First Gig - Guildford Vox

Or two, to be precise!
Our first spot was outside the Friary in Guildford, at the concrete circle where the merry-go-round usually is. About 30 of us turned up, which was good - not many sopranos though. A small group of friends and relations appeared, but we didn't get many passers-by as it was a little off the main shopping route. Guildford was quite quiet for late-night shoppers anyway. Also it was rather noisy because of the lorries and buses heading up North Road. Still, we sang out as best we could. I was struggling as I had a sore throat, I probably wasn't singing my best but I was there!
Our set list included:
Jubilate Deo
The Holly and the Ivy
Whim-Away (Um Boubai)
Winter Wonderland
The Boar's Head Carol
Fly, Fly, Fly
Gaudete
The Reindeer Calling Song
Then there was time for a quick freshly-made doughnut from the stall on the High Street before heading to Holy Trinity Church for the second spot. Unfortunately there was already a brass band playing in the Tunsgate Arch, which threatened to clash with our singing (we didn't have the words to their carols, sadly). However after a quick negotiation Anna persuaded them to be quiet for a bit while we sang.
We do have a CD available, just for a donation to charity - but I couldn't get one as David had disappeared into the Three Pigeons! Oh well, hopefully there'll be some left for the New Year.
That's all for now!
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS!

Folk-Punk Crawl of Brighton and Portsmouth

Bill Badger was away last weekend looking after his father, leaving me to entertain myself. As the train line was down between Farnborough North and Portsmouth, I thought I'd go via Clapham Junction to Brighton, do some shopping, drinking and catch some live music.
Got up at crack of sparrow, and trains were all running fine towards Brighton, arrived at 11.30am before the Evening Star was open, so had a browse down Queen Street and a quick look at the sea. Then back for the Evening Star Beer Festival and Robb Johnson's gig. The pub was packed and a lot of people were singing along to Robb's songs, so I guess at last he is developing the following he deserves! 'Breakfast in Kamnitz' and 'This Song is a Rose' were amongst his set. Got chatting to a bloke sharing a table with me, who is a friend of Maggie Holland (must keep an eye out for her) and Twiggy!
Drank some Dark Star Hophead, Nottingham Stout and Eastwood & Sanders Porter, then headed off to the Bugle in St Martins Street and had some Harveys Best (they also had Taylor Landlord and another ale). I'd got there too early, so had to wander round North Laines in a state of pisstitude - luckily I didn't buy anything too wacky! Had coffee and cake at the Rotunda before heading back.
Nick Burbridge was at the Bugle playing the Irish Session which takes place from 4-6pm every Sunday. He was pleased to see me, I'm helping out with festival-pestering for McDermott's 2 Hours, also moderating their messageboard. The 2 fiddle players whom Nick was playing with were also very good. Recognised some of the songs, especially 'Dicey Riley' and 'Bone's Farewell' from the new album. An old boy was doing Pink Panther type dancing in front of the band which was funny - Nick looked amused as well!
Wandered back to the station - had just missed a train so I headed back to the Star for some Dark Star Rods and Mochas at 7.3%.
Got to the Levellers concert in time to see Seth Lakeman's set - recognised his brother and Ben the bass player but not new guy on bodhran - very good! The Levellers were on their last gig and were putting lots of effort into it, dancing and playing their best. Simon forgot the words to 'This Garden', tsk tsk. Boaksey was in a kilt, pink suspenders and pink feather boa with luminous makeup. As he did his Marylin Monroe impression over the fan and high-kicks to the audience, was glad he's not a true Scotsman!
A cracking good day! Must do it again sometime :-D

Martyn Joseph at the Brook

Other Val and Matt accompanied Bill and myself to the Brook to see Wales's answer to Bruce Springsteen once more ;-) Martyn was accompanied by his keyboard player Matt, and I'm pleased to say the sound quality was excellent. Glad that the Brook also sorted out their sound problems as well as refurbishing. They stil haven't got any interesting beer though - c'mon Brook, ditch that Courage Best for something nice by Hampshire Brewery, please!
Martyn gave a faultless performance, we arrived a song-and-a-half too late and came in as he was singing Dic Penderyn, which has a superb chorus, especially for us mezzo-sopranos to sing along to! Songs which Martyn virtually left the Brook to sing were the covers - What If God Was One Of Us and Stuck In A Moment originally by U2.
Martyn has a new album out, Deep Blue, which we purchased - unfortunately could not get near Martyn at the end for an autograph. He played many songs from this - my favourite being Proud Valley Boy.
After the interval, Martyn did his spontaneous song-composing, about a dark-haired woman in the upstairs bit who had shouted 'bad sales pitch' to him as he'd been excessively modest about his new album - and he'd heard 'selfish'! Then played some requests at the end including Dolphins, one of his chart hits.
A good, spiritually-uplifting gig - we will return to see Martyn here again no doubt.

Bill Badger's 40th Birthday

Today Bill Badger, my lovely hubby, reached his 40th Birthday (which he kept pretty quiet!) He has been working at the Great Welsh Beer Festival in Cardiff, and travelled back especially to go on the 'Arford By Bus' pub crawl. The Crown in Arford was my favourite, a very nice pub, had some excellent beer there and a nice plate of nachos. The Mill Tavern in Shottermill, West Sussex was very good as well.
Val and Matt picked us up at the final pub, the Crown and Cushion in Haslemere, and took us to West Chiltington Village Hall to see ColvinQuarmby. Val is friendly with the band, so asked for a request for Bill - and he kind of got two! Jerry mentioned people who turn 40 when he played 'I look the same but I have changed' and also dedicated 'it could only happen in America' to Bill as well!
We were also able to stop for a drink on the way back, thanks to the remarkably civilized new licencing hours. Cheers, Tony!
Hubby has got loads of cards and prezzies which just goes to show what a popular guy he is. Val and Matt gave beer and homemade (unusual!) chutneys, and Simon and Jane gave a cup-and-saucer and some liquorice. I gave a book and some 'taste the difference' bikkies which Bill seemed to appreciate!!
Happy birthday, dearest! xxxx

The Copper Family at Guildford Institute

Just Bill and myself to see the Copper Family, who arrived a little late due to work commitments (but quickly found their way to the bar!) They are one of the few families who still pass on folk-singing from generation to generation, and have done so in the village of Rottingdean since time immemorial. They were one of the first families to have been 'collected' from, and pass on stories of the old days of ploughing with horses, running pubs etc. as well. They are not trained singers and so maybe a bit rough around the edges, but great fun and very interesting to listen to. Long may they multiply and do their best!

Siansa at Farnham Maltings

Went to see Siansa with Bill and Val - Ken was also there, a regular reader of my blog!
Steve Winchester was suporting, and played 5 cool songs to start with, including an Irish song which Siansa thought was terrific :-D
Siansa kicked off with 3 jigs, excellently played, then some traditional songs. I amused myself by trying to pick the best musician of the outfit. It was close, but I picked Peter O'Brien, the bodhran player from Belfast, after effortlessly providing intricate rhythms for a set of Irish polkas. Turns out he was all-Ireland champion! Fantastic. Tim O'Dowd was very good on the pipes and low whistle, but I didn't like his singing voice. Other Tim was very good as well, on pipes and whistles, despite not having rehearsed with the band (they played a few tricks on him - not deliberately though!)
Geoffrey Pollett, the fiddle player, sang a few of his own songs, good ones too. He sounds terribly well-spoken English, sounding very odd in an Irish band! The harp player, Harriet Earis, was excellent - it's a rare thing to hear someone playing the Irish harp round our way.
Dave Henderson, the guitar/mandola player, was also by far the best singer, but only got to sing the one song!
Also, as a surprise, they had a top Irish dancer, Martin, who used to be lead dancer in The Lord Of The Dance (Riverdance's successor). He was truly amazing, lightning on his feet, but wrecked the door on whih he was supposed to have danced and had to hammer the floor instead!
The atmosphere was great at the gig, but at about 10 past 11 the fire alarms went off in the middle of a set of reels and, althogh Darren told us there was no fire, there was no way we could hear the music over the din. Me and Bill decided to call it a night at this point. Felt sorry for the band though.
Val won a folking.com waistcoat on the raffle - I look forward to seeing her wearing it :-D

Guildford Vox

Don't laugh - I have joined a choir!
Yesterday night I went along to Anna Tabbush's Guildford Vox choir taster night (she of Meridian and Tabbush Sisters fame) along wth about 20 other people! First of all we did warm-up exercises - a bit like aerobics, then we did some voice exercises, designed to get us singing effectively. It ws very interesting to learn how to do it properly - learning diaphragm control, the correct way to breathe in, etc. Then Anna taught us some rounds, including Jubilate Deo. Then we had to sort ourselves from low singers to high singers, bass to alto. I ended up as a mezzo-soprano, rightly or wrongly! We sang harmonies to Whim-Away, The Boar's Head Carol, and a Finnish reindeer-calling song, but I kept wanting to sing other people's tunes - very confusing! Anna was very positive and enthusiastic, and danced as she was conducting. Everyone seemed nice and I had a lot of fun, though my lungs were aching afterwards. Will definitely go back next Monday :-)

Weeping Willow?

Was merrily browsing through the board this morning when I heard our neighbour's teenage son and daughter out in the garden. I opened the curtains, and - bloody hell! A huge branch of a willow tree 2 doors down (No. 104) has crashed down - over our garden and both our neighbour's gardens! :o It has wrecked the shed at No. 106, luckily there wasn't anything valuable in there. At No. 104 the shed is bearing a lot of weight but hasn't collapsed yet.
Mike, the guy at 104, has tried phoning tree surgeons and his insurance (Direct Line Insurance), but none of them are open at the weekend!! Surprising really - who are you supposed to contact in an emergency?
Just as well no-one was out there really! That tree is also very near the railway line - again, very luckily there's no trains today due to engineering works.

Folk at the Fall - QE Hall Foyer, London

Bill and I took the train to Waterloo and firstly headed past Festival Hall to Covent Garden - yay! I'll make a shopper of Bill yet. There was a food and drink market going on, as well as the usual crafts in the Apple Market, so we tried some crepes and Moroccan savouries before heading off to the Sir John Soanes museum.
This museum was amazing! It was crammed full of bits of carved stone and marble which Sir John (architect of the House of Lords, anongst other things) had collected. There was everything from Roman gods to an Egyptian sarcophagus - and in the midst a bust of Sir John himself - a la Julius Caesar! There were also quite a few Hogarths, in the cellar the famous Rake's Progress. The house itself has been preserved in all its 18th Century glory.
I went shopping for boots in Neal Street on the way back, and Bill went to the concert. Sadly I missed most of Mawkin, an Essex-based fiddle/melodeon/guitar/bass outfit, who were very good. Gog Magog Molly were around in the intervals to entertain us with their modern take on Cambridgeshire molly-dancing. With their bright costumes and silly hats I at first thought they were clowns!
The Devil's Interval were next, but despite their cool name I found them a bit boring. But then a lot of their songs were a capella which isn't my cup of tea. They did a dirty song at the end though ;-)
Last on were Meridian - Richard Jones (piano-accordion/guitar), Anna Tabbush (fiddle/flute/vocals), and Chris Walshaw (pipes/flute/whistles). They did a superb set, playing 'At the break of day/The Glimmering) which was my favourite. Anna's voice was at it's soaring best, and the sound quality was far better than at Bridgnorth. Chris wowed the audience with his French Pipe skills, playing schottiches and other French dance tunes, a few people quietly danced at the back!
Singing Robb Johnson's 'London Eye' on the train home again to Farnborough.

Redhill Beer Festival

Which was actually at Merstham Village Hall. The hall was never packed, having at most 120 punters at a time, the festival having been limited to 150 punters at a time by the Hall committee. The food on offer consisted of huge baguettes, sausage rools, Scotch eggs or crisps, with free food for workers.
Things were very quiet on the Membership and Products side (of which myself and Claire were in charge) – probably due to the bad location of the tables on the stage, which some punters thought was out-of-bounds. However we did manage to sell 10 CAMRA memberships, the baby’s bibs, a teddy, and quite a few East and Mid Surrey Pub Guides (these are excellent, despite what Bruning-skimreader says!). I was restricting myself to a half a day, so had to choose well and sip it very slowly. The B&T Edwin Taylor Stout was the beer of the festival for me. We sold out of beer by 7pm on the last day, but still had plenty of cider left over. I don’t think Surrey folk are big cider-drinkers. In the end we gave away the cider in takeaway containers, before returning the empties.
It was good to catch up with all the gossip from the Welsh contingency (Claire, Kathy, Daigy and Keith) as well as to see the East and Mid Surrey crowd again. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves – apart from the kind of people that always pick holes. Thanks to Sally Gingell in particular for doing most of the work to make the festival such a success!

Show of Hands at Norden Farm

Steve and Phil gave yet another superb performance at Norden Farm, and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Someone called Bill heckled them for being late on stage, but they seemed to know the guy so they took it in good spirit. Apparently they have played more at Norden Farm than anywhere else! It is a good venue though.
They played old favourites like Cousin Jack, Santiago, Widdecombe Fair (they seem to have given up on Phil sneaking up on the audience with his fiddle!) and my favourite at the moment, The Setting/Mary of Dungloe. Steve also tried out a few new tunes, he didn’t mention titles so I’m guessing Dreamers and Lost. He has changed Dreamers so that it makes less sense to me – I thought the boyfriend steals a car and gets beaten up, forcing the couple to stay in Axmouth – but he has changed it so that it was a friend. Why stay then? Lost was about Steve visiting an attic where he finds everything he’s ever lost. Bill liked this – he’s such a hoarder! Roots was played as the encore, it’s a great protest song, a rallying-cry for all us folkies to defend our English culture. Was pretty tired by the time we got back home though, had to go to work early the next day as well...

Oysterband at the Brook

Last night was Other Val’s birthday so she’d decided on a girlie night out in Southampton, with myself and Julie. Bill Badger would normally be an honorary girl, but he is away at the moment at a conference in Birmingham (he made do with a boy’s night out with Patrick).
The Brook had changed a little since I last went there to see Martyn Joseph. The place looked a lot less dingy, all in greens and stained wood, with the downstairs bar moved over to the far side and the upstairs bar refurbished with lots more seating. I wasn’t tempted by the lone real ale (Courage Best) but Other Val had no complaints.
Other Val and I headed down to the mosh pit whilst Julie stayed upstairs on the fag! There wasn’t a lot of dancing though, perhaps because of the lack of space. The sound was excellent though, and the Oysterband as energetic and skillful as ever (not turning up pissed like a band I’ve seen recently (Atishdrunkinpublichoo) although JJ did forget the words to ‘The Raven’ We met some nice people (as often happens with Other Val around) and had a bloody good time. Favourite song of the evening – ‘Northern Light’ (Other Val voted for ‘Milford Haven’ and Julie for the instrumentals)
Thanks to Other Val for driving on her birthday!

Spiers and Boden, Good Old Way Folk Club

My 100th Post!It was my, Bill’s, Other Val’s and Matt’s first time at our very own folk club of which we are members. People seemed friendly without being too OTT. The room, in the Guildford Institute building of the University of Surrey, was rather small but decorated with interesting pictures, and retaining quite a lot of original ‘Art Nouveau’ features. A grand piano stood at the ‘stage’ end, leaving not a lot of room for any big bands! There were bottles of Hogs Back TEA available, but the catch was, there were no beer glasses! Drinking a bottle-conditioned beer from the neck without drinking any of the sediment proved to be a bit of a challenge.
The first floor-spot was a very traditional singer, so I hoped that wasn’t going to be the tone of the folk club. Next came Spiers and Boden, who were fabulous, with many new songs from their album appropriately entitled ‘Songs’ (we bought a copy which Jon and John signed for us). They too are a very ‘traditional’ act, but they don’t perform the songs 100% ‘straight’, adding a certain something to them which makes them catchy and enjoyable. They are usually quite gory as well. Was whistling the song about chopping up the
wild woman for ages afterwards!
The next floor spot, to my delight, was Anna Tabbush, who helps run the club. I have a CD of her in ‘Meridian’, called ‘Prime’ – her vocals are amazing. She also teaches R & B – bit different from folk music!
More Spiers and Boden, had a bit of a sing, especially ‘Happy Birthday’ to one of the other folkies who had travelled a long way to see the lads. Only a matter of time before they need a fan club!
Didn’t win anything on the raffle, but there’s plenty of time. Now we are regulars, we are sure to win more ;-)

Plymouth and Gunnislake Weekend

The Magnificent Seven (Ian, Brian, Social Bob, Magnus, June, Bill and me) met up for an attempt on the Tamar Valley Rail Ale Passport, 19 pubs accessible by rail on the Plumouth to Gunnislake line. Was in a foul mood most of the weekend due to sinusitis and inner ear infection – but after a few beers I cheered up a bit and the constant boat-motion seemed less noticeable! On the Friday we had a four-hour train journey to Plymouth in a nice comfy South West Train. There were some great views of the sea around Dawlish but fog closed in as we approached the Tamar valley. Spent the evening visiting a few pubs in Devonport and Plymouth, the most memorable ones being the Dolphin (‘accepts all comers and frequently gets them’) and the Minerva (good vibes, good live saxophonist). Next day six of us went on a walk around Gunnislake to see the historic mineworkings, lock, lime kiln etc, then in to the Tavistock for some delicious local cider. Next stop was the Rising Sun for some stonking Betty Stoggs, but was miffed that they weren’t serving food. Half an hours’ walk to the Rifle Volunteer, where Bill, Brian and I sampled the (very good) food – well earned after climbing uphill quite a lot!
Then it was all the way back down the hill to the Cornishman and another pub before the inevitable climb back to the station.
Next stop on the train was Calstock where we found the lovely Tamar Inn, enjoying some good beer there. Unfortunately the Riverside Restaurant wasn’t serving beer, but we had an excellent cream tea there, homemade scones with lashings of jam and cream :-p The other pub in town, the Boat, was very nice too, they serve a lovely bag of Burts crisps!
I was pretty tired by the time we got back to Plymouth and moaned about the 10-minute uphill walk to the ‘nearby’ Fortescue, which did not have a good range of beers. Ian, Bill and I attempted to find the ‘nearby’ Sutton Brewery tap, but were scuppered by an early-closing bridge.
Sunday Bill and I visited the National Aquarium whilst the more dedicated CAMRA members continued the ale trail. All those cod, scampi etc. made me hungry so we had traditional pasties and fudge in the Hoe park.
Nice weekend, beer wasn’t up to much in some of the pubs but it was good to have a change of scenery.

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!