socialism always sweeps me away when I hear his songs and stories - even his children's songs are touching in the way that he can relate to children as another marginalised section of the community. And he makes everyone sing along - even the large tatooed man in the same row as us was singing 'You Need Skin' - in a very macho way :D
Was pleased when Roy sang a song about a coal barge - which sprang a leak to the crew's consternation and finally dropped it's cargo out of it's rotten hull. Not an uncommon occurrence, apparently! He also sang some of my old favourites like I Ain't Afraid and The Poison Train, also liked some of the older songs that I hadn't heard before, like The Road to Dundee.
John Kirkpatrick , the Sultan of Squeeze himself, stunned the audience with his musicianship yet complemented Roy's work well. John sang a few songs on his own such as The Green Willow (traditional) and a song about a rather fierce St George written by John himself.
I had a great time remembering the radical days of my youth (as per David Ferrard's song) - long may John and Roy continue!

Seth Lakeman at Cardiff Student Union

2008-04-29T16:11:00.003Z

Very strange to be back in my old Student Union. I haven't been there since 1996, when I had my first wedding reception disco in the Staff Dining Club!
Its music venue which I knew as the Hanging Gardens is now Solus. It was all quite dark in there, with black parachute-style curtains hanging from the ceiling. Seth suffered from bad sound at the start - we couldn't hear his introductions for the songs, let alone his singing! The sound improved as the gig went on, but it was still not very good.
Seth played a lot of his early stuff, including the famous Kitty Jay, Setting of the Sun (his take on the Molly Bond ghost song), Fight for Favour, Rifle Men of War and Take No Rogues. Of course his mining disaster song, The Colliers, was best received with the predominantly Welsh audience.
Though I loved Kitty Jay and Freedom Fields, I thought Seth's new material was a bit disappointing. Poor Man's Heaven seemed a bit patronising and the song about the stone circle a bit run-of-the-mill. Perhaps it's inevitable that later albums seem samey - it must be hard to be as innovative with each album.
That said, Seth still has a huge following for a folk artist, and has doubtlessly introduced folk music to a lot of younger people who would otherwise have regarded folk music as naff. More strength to his fiddling elbow!

Show of Hands at Pontardawe

2008-04-29T15:28:00.003Z

Could be trouble here, I thought, Show of Hands playing in Wales on St Georges Day, in Kim Howells' constituency! Sure enough Steve didn't hold back and sang 'Roots', naming Mr Howells as the minister guilty of making the infamous derogatory remark about Somerset folk singers. Cheers to Steve from me, especially now that I am one, sort of! The locals loved the song though, it received a huge round of applause. 'Country Life' and 'Cutthroats, Crooks and Conmen' but especially 'Cousin Jack' the Cornish miner's song, seemed to strike a chord with the audience.

Show of Hands played one of the best sets I've heard from them from a long time, including most of my favourites. This may well be because they have released a 'Best Of' album - most of which I agree with. Trouble is, Steve has written so many good songs that it must have been very difficult to select a double album's worth! Miranda Sykes joined Steve and Phil later, playing Double Bass and added her beautiful voice in duet with Steve for 'Blue Cockade'. The band seemed in good spirits, telling some jokes which at least Patrick hadn't heard before - glad to see Steve looking happier, although he still must be very worried about his son, Jack, who is still in hospital with Leukaemia. Phil is doing a sponsored slim to raise money for Jack's hospital amongst other causes - sponsorship forms available at gigs.

Once more Steve and Phil raised the roof - they are getting quite a following in Pontardawe!

Narrowboating - a relaxing holiday?

2008-04-22T16:33:00.004Z

We had our first proper holiday on Ripple last week, with the aim of taking her from Bosley Locks to the Lancaster via the Ribble Link. Things didn't start well as I'd twisted my knee while out walking, and struggled with opening locks, climbing onto the roof etc.

Patrick's parents met us at the top of Bosley Locks, having moved the boat there from its moorings at High Lane, and we had a good time going through the locks and admiring the beautiful scenery around there, including Bosley Cloud. A little creature ran in front of me, perhaps a bank vole, before changing it's mind and disappearing into a hedge. We moored at Congleton, near the excellent Queen's Head, which has a variety of unusual real ales, including Centurion's Ghost and Cottage Whippet (Dark Whippet?). I also had a very good Chicken Jalfrezi curry there. Then it was off to the Beartown Tap for some more good beer including one of my all time favourites, Kodiak Gold.

So far so relaxing but drama was to come. Wind speeds began to pick up and I made a hash of turning the corner at Hardings Wood Junction. As Patrick tried to rectify the mistake, backing towards the bridge, he shouted - and I noticed that the wooden tiller handle had snapped! There was a worring moment for me till I noticed his hand was OK and had only been grazed on one finger against the bridge.

Next stop was Sandbach, a market town with a surprisingly large number of pubs - we stopped for a pint of Robinson's Unicorn at the Market Tavern, with 4 other pubs within sight (as well as the interesting Stone Crosses), and pies at the local bakery. We also discovered an Armenian delicatessen and off-licence which boasted that it stocked every available whisky in the UK! We were given expresso and fruit juice as we pondered the vast range of spirits, beers and ciders before choosing Jura Superstition, Auchtentoshan 10-year old, Wentworth's Rampant Gryphon and Oatmeal Stout and Sheppys organic cider. We also got the world's strongest cider given free by the manager, who could see we appreciated our booze! We also couldn't resist a baclava-type dessert which we devoured back on the boat.

We moored overnight at Middlewich and dined at our favourite romantic spot, the Narrowboat - food as superb as ever. Next morning we bought a swanky Rosewood tiller handle for Ripple and headed off past the Anderton Lift to moor at Preston Brook, and visited the Tunnel Top (no real ale but good food).

The Bridgewater canal was a bit of a different experience, heading through the more genteel Cheshire villages, nice and wide but with less facilities for pleasure boats than the British Waterways canals. Another good stop at Grappenhall Village, very pretty with 2 lovely pubs - the Ram's Head and the Parr Arms. The route through Manchester was uneventful, apart from disturbing a stoat sitting on a discarded sofa (no doubt wishing for beer, telly and a ciggie!).

We met Ian and Toby at the Barton Swing Aqueduct, which duly swung, giving our guests an impressive sight at the start of their trip. Patrick got wery wery dwunk in Wigan - the moral of this story, never try to keep up with Ian drinking!

Ian and Toby's help proved invaluable as the wind speeds continued to pick up - the lock gates on the Rufford Branch were tricky, and the unusual paddles also took time to unlock with the one remaining anti-vandal key (keys detest Patrick and make their way away from him quickly and secretly). As soon at the boat slowed, it would ground itself on the far bank and refuse to budge. At one point it took both Ian and Patrick pulling on the centre rope to pull it off again. Patrick insisted on steering through the locks, as Ripple at 62ft long would only just fit. It was a relief to reach Tarleton, where we were reunited with Patrick's parents and the car.

Next morning we discovered that the previous night's crossings had been cancelled due to the high winds, so there was a long queue at the lock into the River Douglas. Ripple was right at the back, and went through the lock with a red narrowboat that we planned to follow. As soon as we were out of the lock Patrick realised just how strong the tidal pull was (the tide was against us). We made very slow progress down the river,on the right hand side away from the main pull of the tide, however the red boat was still in sight. When we turned into the Ribble, Ripple lurched alarmingly and people started to wonder if they could swim to the bank! However Patrick remained in control at the tiller, and we rounded the Asland Lamp successfully. Progress was painfully slow up the Ribble, with the winds directly against us, the tide turning and at one point hail started to come down. The red narrowboat soon disappeared out of sight. Patrick confessed later that he was quite stressed at this point - we were going at about 1 1/2 miles per hour and if we had started moving backwards we would have had to call for help. British Waterways called us whilst we were perhaps half a mile away to tell us that they were running out of water, and were closing the lock at Savick Brook. They told us to head for Preston Dock. My heart sank at this point, as the weather was getting worse if anything! Further up the Ribble the river noticeably narrowed and progress became slightly easier. The open lock gates at Preston Dock were a welcome sight! The staff at the Marina were very good to us - they let us moor in the lock itself as the marina itself was quite choppy, and gave us a key to the showers. Steam trains ran across the nearby swing bridge, to Patrick's Dad's delight. There was a nice pub nearby called the Waterfront, which had a carvery and a good pint of Taylor Landlord.

Next morning we had to hang about for high tide - then the lock keeper opened the top entrance and the swing bridge so that we could turn round in the basin (the lock was slightly too small at 65ft across). Then it was down the lock again and on to the Ribble, this time the weather was pleasant so that bit was quite easy! Once through the first lock on the Savick Brook we had to wait again for the tide to lower, so that Ripple could get under the bridges - but the brook was very narrow and twisty-turny, so that Ripple kept grounding in the middle as we steered round corners. We had to reverse up the 3 staircase-locks due to Ripple's length, which was again quite scary but Patrick managed well. Then at last we moored on the Lancaster Canal and prepared for Patrick's parents to take over. Poor old Patrick then had to drive all the way back from Preston to Bath, and our troubles were not over yet - Junction 21A was closed on the M6 so we had to do a tour of the Cheshire countryside. We finally arrived home about 11pm.

Glad I'm not working at the moment - I'd need another holiday to recover from that one!!

Bath Folk Club - First Concert

2008-04-09T15:38:00.004Z

Patrick and I are delighted to now have a Folk Club within walking distance, at the Widcombe Social Club at the foot of Widcombe Hill. As well as the fine music that's on offer they also sell real ale and chippy tea! What more could one ask.
The club has been set up by the VERY enthusiastic Lou and Marek, with a lot of help and support from a certain Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, who are based nearby. Of course they played a few songs before the main act, Crucible, came on - and gave a very powerful performance.
Crucible, a foursome from Sheffield, were also very good - a mixture of acapella singing, English and Celtic dance music and folk-rock numbers. Very good fiddles, bagpipes, guitar and melodeon, which the band also made use of at the jamming session before the performances started. Nancy and James joined the band for the last few numbers, which they'd rehearsed together aboard the Fagans' boat. I got up and danced at the end, along with Lou and friends!
Seems like the Bath Folk Club will be a young and fun venue (and there's not many English folk clubs you can say that about!!) so I'm looking forward to the next concert - a French folk band called Cyser.

Wedding Plans

2008-03-25T20:00:00.002Z

I'm very excited today - I've bought a wedding dress! I can tell you I found it at Clifton Brides in Bath, and that it is a very unusual colour, but other than that my lips are sealed!!
I thought I'd discuss the flowers with our local florist today, but she wanted to know the exact colour of the dress, but I haven't got a swatch (that's a bit of the same material, not a kind of watch, for all you males out there). I did request a swatch so that the bridesmaids and pageboys will match (or at least tone well) but I've no idea when it will arrive.
We have already booked the venue (The West Barn, Bradford-on-Avon) and registrars, given our Notice at the Bath Registry Office, booked the Wedding Breakfast at the Swan Hotel in Bradford-on-Avon and the evening boat trip aboard the Barbara McLellen, which is owned by the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust. So the next things to organise will be flowers, photographer and car.
At the moment I'm having a small glass of Malmsey and some Easter egg to celebrate!

Oysterband at Pontardawe

2008-03-19T20:22:00.002Z

Strange to be back in South Wales again, especially for a folk gig! The staff at Pontardawe Arts Centre were really friendly and welcoming, and we met Jane, a friend from pre-divorce days, who hadn't met Patrick yet. She is from Swindon where the Oysterband were playing the following night, so she was going to two gigs in a row - sign of a true fan!
A pleasant surprise was that Dan Donnelly was playing support - he has stood in for Simon Friend of the Levellers before, and also writes some very good songs. His takeoff of David Gray went down well with the crowd, unlike at the gig in Narberth where David Gray comes from! Apparently David's brother was in the crowd and was ddim hapis, as they say in Wales.
The set was mainly from their latest album, Meet You There, with a few of the fan's favourites such as Native Son and Northern Lights thrown in. Mindyou the songs from the new album are, in my opinion, some of the finest they've written - I especially like The Flood and Bury Me Standing - and agree with the sentiments. The whole band descended into the mosh pit and sang and played acoustic IN the crowd for the encore, Put Out The Lights (on London City). We had a great view as we'd arrived quite early and bagged front spots! Another amazing experience courtesy of the Oysterband.

Egg Shopping

2008-03-12T18:06:00.003Z

After doing the boring-but-necessary stuff like registering with a doctor and a dentist and searching the net for jobs, I wandered into Bath for easter egg shopping. Now sorted! Looking forward to Easter.
This picture made me laugh - I love Lolcats

Lancashire Hotpots at Telford's Wharf

2008-03-11T12:14:00.003Z

We've recently been to see the Lancashire Hotpots down at Telford's Wharf in Chester. They sing comedy songs, mostly about technology and modern life in Lancashire, in broad Lancashire accents - Patrick is a big fan as both of his parents are from Lancashire.
We were somewhat frustrated at first, because Patrick thought the Telford's Wharf website had advertised the live music as starting at nine, whereas in fact the band didn't come on till 10.30pm. Still, the real ale at Telford's Wharf is delicious (I reccommend the Cheshire Cat) and the piped music was acceptable. The Lancashire Hotpots were on great form, they were having a really good time and so were we. Because Patrick and I had got there early we had a front row spot, and were happily dancing away and singing along. They played Patrick's favourites including 'Oh No, He's Gone Emo' and 'Chippy Tea', which he can't stop singing now, plus a few new ones such as 'The Chav Song' and 'Tha's Got For Get SatNav'.
We bought their album 'Never Mind the Hotpots' - Patrick can't stop playing it in the car! The only song I'm dubious about is 'Lancashire Town' - a modern take on clone towns in the North West, which ends with the singer moving to Coventry. Surely this will isolate the Hotpots' fan base of loyal Lancastrians? Move back, immediately!!!
All in all, a grand night out, and a good laugh too!

Bath Life

2008-03-11T11:56:00.002Z

Hi all
Finally I'm back on the internet again! As there's no phone line or wireless system in our rented flat here in Bath, I needed a mobile connection which the knackered old PC from Farnborough couldn't cope with. As it's essential to be online these days for job searching, Patrick bought me a Compaq Presario C500 laptop, which is fab, and only £275 ex-demo from a computer fair in Tottenham Court Road. He also bought a Vodaphone Mobile Connection which has good reception here - it only works at dial-up speed but it will get me by till we buy a house together and can get broadband again.
Before that, Patrick and I had visited the Terracotta Warriors at the British Museum - a fascinating exhibition. The scale of the First Emperor's tomb, the wealth and the insight into the ancient Chinese way of life was awesome. I had thought that the figures were of warriors only - but there were also musicians, birds, acrobats and even civil servants buried with the Emperor. The tomb was based on the Chinese idea of the Universe (as the Emperor considered himself ruler of the whole Universe!) included a river of mercury - scary! I bought a little kneeling archer as a souvenir.
The main reason for going into London was to meet up with Emma and Ting - Emma is my oldest friend that I'm still in contact with. We had a quick snack in a cafe nearby, then headed off to Queensway to try to get into a bowling alley, unsuccessfully! Then it was off to Chinatown for a real Chinese meal. It was great to see Emma and Ting again, swap stories about holidays and reminisce about school days again.

Last Day at Work

2008-02-29T12:08:00.001Z

Oo, I'm getting all sniffly now! It will be my leaving presentation in a few minutes. Sad to leave as I've been with BRI for nearly 8 years, and made some very good friends. Keep in touch, folks!

Madiera Holiday

2008-02-29T11:50:00.003Z

I have been on holiday in Madiera - my first holiday with Patrick. We had a very relaxing time, with plenty of room for spontanaety - there were things in the guidebooks we wanted to experience but we didn't plan every minute of every day, and we weren't trying to cram too much in.
The levada walks in Madiera are a must for anyone that enjoys hiking - but be warned, they are not all easy, level water channels! Some drop at quite a gradient so you can get rather out of breath trying to reach the source of a levada.
We found a couple in the mountains, graded 'moderate' by the Sunflower guide. We also did an excellent walk along Maderia's eastern peninsula. Photos will appear in the gallery but it could take quite some time, as I won't have a broadband internet connection for several months now!
We stayed at the San Pedro hotel in Garajau, which had an excellent restaurant, the Touricalo, just opposite, so we ate there most nights. I can recommend the Espetada (marinated beef on a skewer)! For a change we also ate out in Arsenio's in Funchal's old town, where we were serenaded by excellent Fado singers.
As for the Madiera wine - we had a great time at Blandy's Wine Lodge in Funchal! After the tour we were invited to taste 4 different kinds of Madiera, the Bual and Malmsey (medium-sweet and sweet) being our favourites. Of course we've brought a few bottles back with us! Funchal is great for a wet day (they do have them in Madiera, despite what the brochures say), it's a pretty town and there are some superb museums and galleries, as well as plenty of places to eat.
Madiera is a beautiful island with some lovely gardens and challenging walks, but there's not a lot to do for families or teenagers. Which is why it's nice and quiet for the older visitors (we were amongst the youngest at breakfast in the hotel)!

Train Leaving Doo

2008-02-08T11:04:00.000Z

Well, I'm now firmly ensconced in the student accommodation at work, for a month before I move to Bath, as I need to work my notice. Shortest commute ever, as the Cottage is just 30 seconds walk from the laboratory door. It's good to be out of Rectory Road but not as good as living with Patrick will be!
Made it into work dead on nine, with half a cup of coffee in me this morning. Boy am I hung over.
It was a brilliant night last night at the Home Cottage, I arrived at the pub at about 6pm after having done some shopping in Sainsburys. I had a pint of Youngs Bitter and a beef stir-fry which was on special offer at the pub to celebrate Chinese New Year - was just about to give up at 7 thinking no-one was coming when Andy turned up and bought me the last Double Chocolate Stout, and assured me Richard was also turning up, which he did a little later. The three of us had a really good chinwag (and I had 2 pints of Bombardier which was surprisingly good) till 9 when the pub quiz started and Nigel turned up, then the 4 of us decided to form a quiz team as it was free to enter...someone bought me a double whisky which finished me off! ‘Peter’s Pansies’ came bottom of the quiz teams but was a good laugh.

Decree Absolute

2008-01-31T15:35:00.000Z

Found my Decree Absolute waiting for me after I returned from Chester/Marple visit last Sunday. It came almost by return of post since I requested it, amazingly quick considering how long every other legal process in the divorce seems to have taken! Patrick pointed out that it was a year to the day since he caught Kevin and Ugly holding hands in the CAMRA minibus, and guessed that their relationship was in danger of wrecking our marriage.
More later about Chester - too busy packing to do much blog updating at the moment! I'm moving out on February 6th :)

I had been to Chester before with Kevin and Keith, and remembered that I really liked it. We arrived by train in order to pick up my new (second-hand) Nissan Micra from Marple on Sunday, and took the taxi to the Telford's Wharf pub. Unfortunately it was music night and they were charging £4 admission. We quickly legged it across town to the excellent Bear and Billet instead, where we had some wonderful Cheshire Cat and Okells IPA, and also had fun with the Pringles dispenser!
The hotel was nice, Express by Holiday Inn was it's rather long-winded name, it was right by the racecourse/old Roman harbour with good views of the track. We had a good night's sleep then Patrick headed off for his freight meeting and I headed off for the sales! There were plenty of bargains in the beautiful two-tiered shops, trouble was I was rather broke, so I confined myself to a 60-litre Karrimor rucksack for £30, a gold coloured watch with my £40 worth of H. Samuel vouchers, and a skirt and top from Monsoon, £10 each.
Then it was back to the much quieter Telford's Wharf to watch the world go by with a nice pint of ale, and wait for Patrick's meeting to finish.
Raced across town to get the train to Frodsham where Patrick's friend Sharon lives, but missed it by one minute! Chester station is very bad for passenger information. Waited an hour for the next train, in an adequate pub nearby. Sharon had cooked us an excellent meal which she'd had to keep warm for us. After very pleasant evening we caught the last connecting train back to Marple - but the train from Oxford Road broke down just outside the station!! Finally got to Marple about 1am, very tired.
Chester was very enjoyable once more - I'm sure we will be back soon, probably by boat!

All Change

2008-01-18T15:16:00.000Z

Well, the Financial Order for my divorce came through yesterday - Kevin now has 28 days to hand over the dosh, then I can move out of Rectory Road - fantastic! I've instructed my solicitors to apply for the Decree Absolute, will have to orgasinse a Divorce Party when it arrives!
I also handed in my notice at work, leaving on the 29th February. I will be a kept woman for a while till I find a job near to Bath where Patrick lives. Some of my colleagues were more surprised than others!
Also, my train friends said I must have a train leaving doo. So, parties all round soon :)

Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival

2008-01-15T19:51:00.000Z

First festie of the year at Whittlesey near Peterborough. A man dresses as a bear using 5 stone of the finest straw, then dances through town (3 times - different routes), then the bear is burnt the next day (minus the dancer) to celebrate the New Year. These days the procession is accompanied by all sorts of Morris dancers (over 40 sides this year) and there are folk concerts and ceilidhs in the evenings and at lunchtime, also a couple of baby Straw Bears, I'm guessing inhabited by local schoolboys! There is also a blessing of the plough held at the local church.
We arrived on Friday night to attend the folk concert, which included Flossie Malavialle, whose powerful voice and quirky sense of humour had impressed me at Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival. She sang in both English and French, the French songs including Edith Piaf and Jaques Brel numbers, the English ones including Janis Joplin, as well as her own emotive material. She went dowm a storm with Patrick and the crowd at Whittlesey - the men in particular I'm guessing!
I recognised Pig Dyke Molly and the Ironmen (a Border side) from previous festivals. I took lots of photos of Pig Dyke Molly as their costumes are amazing and their dances are superb - almost like ballet. The Ironmen were very loud and fierce, frightening a small Molly in the audience. Their "My Uncle Billy" song probably didn't endear them to parents of small children either ;-) The Witchmen were another very entertaining Border side, nice spooky music and impressive dances. Ramrugge and Persephone clog teams were also very interesting - both danced with real bobbins presumably from defunct cotton mills.
Some liken Whittlesea Straw Bear to a pagan pub crawl, as all the Morris sides were scheduled to dance in the local pubs as well. Whittlesey is blessed with a large number of pubs - my favourite was the oddly named Letter B in which some teams were brave enough to do Rapper dancing (very fast sword dancing). However the best beer of the festival had to be the Fenland brewery's Straw Bear ale as served in the Ivy Leaf Club - delicious! Must look out for Fenland beers again.
Of course, as we were staying in Peterborough, I ouldn't resist dragging Patrick to the Oakham Brewery Tap (under threat - please support it!) and also Charters, which I thought must surely impress my man, being a very large Dutch barge with a real ale bar on the bottom floor and a Chinese restaurant on the top floor.
All in all a very interesting and relaxing weekend!

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-08T22:12:00.000Z

1. They will not simply be last year's resolutions recycled!
2. I will eat more freshly prepared food. I'm trying to move away from ready meals and frozen pizzas.
3. I will get more exercise - walking, swimming and cycling.
4. I will look to the future and not dwell on past failed relationships
5. I will not eat more than one sweetie a day (difficult, as people keep bringing in their Christmas leftovers to work!)
6. I will only buy things that I need in the sales.

Well that will do for now, can't think of anything else for the moment...

Open Mic Night at Farnham Maltings

2008-01-08T21:28:00.000Z

Was good to be back in the town of my forebears once more, nd in the Maltings where I've had lots of good times thanks to Darren Beech, the organiser of the folking.com events of a Wednesday. Who knows, when the ex and his woman (who attend every folk gig they possibly can) are on holiday I might sneak over again. On Friday the pair were well out of the way in Birmingham so Patrick and I headed for the open mic night and some very nice Triple fff Maltings Ale down in the Cellar Bar
I was very pleased to see Anthea Neads, an ex member of my choir, Guildford Vox. She has a stunning voice and writes lovely songs - we miss her at choir but obviously can't stand in the way of her solo career. Anthea was first on, and gave a really good performance. I especially liked 'Castle Town' a song about Guildford.
Other highlights included Anthea's friend Lesley Spiers a good guitarist. Sean Lewis seemed to be in a different league with his stunning Spanish Guitar playing and soulful songs (annoyingly, he doen't seem to have a website, or I'd put a link in!). Harbour, a folk band from Farnham, were very enjoyable, I'll be looking out for them in the future. Their fiddle player told a rather rude joke though!
All in all a good night out - despite the inevitable Farnham Maltings false fire alarms, which always happen when it's hissing with rain...

First Footer

2008-01-08T20:43:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone!
I've had a really good Christmas, very busy, visiting various friends and family members. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my parents, travelling up from Patrick's flat in Bath which is not far away from their house in Dorset. My sister was also there, always good to see Shirl. The mantle fell to Patrick to cook the Christmas meal, and he made an excellent job of it - his baked mushroom and stuffing starter is one to be noted for the future! The Waitrose turkey roll was also lovely and succulent.
Had a fantastic walk on Boxing Day with Pam and Chris - Patrick led the walk around Ham Hill Country Park and Montacute village in ideal walking weather, with some glorious views, plenty of historical interest and a good real ale pub, the Prince of Wales, at the end!
Then it was off to Marple for New Year to stay with Patrick's parents, and to do more work on the narrowboat. The new seats for the front had been cut and needed some minor adjustments before being painted and secured. I continued with my job of painting the bathroom. The bad news was, we found that Ripple's 3 batteries fail to hold any charge overnight so they will need replacing. And narrowboat batteries are expensive.
Good whisky and good company on New Year's Eve - as well as Patrick's Mum and Dad, his Auntie Vera and friend Irvin (whose moorings Ripple stays on) stayed up with us till five to midnight, when I got sent out of the house with a slice of bread, a jar of salt, a narrowboat made out of coal and a glass of whisky. I then had to be the 'first footer' back into the house in the New Year, as the darkest person in the house (although female)! It's supposedly a Scottish tradition but it looks like it's found it's way a little further south.
Patrick and I had time to spend one last night together in Dorking before each heading back to work and our (for now) separate abodes. Roll on the day when we can finally live together...

Song of the Moment

2007-12-20T22:24:00.001Z

Plus ca change...

Christmas Parties Galore

2007-12-20T21:45:00.000Z

Last week I was rather busy, no time to be playing on the computer. Three Christmas meals in a row!! The first Christmas party was on Tuesday, at the Inn on the Lake in Godalming, with my friends from Fleur de Lys Morris. I thought the food was delicious (I had goat's cheese and onion tart to start, sea bass fillets for main and chocolate pudding with local icecream for dessert). However those that tried the Brussels sprouts complained they were like pebbles! The beer was not bad, the Taylor Landlord and the London Pride were acceptable. Then on Wednesday it was my BRI work doo at the Home Cottage in Redhill. The food wasn't up to it's usual standard as last year's cook was on maternity leave (my steak was over done) but the beer was excellent (they still had some Youngs Double Chocolate Stout) and the pub quiz was good fun (I cheated by phoning a friend!). Lastly was the East and Mid Surrey CAMRA Christmas Meal at the King's Arms, Dorking. Beer was great, as you'd expect, with Whitstable Bay Stout and Scattor Rock Scattor Claus going down a treat with the lads and lasses. I thought the food was very good too - that time I went for Duck Terrine, Roast Beef and chocolate cheesecake for pud.
I could have gone for a fourth meal in a row with my friends from the train at the Pilgrim in Dorking, but by then I was absolutely exhausted!
This week has been relatively tame, with a festive Ploughmans and champers in the work canteen today. It will be Patrick's work doo tomorrow. I think I've actually ordered turkey for that one but I can't remember! Looking forward to the Christmas break, lots of time with Patrick and with my family.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!
See you in 2008 x

The Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival 2007

2007-11-27T13:11:00.000Z

A rather grand title for a CAMRA festival, but since it was held in City Hall, Cardiff then it had some entitlement to grandeur! Patrick and I left Bath on Saturday morning and arrived at the festival at 10.30am. Things seemed in their normal state of organised anarchy. I introduced Patrick to my old friends, mainly from Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan branches of CAMRA, some of whom hadn't heard the news about my split with Kevin. Then we rolled our sleeves up and got stuck in with work.
At first we helped set out the CAMRA Products, including some interesting t-shirts to do with beards and religion! Then it was over to the main bar, which seemed very busy, with a short interlude on Foreign Beer (more complicated to serve than you might think) and a couple of breaks for food (huge pasties and tasty curry). We had lots more customers during the Rugby (Wales v SA). As the beer range started to dwindle, it being the last day of the festival, the crowds dwindled too. I still had the chance to sample some excellent beers - Wye Valley Santa's Delight being my beer of the festival. We headed off at about 10.30pm back to the hotel for some well earned rest!

Rye Weekend

2007-11-19T21:01:00.000Z

Went to Rye for my second birthday weekend (!) just because I'd always fancied going there. Rye town was very beautiful with lots of unusual medieval buildings. The highlight was the view from the church tower at the top of the Rock - a stunning vista of the rivers, the sea, the town and the South Downs. THere were lots of really nice shops there, including a photographer's gallery with some beautiful local pictures. A spooky picture of Dungeness was particularly appealing. We had a superb lunch at the Ypres Castle Inn, washed down with pints of Harvey's Best.
Later on we walked along the Royal Military Canal Path and over to Camber Castle, getting back to town just as the sun was setting. We decided to get fish and chips at the 'Kettle of Fish' before the town started getting busy for the Bonfire Parade - a good call as when we came out we found people queueing down the street!
The firework parade itself was spectacular, with bonfire societies from Rye and its neighbouring towns all dressed up in wierd and wonderful costumes, floats from the scouts, the local school etc, a fire breathing dragon and a 'burning' ship. I took lots of photos, they will be in the gallery soon.
The fireworks were really good, if short lived, and the bonfire itself was huge, made of wooden pallets in which catherine wheels and other small fireworks had evidently been added. The bonfire societies stood round the fire throwing firecrackers around (not at each other, which I've heard happens at wilder towns). Thought they should have performed some circle dances round the fire for more crowd entertainment!!
Next day it was raining so Patrick drove to some locks that he wanted to see on the Royal Military Canal (not strictly speaking a proper canal, more a defensive ditch)
and we went on from there to Snargate and the excellent Red Lion, quick look around Lydd, pasty and mug of tea at the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway cafe in Dungeness. Lastly, the walk on Camber Sands just as the sun was setting was a beautiful experience.
Another amazing weekend - was sad to have to return to Farnborough!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-11-07T13:08:00.000Z

What a wonderful evening at the Talbot Hotel, Ripley. Through the grapevine I'd heard that the local Ale Taster had been invited to do his annual quality inspection of the Hotel's ales, as it turned out he was accompanied by the Lord of the Manor and flunkeys, the Town Crier, a Magistrate, Fleur de Lys and Thames Valley morris teams, a marching band and a pair of Scottish pipers!
Patrick and I had booked a table in the restaurant and he treated me to a three course Birthday meal - bread and olive oil dips to start, then lamb shank with pearl barley sauce and potato hotpot, then warm dark chocolate cake with mascarpone sauce for dessert. I talked shop with Peter the Ale Taster (resplendent in authentic English ale-tasting costume) and he recommended the Ruddles County which was indeed as good as it gets! The entertainment was great, and it was a chance to catch up with the Fleurs again. Wished I'd been dancing with them, at times.
Ian and Janet arrived for last orders, they very generously bought a bottle of bubbly, which we ended up taking to our room, a large medieval bedroom with a four poster bed, very romantic!
Best Birthday ever, I think :)

Marple to Bugsworth Basin

2007-11-07T13:06:00.000Z

Bit of a boo-boo on the way up – I got on the wrong train at Euston and ended up in Stafford instead of Stoke, so Patrick had to pick me up from there. Luckily it wasn’t too inconvenient - Stafford is only about 15 miles from Stoke, and there were traffic problems on the motorway anyway! Still a bit scary when I realised I was on the wrong train – the guard only announced the stops as the train was pulling away.
Spent the night at Patrick’s parents in Marple – a very erudite evening with beer, whisky and cream cakes – then off to Ripple’s moorings in the morning, Ripple had collected a number of autumn leaves so Patrick had to sweep them off before the acid from the rotting leaves attacked the paintwork. The BMC engine seemed a bit reluctant at first,, emitting black clouds and stalling once, but soon seemed happier once we were underway.
The Peak Forest Canal was particularly beautiful with the autumn leaves all shades from gold to deep rust. Not so good for steering the narrowboat though, as the fallen leaves in the water kept sticking to the propeller. We kept having to pt the boat briefly into reverse to clear the propeller again – but sometimes this was awkward, especially when trying to steer round bends where other boats were moored. Somehow all the other boats seemed to have picked really awkward places to moor up as well!
We stopped at the Dog and Partridge just outside Whaley Bridge for some excellent beer (I had Coach House Navvy mild) and a lovely meal (I had sausage filled Yorkshire Pud) then up to Whaley Bridge basin. Then back down the canal and up to Bugsworth Basin, where we met Patrick’s parents again. By sheer good fortune there was also a firework display in the evening from the local pub, the Navigation, and we happened to moor at the best spot to see all the fireworks! The four of us really enjoyed watching the display from Ripple’s back deck, with the fireworks reflecting in the water. Then it was off to the pub for another meal and some more beer!
Next morning we had a brief wander around the basin, which is a scheduled ancient monument, with some very interesting industrial archaeology. It was a leisurely cruise back down the Peak Forest and Trent and Mersey Canals to Ripple’s home moorings, and we arrived just as the sun was setting. Shame to leave!

Engaged!

2007-10-23T22:22:00.000Z

Well, the news is everywhere, and anyway you guessed this would happen from my last post, dear readers!
Patrick proposed on Wednesday 17th, whilst we were watching the sun go down on a beautiful clear evening at the top of Leith Hill, so of course I said yes! It was four months to the day since that fateful weekend in Middlewich. Some might say it was a bit quick, but then we have known each other for 17 years!
So it was ring shopping on Saturday in Bath - I'd had a scout round the shops on my own in the morning, whilst Patrick was at work, and so when we met in the afternoon I showed him my favourites. We both liked a gold ring with an aquamarine and 2 diamonds, so that's what I'm wearing now! All my friends have remarked on how beautiful it is. Then it was off to the Salamander for a celebratory beer and burger.
We watched the rugby on the big screen at Bath Beer Festival in the evening - disappointing rugby but great beer and cider. Our beer of the festival was Star Spangled Banner from Saltaire Brewery - delicious American hop taste. Cider/perry of the festival were from Ross-on-Wye press - aged in whisky casks for an unusual finish.
Sunday was the walk along part of the derelict Somerset Coal Canal - very interesting, especially the bits about the lives of the ordinary bargees and coalminers, but a bit of a scramble in places, and I hadn't brought my walking boots, d'oh! It was good to meet Patrick's canal enthusiast friends - no doubt I'll be seeing them again soon for some 'vertical gardening' (clearing the weed from canal remains). Patrick offered to drop me off in Salisbury; we thought we'd have a quick walk to the Old Mill and back (again, really nice clear evening) and a pint and takeaway curry at the Village pub round the corner from the station.
Another wonderful weekend :)

Emma and Ting's Wedding

2007-10-08T16:44:00.000Z

Emma is my oldest friend that I'm still in contact with, having known her since school days, so I was very pleased to hear the news that she and Ting were to get married. I'd met Ting once a couple of years before, and wasn't sure that he recognised me, especially as I was with a different partner! Emma looked stunning in her embroidered silk wedding dress as she came up the 'aisle' in the wedding suite of the Chilworth Manor Hotel near Southampton. Both sets of parents looked very pleased, always a good sign! Noriko, a Japanese lady whom we met on Emma's hen night, had arranged the fresh flowers and Emma's bouquet, and these looked wonderful despite their train journey from London.
Patrick and I were witnesses, so we had to sit quite near the front. It did bring back a few sad memories of my own wedding day of course, even though I was happy for Emma and Ting - an odd mix of emotions. I'm just a hopeless romantic just as it says on my profile.
After the simple registry-office ceremony we were invited outside for some sushi and buck's fizz or orange juice. But as soon as the guests started relaxing and chatting to each other the photographer appeared on the roof and started rearranging us in a more asthetically pleasing way (although we had to pretend to still be chatting)! The photography seemed to take forever, but the grounds of Chilworth Manor were beautiful to look at, and Patrick and I had fun explaining the culture of Georgian English nobility to Noriko. Then it was all single girls to the fore for the Throwing of the Bouquet shot - Patrick laughed as I selected a prime position and posed like a goalie taking a penalty shootout! I managed to catch it quite easily - Emma seemed to have been aiming it straight at me. Don't know what Kevin will say when he sees it though LOL.
Next it was off to Kam's Palace for a ten course Chinese banquet. We all signed a piece of red silk with our best wishes for the couple, which is part of the Chinese wedding tradition, then found our tables. Ting and Emma had generously provided beer, wine and soft drinks. The courses were mostly seafood - the ones I can remember were roast pork, abalone with mushrooms, lobster (my favourite, athough messy), trout, crab's claws (very nice), duck and yam pancake, squid, shark's fin soup and dried scallop with turnip. I don't know why it was mainly seafood - Hong Kong specialities, perhaps? Ting's best man surprised the Chinese guests in mid-feast by making a speech and showing humorous slides from Ting's life story - apparently it's not part of Chinese wedding tradition.
Later Emma changed into a stunning traditional Chinese wedding dress, made with red silk and embroidered with dragons. We had to leave a little early as we had to give Noriko and two other guests a lift back to the station, but Emma cut us some wedding cake to take away and we said goodbye to her and Ting, wishing them a fantastic time on their honeymoon in Florida.
Photos in Valerie's Gallery soon!

Girly Day at the Spa

2007-10-03T20:27:00.000Z

Spent the weekend at Patrick's flat in Bath, with my sister Shirley joining us at Saturday lunchtime. We then gathered our swimming cossies and towels and headed off to the new spa in Bath, Thermae
Unfortunately the slightly cheaper Cross Bath was full, but we managed to get into the main spa with the rooftop pool. The views from this were beautiful - really good view of the city and the hills surrounding Bath. I cursed leaving my glasses in the locker! We did rather wish we'd brought bath robes and flip flops with us, as we got out from this 35 C (naturally) heated pool and got caught by the Autumn breeze, before padding soggily down the stairs to the steam rooms.
The steam rooms too were a wonderful experience - there are four, and the steam is scented with different essential oils in each room. We guessed eucalyptus, jasmine, pine and peppermint! We did not stay long in each as we are fainty types and found the steam a bit stifling, cooling ourselves down in between steam doses in the large central shower.
Lastly we made our way to the indoor Minerva pool - very modern, despite the Roman name. We had ago in the very gentle Jacuzzi before discovering the Lazy River, a current that pulls you round the edge of the pool. Great fun, we went round and round and round in it! One woman tried to swim against the current, she made very slow progress but no doubt it helped her fitness levels.
We loved it, and our skin felt lovely and smooth afterwards thanks to the natural Bath mineral water. A great idea, even if it was built SOMEWHAT over budget!
Patrick arrived back from the rugby somewhat overexcited - turned out Bath had narrowly avoided defeat, as Sale had missed a penalty just before the ball went out of play at the end of the match. Think our girly spa day was much more relaxing! Patrick had obviously enjoyed the rugby though.
Next day we visited Bradford-upon-Avon, a very pretty town but shhh, don't tel the developers! The Tithe Barn, canal/river area and Saxon church were particularly lovely. Near the Tithe Barn were also some lovely shops and galleries, one with displays from female artists, lending more girliness to the weekend! Patrick is quite easygoing though, he didn't mind us sisters doing our girly-things as well.
We had a good pint of Wadworth Malt and Hops at the Dandy Lion, also nice Sunday lunch.
Another superb weekend - didn't last long enough!

Anderton Lift and the River Weaver

2007-09-19T12:42:00.000Z

A bad start to the weekend, as I had an awful tummy bug which started on Thursday, when I had to come home from work. I still wasn't well enough to travel up to Cheshire on Friday, that coupled with Ripple being in Nantwich rather than Middlewich as we had expected, and traffic problems on the M6 on Saturday morning, led to a rather rushed weekend's cruising!
Added to this was a narrowboat which had floated loose from it's moorings across the canal on the outskirts of Nantwich. A couple of passers-by managed to drag the boat back towards the towpath but it had lost a mooring peg and they couldn't secure it. Patrick jumped out with another peg and a mallet - but that meant giving away one of our pegs to total strangers! Good job we had a spare one really.
We made it into Middlewich just as it was getting dark, I managed to take Ripple though Wardle Lock but light was fading fast and I didn't feel confident to take her through the next three - I could barely see the lock gates. So we moored up in Middlewich and went to the Narrowboat pub for some good food (me not on beer, sorry TCA, was still feeling queasy! Pat had a cold pint of London Pride though).
Next day we were up at 7.30 to start the cruise to the Anderton Lift and to meet up with Patrick's parents, also canal enthusiasts and very knowledgeable. The weather was great, I was able to relax a bit!
We got to the Lift a little after Patrick's parents; his mum had brought loads of provisions, and there was time for a look round the shop before our slot. Another boat came down with us too - obviously regulars. Going down the Anderton Lift was an amazing experience, really impressive engineering! Well worth the millions spent on restoring it. Note: new photos on Valerie's Gallery - freshly updated!
The River Weaver was a totally different boating experience as well - nice and wide, we were able to go much faster (over 6mph!) steering required more energy but not more effort really. The scenery was lovely at times - it would have been far nicer without the salt and chemical works every now and again but I suppose without them the river wouldn't have been navigable. Locks and swing bridges were very interesting too - on a much larger scale for a start!
We went as far as White's Bridge near Runcorn in one direction, then next day upstream back through Northwich to Winsford where we defied the British Waterways navigation limit to do a gentle turn in Winsford Bottom Flash lake.
Moored up outside the Red Lion (no real ale) and then sadly had to leave Ripple with Patrick's parents and get the taxi back to the car in Northwich.

Towersey Festival 2007

2007-09-12T14:34:00.000Z

Traffic delays meant that we had to dash straight into the Peter Donegan Band on Thursday night, then pitch the tent in the dark afterwards. Peter Donegan gave a superb tribute to his recently deceased father, ‘King of Skiffle’ Lonnie Donegan – not too many of the old chestnuts like 'My Old Man’s A Dustman' - although there would have been a riot if he hadn’t sung it for the encore! Patrick is a Lonnie Donegan fan and knew most of the words to the songs. We had a good dance as well, great fun. Trouble was, Pat did his leg in, so he had to take it very easy for subsequent dancey bands!
Seth Lakeman was the headline act for Friday – the tent was absolutely packed with his fans, who had evidently just come for the day. Despite his fame in the pop world, there’s still no denying he’s a bloody good musician and dedicated folk song writer. Earlier, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan did an excellent set, and we discovered James’s sister Kate Fagan was also very good. The evening finished with one of my favourite bands, 3 Daft Monkeys, who often support the Levellers. Their Cornish/Yiddish crossover music was supremely dancey and an instant hit with the crowd, but they started at 11.15pm and didn’t finish till 12.40am! Phew, knackered!
Saturday we went to the ‘Three Horseshoes’ for lunch and the folk session – for which about 20 musicians turned up, crowding the listeners out of the pub, almost! Apparently some just come to the festival to play at the pub all weekend. Then it was off to workshops – Patrick went to the Stanley Holloway workshop run by Dave Sealey, which he really enjoyed. I went to the singing workshop in the main tent but it was so hot, I kept feeling faint and oxygen-starved every time I stood up to sing! Peatbog Faeries were the headliners but we went to see Van Eyken instead – good impromptu second encore outside the tent!!
Lastly Sunday night finished off with The Demon Barbers’ fancy dress party – demons and Barbies! Patrick looked naughty but nice in with black horns, whereas I looked suitably stupid in a blonde wig and pink miniskirt! Got a front spot with a good view of the clog dancers and Damo’s dragon tattoo, so we were both happy ;-)
Nice festival with something for everyone – will bring an ABEK face mask before attempting to use the campsite toilets again though!

Wickham Festival 2007

2007-08-13T11:04:00.000Z

Arrived at Botley station on Friday evening and was soon whisked off to Wickham Festival for a weekend of folk and blues with the Fleur de Lys Morris girls. I’m not so keen on Blues myself, it’s a bit samey. Some of the folkies were commenting ‘so-and-so were a bit miserable’ – well what do you expect from a blues band? Luckily Les Barker was on hand to cheer things up a bit, with his laughter-inducing poetry like ‘Dachshunds with Erections Can’t Climb Stairs’, ‘Mange-Tout’ and ‘The Long Lost Land of Dyslexia’. Class. Some of the ladies looked a bit puzzled though – not quite their sense of humour perhaps? I’d heard good things about Cherish The Ladies, who were on next, but they seemed a bit lacklustre. Apparently one of their friends and fellow musicians had died just a few days before, and perhaps that was why. We were unanimous though in liking the Dolmen, a folk-goth band from Weymouth. Some of us even had a bit of a bop at the front!
Saturday was dancing day – and was also baking hot, which came as a bit of a surprise to us after the long rainy spell. A reasonably successful dance outside the Kings Head, with refreshing pints of Chiswick available to quench the thirst. Then on to Chesapeake Mill, by which time I was rather peckish. I’d just been served a fat slice of home made Vanilla Fudge Cake when Janice the Squire requested our presence in the dancing area. She did let me off the first couple of dances so that I could eat it though, nice Squire that she is! The Rabble folk-dance and theatre team was with us here, and put on a very entertaining Robin Hood play and some good Border-style dancing.
Most of headed off for lunch in the Italian café on the Square. Then our last performance was outside the Community Centre, which again went really well. Sweat was pouring off me in a rather unladylike manner by then! Was very glad I’d brought a change of clothes with me.
Discovery of the Festival – ‘Yves Lambert & Le Bebert Orchestra’. Yves had a strange accent – sort of a cross between Scots, Canadian and French – turned out they were a band from Quebec. Excellent Celtic-French-sounding music.
Some considered Kathryn Tickell’s band the highlight of Saturday. Good solid North-Western dance music, especially good if you like the Northumbrian pipes. Being more of a song person I was quite content to sit in the cream-tea area whilst some of the others had a good dance.
Eddi Reader’s band had quite a good set, less of the insipid numbers that I’d heard before at Guilfest and more of the pop style crowd pleasers. Boo Hewerdine was on guitar, and unsurprisingly she sang a few of his songs – ‘The Patience of Angels’ being my favourite. I quite liked Donnie Munro, the ex-Runrig front man, despite the accusations of rock-star egotism levelled at him from certain quarters. Again, not something folk bands ever indulge in. Well, hardly ever.
Another lovely weekend – good music, good company, good weather for once!

Blog War!

2007-08-01T19:40:00.000Z

A certain ugly blogger has been publishing rubbish about me again. Usually she publishes mostly boring domestic things and alibis for her sordid sex life but she's taken to character assassination once more. I make a point of ignoring her these days, which only irks her as she has an almost pathological need always to be the centre of attention.
I notice two other relatively new bloggers whom she has attacked have vowed not to sink to her level. However I am a far better writer than the Ugly One, and since she knows I hate her, and with good reason, I've got nothing to lose. So I say, blog war, bring it on! It can only make things more interesting for my readers!!
Edit: definition of 'greedy bugger' - someone who takes a helium balloon from a friend's party with their permission, or someone who is grossly overweight and hates immigrants?

Guilfest 2007

2007-07-18T19:47:00.000Z

Was lucky enough to get a take-out of cask-conditioned Old Speckled Hen from work on Friday, just right to take to the festival with me :)
Soon met up with Trev and Angie with their family, Sparky and Freedom from the Alt Levs board and sat down to listen to The Hold Steady, which made quite pleasant background as I caught up on the gossip and guzzled my OSH. Rodrigo Y Gabriella stood out far more - frenetic punk-guitar playing from Mexico - I liked! Also liked the Ordinary Boys, depite the Big Brother connection; I hadn't thought I would. Too much like the Clash? Is such a thing possible? Might get their album, "Over The Counter Culture", at some point.
Gave Supergrass a miss to go and catch the end of Newton Faulkner, whom I'd seen before at Cityfest, and get a prime front-row position for The Saw Doctors. Fantastic set from the Irish folk-rockers, caught most of their classic songs before having to leave early to get the last train back from London Road, bit of a blow.
Next day woke up late but got to Stoke Park in time to enjoy Jimmy Cliff. Jimmy was playing classics like "Many Rivers To Cross" and Johnny Nash's "I Can
See Clearly Now", which was for once appropriate, as it was a bright sunshiney day! Jimmy had an orange silk suit on which only he could get away with, and was dancing up and down the stage with amazing energy. A good start to my evening, then!
By contrast, went to see Damien Dempsey with high expectations but sat through 2 limp songs and decided to try some of the smaller stages instead (there were 5 stages with non-famous bands, as well as a theatre stage and a comedy tent this year!). Not much to note though till Rory McLeod, who gave a really good performance, even though it was limited to half an hour. Rory kept his ramblings short - I don't mind him rambling, but I can see storytelling is better suited to long sets and venues such as the West End Centre (under threat, apparently). He did sing "When Mummy and Daddy Made Me" which got the biggest applause!
Crazy P and Captain were quite pleasant as I guzzled my Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, which I'd decanted into my big plastic beer bottle. Then it was off to see guitar hero Richard Thompson, who resembles my friend Simon except with a black beret. The crowd were inevitably demanding "Vincent Black Lightning" and "Beeswing", which he eventually obliged with, but there were evidently more recent fans there, shouting for "Dad's Gonna Kill Me", his contemporary anti-war song. And yes, he finished the encore with "Valerie", glad he still admires me ;-)
Richard's set unfortunately overlapped with Squeeze's, so that I ended up having to run down the field to catch them playing "Tempted" and have a sing along. Again, had to leave early, but sang "Labelled With Love" all the way back down the road to the station.
On Sunday my train to Guildford was cancelled - damm! But by an amazing coincidence one of the lads at Farnborough North suddenly said, "Are you Val Badger?" - turned out it was fellow blogger Lever!!! Lever, his mate Simon and me duly headed to the Prince of Wales to sup some real ale until the next train arrived. At the festiew, met up with Lever's other mate Phil, a huge Duke Special fan.
Had some port with me but discovered some real ale in the beer tent ("Guilfest Ale" at £3.50 a pint, ouch! Especially as it was apparently Tetley's Bitter) and some Brother's Pear Cider which was quite tasty. The Icicle Works were a bit disappointing, doing mainly cover versions, Toots and the Maytals were great though. Sadly I'd missed Simon Friend's set in the acoustic tent but caught him on the Ents 24 Stage. Think Lever quite liked him but Phil seemed a bit cynical! I thought it was a great set, had a dance to Men An Tol and Beanfield, he also played a couple of Paddy Stratton numbers which also got a lot of applause from the crowd of (mainly) Levellers fans.
Phil, silent though all the other acts, was yelling enthusiastically for Duke Special and singing wholeheartedly to all the songs. The star of the show for me however was Duke's drummer Chip, mad as a hatter but a totally amazing percussionist. Have got photos of him playing the egg whisk and cheese grater, as well as whacking the two huge bass drums. Marvellous.
Another dash across the field to Madness - by the time we got there we could only get as far as the mixing desk, and could hardly see Suggs and the boys! Still, had a good pogo to "Baggy Trousers", "House of Fun" and "Night Boat to Cairo" amongst others before the day sadly ended!
Shared taxi home due to crap train times and so ot in at an almost reasonable time for bed - just as well, was folding at the knees! Had fabulous time though, just a shame Patrick had other commitments for the weekend. Still there's always next year!

Gillingham Folk Day 2007

2007-07-06T09:31:00.000Z

Well, I really shouldn’t be posting about this, it seems Gillingham’s Folk Day is Dorset’s best kept secret! It’s a lovely small festival based at the North Dorset Rugby Club, in a big (mostly waterproof) tent outside, with bar and food available in the clubroom. There was a little stage for Morris and Irish dancing, as well as Mummer’s plays. Also a few stands from local charities, crafts and CD selling.
The lineup was absolutely fantastic for a one day folk festival (although the Gillingham Festival itself went on all week, with music from various genres). Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin had the first slot – which shows you the quality of the other acts! I had seen Kirsty and Mat at Wickham Folk Festival last year and had been impressed by their impassioned song lyrics and their eco-friendly recycled guitars! Patrick was curious about one of their songs set in Manchester and I wanted to own the song about Hell (‘Fresh Water’) so we went up to them for a chat and a signed CD afterwards. They were nice to talk to - I admired Kirsty’s porkpie hat and she admired my shirt from Fat Face!
Psychedelic-folk buskers The Huckleberries were next up. I could see the good people of Gillingham thinking what on earth are this bunch of pikeys doing here, get orff moi laand! But although they look like the street-corner ambassadors that they usually are, the Huckleberries are excellent musicians. Especially Paul the fiddle player, who might look like he’s drunk the world but amazes all with his virtuosity – seeming to go into a trance like state, hardly moving the bow to produce the sweetest violin music. They played a variety of stuff too, from their own compositions to well-known Irish session music like ‘Raggle-Taggle Gypsy’ and ‘Wind That Shakes The Barley’. By contrast Flook were very polished, and despite their stunning musicianship were in danger of being a bit boring after playing one to many sets of jigs and reels.
Mike Silver got the audience singing with his hymn-like self-penned songs, including the famous (in the folk world) ‘Pretoria’ which Patrick was still singing in the car on the way back! It is a classic song; we should remember the days of Apartheid, and there’s still a lot of racial injustice out there.
I’m not a big fan of Cara Dillon although many are – somehow she always seems a bit wooden. She had just given birth to twins about 6 months ago but was as skinny as a rake! Some women eh. The twins were very cute though.
Next the moment we’d been waiting for – the arrival of the Oysterband on stage – yaaaaayyy!! I think not being the final band had affected their choice of set – there were a lot more slower numbers from their new album, but they did belt out some of their classics like Northern Lights (my favourite), Native Son and Everywhere I Go. They also played Patrick’s favourite, Uncommercial Song, so he was happy too! The somewhat too topical ‘The Flood’ was sung to the audience, JJ came down from the stage with Chopper and Alan Prosser so we felt well and truly part of the experience. The Oysterband are fantastic entertainers, no doubt about it.
A lot of folks left after the Oysterband, but us diehard dancers stayed right to the end for Salsa Celtica. A beautiful fusion of Celtic, Spanish and Latin music, they have bags of energy and joie-de-vivre, daring you not to dance! Think I’ve mentioned them before. The little Irish girls who had previously entertained us on the dance stage were up the front dancing away, and even the Morris dancers were getting on down to the beat!
Excellent little festival but let’s keep it quiet, we don’t want everyone turning up there!

News!

2007-06-24T18:29:00.000Z

Good news - I've got a new boyfriend. Yes, you've guessed it, it's Patrick! Some have expressed concern that I'm on the rebound still, it being only 5 months since the breakup of the marriage. Seems like years ago since that dreadful St Valentines Day, I've come so far in that time. I really thought that my life was effectively over and that I would never love again. So strange then that I felt that little flower of love inside me slowly opening up over the course of that Sunday at Middlewich. I really didn't think it would be Patrick either, till that day I didn't fancy him at all! Somehow we reached an understanding between us and everything clicked into place.
We have the Demon Barbers to thank for the thing that brought us together - me deciding to ask them to sign their album 'Waxed' to Val and Pat! Well, it seemed so right at the time and indeed it was.
We're still at the soppy, glowy stage at the moment, very happy together. Fingers crossed that love lasts this time!

Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival 2007

2007-06-20T18:39:00.000Z

What a bloody good weekend - despite the stormy weather throughout!
Was good to be able to enjoy a folk festival again, and gratifying that Patrick enjoyed it so much - he'd never been to a folk festival before. All the artists were good apart from a couple of duff musicians, very good considering. Discovery of the festival was the Demon Barber Roadshow, great music and fantastic sword, Morris and clog dancers (Patrick pretended not to appreciate one of the attractive clog dancers' boob tube slipping down). Seth Lakeman's gig was of course packed, and he gave an excellent gig, one big Northern bloke at the back was inspired to shout "Ah loov you, Seth" - perhaps being fed up of his girlfriend fancying Seth! Elbow Jane also gave a brilliant gig, and Breeze and Wilson were superb, generously giving out not one but two excellent free CDs.
It was also good fun to wander around the Boat Festival (which seemed quite separate, strangely), there were some gorgeous owls from a nearby sanctuary and a very interesting demonstration of how horses were used to pull narrowboats. Patrick had a go at the 6 Knot Challenge - the quickest time to tie six knots won a full set of new fenders, which would have been useful as Ripple had just knackered her front fender in a lock. Considering Pat had only had one quick demo of the knots before the attempt, he did very well, coming pretty close to the leading times!
Show of Hands gave their usual great performance, lifting the roof of the blue-and-yellow stripey tent with numbers like Santiago, Country Life and Roots. Very much pleased that Patrick was yelling enthusiastically for their encore! What's not to like about Show of Hands though?
The weekend also included some really nice pubs such as the Swan at Fradley Junction (good food/beer/atmos), the Narrowboat in Middlewich (OK beer, excellent food and the chance to say hello to Seth Lakeman) and the Newton Brewery, a lovely old-fashioned pub, only one beer (Pedigree) but best pint of the holiday.
So good to be able to enjoy a folk festival again - good music, good company and good beer, and the chance to stay on a narrowboat! Fantastic.

Southampton Weekend

2007-06-10T11:42:00.000Z

Had a great time in Southampton *deleted*. Had a really nice meal with Pat and Shirl in Buffalo Bill's in Commercial Road - excellent burgers and very big portions. Just right to line the stomach before heading to the beer festival at the Guildhall.
Decided to make it a dark beer night with Bradfield Farmer's Stout, Cairngorm Black Gold, Little Valley Stoodley Stout and some others which I forget!
*deleted* Mary Jane were still very good, and I knew a lot of the words to their old stuff, so could appreciate Burning Times and Matty Groves, for instance. Shame their new album wasn't ready yet! The new songs sounded fab though, lots of nice fast Celtic numbers, and some slower woodwind-led ballads.
*deleted* Next day we all met up again and we drove to Romsey to show Pat the canal, the Salmon Leap and other sights. *deleted*. No pubs were involved, although we did point out quite a few of our old haunts! Had a nice tea and cake at the King John's Lodge - I'd definitely reccommend it. They've done a lovely job with the museum there.
Back home again now - have finished all the painting - hooray! Hope we have some offers on the house soon - I can't wait to get away to Redhill and start my new life.
Sorry about the deletions folks - Kevin has requested that I do not refer to a certain incident in my blog, which is probably for the best.

Taking it easy

2007-06-08T12:30:00.000Z

Shingles are all but healed, although still giving me stabbing pains every now and again. But I decided to take it easy for a while, eat healthily and give my immune system a chance to build up. I also walked back from North Camp station to home a few times just to keep a bit fitter. So not much in the way of news (although it's Southampton Beer Festival and Mary Jane tonight) - I did get rather drunk after choir on Monday though and decided I was everyone's kindred spirit! I'm sure they put something extra in the HSB at the Royal Oak...

Meanwhile here's a Wikipedia game - search Wikipedia for your birth date (day and month). Then post 3 events, 1 death, 2 birthdays (other than yours) and 1 holiday celebrated on that day.
Here's mine (6 November):

Events
355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II raises his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him of the government of the Prefecture of the Gauls.
1935 - Before the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Edwin Armstrong presents his paper "A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation," i.e. FM radio.
1975 - The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London

Birthdays
1494 - Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1566)
1926 - Frank Carson, Northern Irish comedian

Death
1893 - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1840)

Holiday
Sweden - Death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and official flag day

Shingles - ow ow ow ow ow!

2007-05-28T13:13:00.000Z

No, not the kind you get on the beach, but the dormant chickenpox type that has decided to resurface because I am stressed. Yeah thanks, body, that's just what I need at this moment! There's a patch on my ribs and another on my back. The one on my ribs is really painful, it's like getting stabbed in the chest every now and again.
And it means I can't come into contact with other people, as I could give them chicken pox/shingles if they haven't already had it. So no Chippenham folk festival for me this weekend. Also no more flat viewings for a while, and nobody can come here either for viewings as I'm staying in the house.
On top of all of that, it's hissed it down with rain all weekend, so I couldn't even go into the garden!
Good thing I have friends and relations to phone up when I'm feeling down. The Aciclovir tablets knock me for six and the disease seems to have scrambled my brain as well, I'm not at my sparkling-est.

Isle of Wight Holiday

2007-05-25T13:54:00.000Z

Met up with my sister at Southampton Central, bundled my rucksack into her car, then headed off to the Isle of Wight in the car ferry. Was a bit too blowy to be outside and the smell of chips and vinegar was everywhere on the (only) inside deck, but apart from that it was good fun. We spotted lots of familiar villages and landmarks along the Solent and were pleased to see the Eat Cowes landing, the start of many good childhood holidays.
We had no difficulty finding Ruskin Lodge. Good views, close to the beach and CAMRA bar, and our rooms were beautiful – plus a friendly housekeeper, handsome owner and two cute kittens! What more could one ask.
Having unpacked we headed down to Freshwater Bay where the waves were crashing onto the little prom. Then it was into the Fat Cat Bar at the Sandpipers Hotel for some refreshment. There were some superb real ales on during our stay (we went there a few times) including Goddards Bitter, Elland Bargee and Caledonian Top Banana – as well as a kilo of moules mariniere for under £7! Bargain.
Sadly the weather wasn’t that good while we were there, but the Isle of Wight is very geared up to tourism and there were plenty of things to do inside, such as Alum Bay glassblowing and sweet factory (we went back several times to stock up on handmade sweets), Carisbrooke Castle, Butterfly and Fountain World, Newport shopping (we got absolutely soaked inbetween shops though), Chessel Pottery and a number of local pubs. Apart from the Fat Cat, other outstanding pubs included the Bargeman’s Rest at Newport, where I had a stunning pint of Goddards Inspiration whilst listening to a really good Jazz band and eating a huge burger. There was also the Red Lion in Old Freshwater, which did a superb Lobster Chowder, and the New Inn in Shalfleet where I ate some beautiful tiger prawns in garlic accompanied by a pint of Ventnor Gold.
Fortunately the day we’d booked to go on one of the Walking Festival guided walks was sunny, so we enjoyed walking around Colwell and Totland bays and up to Tennyson Down whilst learning more about the history of the area. Next day I thought I’d take Shirl on the short walk from Alum Bay to the Needles – but the wind had picked up again and she nearly got blown off the cliff! She fell over and the contents of her handbag flew about in the wind – we had to pick up cheque books, ciggies etc before they all blew out to sea! She was all right apart from an impressive bruise on the knee.
It was great to get away from the stressful situation at home for a while – but it was straight back into the grind of redecorating when I got back. Never long enough, holidays…
PS photos in Valerie's Gallery just as soon as I can get my home PC to sign me in to Blogger :-/

Moving On

2007-05-02T12:33:00.000Z

Hi All
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, as I am redecorating the house I've had to move my home PC, which has also had problems connecting with the internet. So am just doing a quick post from work today. Hopefully I'll be able to reconnect the (much better) home PC soon.
Friends and neighbours have been brilliant in helping with the trickier bits of redecorating - big thankyou to all of you.
Did some Morris dancing yesterday to welcome in the May-o outside the Red Lion in Godalming. There wasn't a huge audience as the Red Lion was closed, and most people were watching the Chelsea-Liverpool game, but this was just as well as I fluffed Nutting Girl and my petticoat started slipping down during Sophie's Stave Dance. I hope this doesn't happen at Kew Gardens on Saturday, which is our next outing!
Apologies to Titchfield Cycling Association for not listing them under 'friends' - of course all my links are friends! I'd love to join TCA for a ride at some point, it would have to be near a train station for me to get there by public transport. I hope there are a lot of 'spare' men there too - I'm quite partial to fit men in lycra ;-)
Driving lessons are coming along sort-of-OK, last lesson we did hill starts and I kept forgetting to put the car in first gear, then wondering why it kept slipping back. Simon reckons I should be able to pass my test this time. It would make a great difference to me, so I certainly hope so!
Off flat shopping now - will let you know if I see anywhere nice :-)

Reading Passport Challenge

2007-04-15T15:16:00.000Z

The weather's been beautiful today so I've been out on my bike, visiting the few last pubs on my Reading CAMRA passport. Yesterday I was invited to TWO barbecues in Reading, and as well as partying also managed to squeeze in some pubs near the town centre that I can't usually get to - the lovely Butcher's Arms in Tilehurst, the friendly Eldon Arms just off the A4 and the excellent Hop Leaf on Southampton Street (supped some Hop Back Entire Stout there, flippin' gorgeous!).
So today I had a choice - 2 pubs in Theale or two pubs in Hurst? I also really wanted to go to the Bull Inn in Sonning, as I had heard how good it was from a lady in the Eldon. In the end I decided on the Prince of Wales in Caversham, which I'd been to before and knew was nice, then on to Sonning down the Thames Path then back through Hurst (even though it meant a spare pub) to Wokingham and the train home.
Had a nice half of Brakspear Organic Beer, then it was on to the Bull, which was very busy by contrast. The food looked good but I couldn't really afford a meal so had some speciality nuts instead!
Next it was a longish stretch to Hurst - thought I'd cut off a corner by going down Park Lane which was very quiet and picturesque, and I also passed an interesting looking 'Brakspear' pub called the Land's End. Unfortunately there was a ford on the other side of it! My trouser bottoms got rather wet but the little mountainbike-hybrid was unfazed.
The two Greene King pubs in Hurst weren't really inspiring, but their Greene King IPA was OK. Then wobbled to Wokingham with my 13 stickers, having achieved a free VIP beer festival ticket. And some sunburn. Ow!

Fareham & Gosport Folk Festival 2007

2007-04-09T20:27:00.000Z

Rather a different experience to previous festivals, but I enjoyed the music and the company. Avoided Kevin and Ugly, though I spoke to Kevin briefly about house plans. Sat with Ugly's husband on the Friday evening which was a bit bizarre - but it was good to have his empathetic and cheering company for a while. Old friends like Darren, Mary, Dennis and Sue, and Lesley were on hand to give some support, and also new friends Dawn and Vicki from the B&B, whom I hope to stay in contact with!
Discovery of the festival was Flossie Malavialle, a French folk singer who has lived in Darlington (or D'Arleau as she called it!) for a long while, and has acquired a hybrid accent as well as musical style and sense of humour! She was also really nice to talk to, which makes all the difference really. I bought her album 'The Wilderness Years' - great music, perhaps a definitive divorce album! Old favourites Paul Downes and ColvinQuarmby were also there on the Friday. CQ were singing a few of their splitting-up songs too but theirs are more cheerful - in the pace of the tunes, anyway!
Missed Mary Jane and Arlen sadly, as their sets clashed with Show of Hands 'dress rehearsal' of their Albert Hall gig the next day - a truly outstanding show with guests as diverse as a Cornish choir (Fisherman's Friends), Tom Robinson, Martyn Joseph, Miranda Sykes and Paul Downes. Would you expect anything less?
On Saturday I took advantage of the glorious weather to cycle down to Warsash, a pretty little village with a nature reserve and a pink ferry to Hamble. Discovered a little delicatessen which served a delicious bowl of Leek Chowder with fresh bread, and real icecream. Bought some Zapatista Coffee on Robb Johnson's recommendation!! I also chanced upon a beer festival tent outside the Ferryman's and supped some Goddards Ale of Wight, very nice.
Took the pink ferry over to Hamble and had a wander round - yet more pubs, but only ventured into the little gastropub, the Bugle. They only had Courage brands so I tried some Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc - CAMRA heresy but tasty and refreshing on a hot day. Cycled back in time for the evening concerts. John Tams and Barry Coope were very good - John is a master songwriter and Barry an impassioned singer - but I alwys moan at Barry's artificial-sounding Yamaha organ which kind of defeats the (folk) object as far as I'm concerned. Kate Rusby and her band gave the best performance I've seen the give so far - really enjoyed it! Missed 'Sir Egremont' as I popped out to the loo though, damme and blast it!
On Sunday I met up with Mum, Dad and my sister Shirl for Easter roast meal in Braishfield - huge portions! Got front spot for Seth Lakeman, was well pleased. Wasn't keen on the much-vaunted Megson, but Lau (including award-winner Kris Drever) were wonderful, full of energy, originality and passion, very skilled musicians and good fun! Almost enjoyed them more than Seth's , whom I had a good dance to. Got my paws on Ben's set list which I'll keep as a souvenir. Also got introduced to Seth later at the Lysses House musician's late session - he was so down to earth, nice to see fame hasn't (noticeably) gone to his head!
Stayed up listening to the late session, 3 of whose most enthusiastic participants (drinking as well as playing!) were Lau. Vicki offered me a lift home at 4.30am, got back to the B&B just as the dawn chorus was starting.
Another trip out on Monday with Shirl to the Sussex Brewery, Emsworth otherwise known as The Sausage Pub. Springbok Sausage was amongst the 'specials' - didn't get to try it though! Had a little walk round the Slipper Pond and the seafront then tiring journey with full pack and mountainbike back home. I'm off to bed now then!

Divorce Songs

2007-04-05T17:18:00.001Z

Getting ready to go to Fareham and Gosport Folk Festival, which will be better in some ways than previous years - I'm not forced to watch Ugly flirting with my husband as she's got what she wants, but then I have to steel myself against seeing them together as a couple. Hopefully Ugly will have the sense to stay out of my way.
I've heard Ugly's husband might be there as well, it would be nice to see someone who's in the same boat, although he has someone else and is probably further down the road to 'recovery' than me.
Anyway, I digress. Today I've been off sick and feeling sad, so I made a second CD of appropriate divorce songs to cheer myself up.
Some favourites from my divorce CDs:

1. Boo Hewerdine - Evidence
2. Marvin Gaye - Grapevine
3. Carole King - It's Too Late
4. Muse - Plug In Baby
5. McDermott's 2 Hours - The Wheel
6. Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
7. El Dopa - Slow Boat
8. Nanci Griffiths - Still Got The Radio
9. Beautiful South - Here It Is Again
10. Tears For Fears - Change

The demo for the new McDermott's 2 Hours album, 'Goodbye To The Madhouse', has been strangely useful - it is all about mourning for friends and loved ones who have passed away but is somehow appropriate to the death of a relationship and lifestyle upheavals as well.
Thankyou to all those out there who write sad songs 'where would we be in times like these/without the songs, Loretta wrote'...

Ascot Beer Festival & Racing

2007-03-31T07:27:00.000Z

Went down to Ascot with Julie, and met up with Ian and Janet, Martin and Jenny, James and Doug as well as lots of friends of Julie's - quite a good crowd from Surrey Brances as well as Berks LOL!
BRRRR!!! Is all I can say. So much for the posh new Pavilion! It obviously wasn't built with the British weather in mind. There are huge gaps in the wall on the bottom floor where the wind whips through, also huge automatic glass doors and lots of glass frontage, yesterday was also more of a typical, perishing cold March day. I felt sorry for the poor Beer Festival volunteers who had to stand in the howling wind serving beer all day - I could barely stand queueing for a beer! There were two folk musicians who were so cold they could barely hold their fiddle and piano-accordion, playing fast tunes to keep themselves warm. The fiddle player was Paul Sartin whom I recognised from Bellowhead - a pleasant surprise!
Beer of the Festival for me was the first one that I tried - Lovibond's Henley Dark, a delicious, well-balanced porter. The Twickenham Naked Ladies was very good, but the Crane Sundance somewhat medicinal. Loddon's First Gold also in good form. Unfortunately I had a bit of a tummy upset so couldn't drink much.
I wasn't lucky with the horses again, only winning £1.33 on the first race. Janet and Ian seemed to be the luckiest, winning on almost every race!
I'd definitely go again, enjoyed the horse racing, the beer and the company - but I just hope it's a bit warmer next year!

Salsa Celtica at South Hill Park, Bracknell

2007-03-31T06:50:00.000Z

A superb night with Salsa Celtica the Hispanic-Celtic 10-piece band, consisting of 2 drummers (trad and bongo), saxophonist, piper, impassioned Latin vocals, keyboard, fiddle, guitars. They include musicians from Venezuela, Cuba, Scotland, Ireland, amongst others. There was a big area at the front for dancing, at first the crowd of mostly middleaged folkies were shy to dance but after a few drinks at the interval the floor was packed with people doing a bizarre mixture of Salsa and Scottish Ceilidh! Jane, who knows how to dance Salsa, was amongst them - I was trying to teach a Spanish lady to dance the Highland Fling (or something approximating to it!)
Last year I reviewed their album El Camino for folking.com and was pleased to hear lots of songs from that, especially the beautiful 'Esperanza' and the energetic 'Pa'l Rumberos'. Superb musicianship and great fusion music, can't wait to see the compadres at Gillingham Festival!

London Irish v Wasps, 18/03/07

2007-03-19T17:37:00.000Z

WHAT A MATCH! To start with, there was a brilliant St Patrick's Weekend atmosphere in the Madejski Stadium, with the gate numbers at a record-breaking high of just over 22,000. The tannoy was blasting out the inevitable Irish folk songs such as Molly Malone and The Fields of Athenrye - should it be Peckham Rye for the London-Irish version? ;-)
The team came on to thunderous applause, I was disappointed Mike Catt wasn't there, but he'd been playing at international level that weekend. Irish started off playing really well, but missed a few conversions that should have been straightforward. By half time they were 10-0 up.
In the second half Wasps seemed like a different team, swarming round the Irish players with far greater energy and purpose. They were soon level on 10-10, then just ahead 10-13, but then Irish pulled themselves together to get level at 13-13. With 10 minutes to go the Argentinian player with the long hair and difficult name made a superb run down the pitch to get over the try line, but got carried away with his success and failed to touch down! What a wally! Luckily Riki Flutey saved the day for the Exiles with a goal, giving them a 16-13 win.
Had such a good time at the match, am definitely a London Irish fan now and shall go again sometime!

Climax Ceilidh Band at Godalming Ceilidh

2007-03-19T17:19:00.000Z

As a member of Guildford Vox there was no way I could miss seeing our leader Anna Tabbush playing with her ceilidh band. I'd already seen Meridian, her trio, and had enjoyed the gigs a lot so I guessed I was in for a treat with Climax Ceilidh Band who are Meridian plus two.
I'd arranged to meet Linda from morris dancing at the Borough Hall, but she was a little late so I asked a nice-looking bloke if he fancied a dance, which he did! What is is to be (almost) single. Linda and I joined in with several dances, the caller Fee Lock was very good, teaching us quite complicated dances but always making sure that the beginners knew what they were doing. There were inevitably quite a few of us from Guildford Vox there, but also two people from Anna's other choir in Brighton! It was also good to sit out a few of the dances and just listen to the band, which were excellent. I am a fan of Chris Walshaw's pipe playing, and he has a beautiful set of French pipes inlaid with silver, lending a continental feel to quite a lot of the tunes. It was also amazing to see Anna playing fiddle and dancing in her stilettos! The skill of the woman!! They played many songs from their album, Come Dancing, which is of course highly recommended.
Had a pint and a half of the Hogs Back Tea from the polypin but mostly water, as I was perspiring somewhat from all the dancing. Then it was a long walk back to Linda's house to stay the night in the spare room.
Many thanks to Linda for her company and hospitality!

Racing at Sandown

2007-03-11T07:36:00.000Z

Why Sandown? After my first visit to Esher I was walking back to the station when I chanced to see a banner advertising a health and safety exhibition at the Grandstand, Sandown so I popped in to get a few freebies, I mean get some useful information for work. As well as a free smoothie and a good haul of pens, keyrings, bottle openers etc I also acquired a free Grandstand ticket to the race meeting on 10th March, worth £15! Patrick had never been to a race meeting before so he came along too.
The Grandstand at Sandown is far less grotty and sleazy than most racecourse stands, and we were pleased to find a stand selling Hogs Back real ale and Mr Whitehead's scrumpy cider. We also couldn't resist the salt beef sandwich stand for a mid-afternoon snack! The course itself is very attractive, with views stretching as far as the Wembley Arch, and the weather stayed fine and clear. We didn't make a killing on the betting though, it has to be said - I made the princely sum of 50p on the first race with an each way bet, and Pat made £1 on the last race! On the second race I was most disappointed to watch my horse leading all the way round the track, only to jump the last fence badly and unseat its rider. Stupid donkey!!
After the racing we went round Simon and Jane's for fish and chips from the award-winning chip shop in Aldershot - excellent meal it was too. Holly acquired the left over bits of fish skin.
Very pleasant day out - shame Lady Luck wasn't with me though!!

Choir Gig at Student Union, Guildford

2007-02-28T10:52:00.000Z

This time we were singing in the Chancellor's Bar, by invitation of the Student Union's 'Know Yourself' stress-busting initiative. Rather hard to find - I ended up navigating us to the Varsity Bar instead, perhaps out of habit!
I think the choir went down rather well, considering our audence of discerning students - not everyone talked loudly over our singing, and some even clapped along to 'Sloop John B'. Abba's 'The Name of the Game', although a difficult one to learn, always goes down well as everyone knows it. The African songs were well received but the Finnish 'Reindeer Calling Song' got some strange reactions! After the gig there was the chance to relax with some (cheap!) beer - I passed on the Itchen Valley Treacle Stout and went for the keg Hoegaarden instead, delicious. There was also a very good blues band on afterwards as well, maybe we'll recruit the singer into the choir!

Wittering On

2007-02-28T10:32:00.000Z

Went to West Wittering recently with my friends Simon, Jane and Patrick, as well as Rosa the Dog (Five Go Down To The Beach?). Of course we could not go all the way down to Wittering without a pub stop along the way - so we dropped into the Horse and Groom at East Ashling. As soon as we entered the pub the smell of the food started driving me crazy, so we decided to stop for a meal - I had the Shoulder of Lamb which, though on the expensive side, was both substantial and delicious - well worth the money. Everyone was pleased with their meal and Rosa got to have my lamb bone! Rosa was unhappy in the car, and a neighbour kept phoning up the pub and complaining. However the pub were very understanding and allowed Rosa in to the bar area, where she calmed down considerably. The Dark Star Hophead was excellent but Pat had given up booze for Lent - so of course Simon and I extolled the virtues of the beer at length!!
West Wittering beach was nearly empty, apart for a few couples with dogs. There were lots of interesting shells and stuff - I was disconcerted to find that I've forgotten most of my seashore biology, will have to get my copy of Seashore Life out again. Simon was skimming stones (mostly) impressively with Rosa chasing after them, we lost Jane amidst the dunes but were all reunited eventually. Simon and Jane had brought some real coffee in a big flask, also chocolate and biscuits, then we piled into the car to head off home.
The stop on the way back was the Fox Goes Free at Charlton. The beer was not so good, being a bit on the cold side. The house bitter is brewed by Arundel and so it's a bit on the malty and sweet side but still a good session pint.
Then a rush back for choir gig at the Student Union, University of Surrey!

Bellowhead at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

2007-02-28T09:51:00.000Z

Hi all
Have decided to keep the blog up, despite some personal problems recently, especially as it annoys a certain ugly slapper!
Went to the Royal Opera House on my own. Bill Badger insisted on giving me a street map despite the fact that I know Covent Garden like the back of my hand (as any serious shopper would)! There was a bit of a scare as a stupid American woman kept asking a young couple when they thought the next terror attack was going to be and shouting "Wake up London". Eventually the man got annoyed and threw her rucksack off the train, forcing her to get off. Then the train was delayed as security people went over to talk to her.
I tried to give my spare ticket to the Box Office but they wouldn't take it, which was rather annoying as the girl sitting next to me had also had to come on her own, as her friend could not get a ticket on the door. What a waste! The girl introduced herself as Asha, and we soon got friendly enough to get a front spot together and swap dance moves! She was a great dancer and a lovely person to talk to, we swapped myspace details and I hope to see her again at a festival somewhere.
Bellowhead were excellent, danced to almost every tune, my favourites being Haul Away Joe and the intriguingly named Rochdale Coconut Dance! The Floral Hall is a beautiful Victorian white-painted iron andglass structure similar to the great greenhouses at Kew. Apparently the acoustics in the Floral Hall weren't that brilliant but from my front spot the band sounded fine.
Kate-from-Choir's husband very kindly gave me a lift home as far as Woking, and I caught a train to Farnborough within 10 minutes.
Good music, good company, fast dancing - just what the doctor ordered!

Wey Famous!

2007-02-12T17:10:00.000Z

Searching for something else entirely, I found that this blog has been quoted by the River Wey and Navigations Society! Wait till I tell Patrick!!!
Take a lookie, it's quite a way down on the right hand side, under Wey Snippets - Wey Tradition.
http://www.weyriver.co.uk/theriver/places_7_guildford.htm

Ron Trueman-Border at Cricketers, Yateley

2007-02-12T12:54:00.000Z

Not my favourite pub, the Cricketers serves Greene King beer brands - the IPA and Olde Trip were acceptable. We found a table easily, although we didn't want to be right in Ron's field of view, he has been known to get rather irritated with his audience!!
Ron only plays his own stuff, so for instance he hates pubgoer's requests as they tend to be for covers. Fortunately he didn't get many - apart from me, who requested one of his own songs, 'Peter Green' which is one of the most outstanding folk-blues songs written. Nobody apart from me and Bill Badger was really listening to the more downbeat stuff which was a bit of a shame, but the funloving pub crowd did dance to the more uptempo, swing-type numbers. Ron also played Bill's favourite, the more lighthearted (!) 'Covered In Blood' murder ballad. Maybe Ron liked us though, as we kept singing along to the choruses as invited, and we seemed to be the only people there who had specifically come to see him.
I hope Ron builds up a following amongst the pub crowd, I'm sure there's many out there who will appreciate his irascible wit, strong humanity, and wonderful songs.

Bully Wee Band at Twickenham Folk Club

2007-01-17T19:16:00.000Z

We were introduced to the Bully Wee Band by Quintin, who has been a fan for a long time, but of course we knew Ian Cutler, the Kentish fiddle player, from 'Feast of Fiddles' and the 'Hot Rats'. The rest of the lineup were also original band members - Fergus Feely, Jim Yardley and Colin Reece who were all excellent. Loved the Anglo-Celtic dare-you-to-dance style of music - with the Bridge Violin as well it's almost perfectly my thing! Colin's own songs included a great folk story about the Lady Lovibond, an aptly named ship deliberately wrecked by a first mate in hatred of his girlfriend-stealing captain, and the Christian-pagan story of Stanton Drew stone circle. Fergus's 'Fifty Channels' was by contrast to most of the band's material, a sad, touching love story.
Very entertaining evening - Jim's cheeky 'Love Will You Marry Me' stood out for me, as well as the band's well-loved version of 'The Snows (They Melt The Soonest)'.
Quintin and I got up to dance at the end to the band's last fast-and-furious jigs (forgot what they were called, sorry). Thought we'd be told off by some of the more staid folk-club members, but amazingly we were not! Great evening, even though the bar at the Cabbage Patch had run out of Deuchars IPA.
I also bought the album, which the band kindly signed for me, called '50 Channels' recorded live in January 2006. The sound quality is great, with no overdubs or postmixing, and it captures a little of the live experience - go and buy it, folkies!

Evil Wolf-Cat

2007-01-14T16:15:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've had a stinking cold and haven't been up to much.
We have noticed recently that our little tortoiseshell cat, Holly, is too scared to go out and started messing inside, till we put a litter tray down. If we shut Holly out at night she'd come back with deep scratches and bite marks on her, as if another cat had tried to kill her! Hubby also noticed a huge grey cat, which we call Wolf-cat, peering in at the windows.
Then the other night I was awoken by a cat fight on the landing (hubby amazingly slept though the dreadful wailing and hissing). As soon as the other cat heard me coming it must have legged it downstairs and out of the (broken) cat flap again. The next day hubby noticed Wolf-cat in our garden again, so it's a fair bet that he is the one who attacked Holly in her own home! Again Wolf-cat legged it when he saw hubby, he must be used to humans trying to scare him away.
Now we've boarded over the cat flap so that Wolf-cat can't get in, but now of course Holly can't get out. She is only safe outside with a human bodyguard. Such a shame, as she loves the outdoors! Horrible Wolf-cat. Not a lot we can do though...

Twelfth Night in Guildford

2007-01-07T11:12:00.000Z

Touring around pubs doing Mummer's plays, reciting stories and singing carols and wassail songs on a Saturday night in Guildford is not easy, but I guess Pilgrim Morris are used to it! Somehow the morrismen and their entourage, including Anna and Nonny Tabbush, Nick Sowden and a handful of Guildford Vox members, managed to squeeze into the main bar of the Star to perform the usual doctor-raising-Turkish-Knight-from-dead play. This was done with far more panache than other, more ponderous Mummer's plays we've seen! Great fun. Then someone handed around songsheets and loads of us joined in the singing. Although I didn't know many wassail songs I did by the end of the night!
The King's Head was closed, so it missed out on it's lucky chalk crosses for the New Year. The Angel Hotel bar was also closed, but the manager let us into the lobby area - which was really good, not so crowded and we had good views of the plays (the doctor one and a version of Cinderella). The (young, attractive) Queen was hoisted up by a couple of morrismen amidst much merriment to chalk the lucky crosses on an oak beam below the balcony.
Next the morris entourage somehow squeezed into the Three Pigeons for another performance. I couldn't face more claustrophobia and didn't want to risk the variable beer there, so I formed an advance party to the Royal Oak and some nice Freeminer Bitter. I grabbed a few seats for the Vox and sipped my pint. The morrismen were a little late, so I only had time to sing a couple of carols before having to run off for the last train home at 12.14pm - but was accompanied by Simon Friend of the Levellers, who was there with a group of friends! Good for him, I say, suporting the old traditions.
Such a fun night out, I'll be back next year!

New Year's Resolutions 2007

2007-01-03T19:38:00.000Z

1. I will learn to drive. I will, I will, I will! This year, for certain!
2. I will find a plumber somehow to fix the fresh water tap.
3. I will get a washer-dryer.
4. If any woman asks if my husband fantasises about her, invites my husband to lick beer off her tits, moans about his slim, attractive wife taking attention away from her, invites him to 'tuck her in' etc etc I will tell her in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable! Either that or throw my beer over her!! I think this is entirely reasonable.
5. I will not spend loads of money on tat from the sales. Honest.
6. I will not spend loads of money this year on station coffee. Nice though Puccinos is at Redhill. Instead I will bring a small Thermos flask with me on the train.
7. I will keep my diary up to date so that I know what I'm doing months in advance, like Bill Badger does.
8. I will spend more time on my bike. Once the weather has cleared up that is ;-)
9. I will not buy any more bottled beer. Not till we've drunk the huge stockpile we have already.
10. I will buy less jewellery. I am not obsessed, jewellery jewellery jewellery. Damn.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T19:25:00.000Z

Yesterday we tried to get Sunday Lunch at the Sandrock but they'd evidently changed their minds about cooking on New Year's Eve. Bought 7 pints of RCH Pitchfork and 3 1/2 pints of Holden's Golden Glow for the evening at Godalming Ceilidh, and then went to the Shepherd and Flock for posh nosh and more beer.
The day before, we'd not been able to get tickets from Record Corner in Godalming, which had sold out. We made an anxious call to our friend Jane, who kindly checked their website, and the tickets hadn't yet sold out completely so she was able to order some for us online. You SHALL go to the ball, Cinderella!
Jane also offered to drive, what a star woman. Weather was appalling as well, with rain pelting it down.
Bursledon Village Band were excellent, and we had a better caller than last time, a guy in big red pantaloons who looked a bit like Buster Bloodvessel.
As well as Simon and Jane there were lots of familiar faces at the ceilidh - choir members mostly! Spotted Joy, Tim, Jocelyn, Clare and Marie with their partners. I look forward to Climax Ceilidh Band's stint on the 24th March, it will be good to see Our Illustrious Leader with her band.
The dancing was great fun, with nobody being picky if you messed things up, and although Simon was skeptical at the beginning, he seemed to be getting into it at the end (perhaps that was the beer and single-malt whisky taking effect!). Sadly I've no pictures, Billy Badger didn't bring his camera. Probably just as well!
Laurence had brought a load of balloons and we had fun kicking huge ones around, and letting off screamers. There were also party-poppers and assorted plastic musical instruments to make loads of noise at 12 o'clock, which we did! THen followed the obligatory Gay Gordons which I messed up, apparently holding Bill the wrong way. Shame when it finished at 1am - I could have partied a lot longer!
Wishing a very happy 2007 to all my readers.

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

2006-12-14T19:50:00.000Z

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

2006-12-04T21:37:00.000Z

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

2006-11-23T22:51:00.000Z

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

2006-11-23T22:17:00.000Z

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

2006-11-23T21:51:00.000Z

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

2006-11-19T17:38:00.000Z

(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

2006-11-06T14:21:00.000Z

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

2006-10-28T20:50:00.000Z

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

2006-10-24T13:36:00.000Z

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

2006-10-16T15:30:00.000Z

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!

2006-09-28T12:12:00.000Z

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

2006-09-14T21:03:00.000Z

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...

2006-09-14T20:14:00.000Z

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

2006-09-04T15:34:00.000Z

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!