Paul Downes at Dorking Folk Club

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

Canal Weekend

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

Hobbs Farm Music Festival, Saturday

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

Wallingford Bunkfest - Sunday

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

Bridgnorth Folk Festival 2005

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

Porthmadog

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

Llandudno

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

Congratulations!

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

Pennine Way Weekend 3

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

Pennine Way Weekend 2

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

Pennine Way Weekend 1

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

Great British Beer Festival - Tuesday

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

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

Second: Grainstore Rutland Panther

Third: Woodforde’s Wherry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

London to Cambridge Bike Ride 24/07/05

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

Puss Cat – Good News

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

Redhill Beer Festival Meeting 20/07/05

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

Steve Knightley at Forest Folk, 18/07/05

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

Guifest 2005

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

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

Westerham Brewery Visit

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

Priddy Folk Festival - 10/7/05

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

Abbotsbury Family Festival 2005

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