The wet weekend lingers

It's the Tuesday after a Bank Holiday weekend at end of May and the rain keeps coming. All plans to paint the flat roof have been put on hold as the roof is never dry long enough to sweep the dust off let alone apply the special paint.

So the day has been spent pottering around Dereham, watching the rain fall, watching Roman Holiday on DVD. The positive outcome was the purchase of a couple of folding sack trolleys ready for moving stuff around at Cambridge.

We'll have to wait to see if there is a break in the weather long enough to dry out the felt so we can get it painted one weekend. Meanwhile, it's back home tomorrow.

What we did on a wet weekend

Things never quite turn out how you plan. In the end we didn't go to the party or to the Arboretum. Instead, Saturday was spent doing laundry and a bit of shopping for birthday presents etc. Sunday was a different matter. I woke up and decided to finally swap the sitting room and dining room round as Sonia had suggested before Xmas.

First problem - how to move the TV, NTL box, video and DVD? Obvious solution: Dig under the stairs for the cable and connectors that were bought last year for this purpose and make extension cables for TV aerial and NTL cable.

Second problem - how to get the cables from front room wall to new TV position in back room? Trailing cables around the walls and through two doors was not an option so it was up with half the carpet in the living room and then up with a few floor boards to feed the cables. Drilling a couple of holes and then the judicious use of carbon fibre interlinked tent poles, blue rope and a pair of long barbeque tongs meant we soon had the two cables running below the floor boards to their new position in the former dining room. A quick connection up and check showed that the TV and NTL box worked.

Third problem - how to move a dining table from the back room to the front room, and move a 3 seater sofa from the front room to the back room? Brute force and careful angling (and the lifting of the back room door of it's hinges when it got jammed) were the order of the day. Only complaint from Sonia came when she was under the sofa in the hall way and I asked her to hold it while I removed the door. Other than that it went smoothly.

We then had a clear out of books, moved the videos and DVDs around, and decided that the front room carpet could go back down for now as we'll now need to decorate the front room. The late afternoon included a trip to deliver the birthday presents before collapsing on the sofa for the evening.

Monday morning was spent in town buying a new vacuum cleaner and net curtains for the front room (didn't need them when it was a sitting room but now it's a dining room we eat our breakfast in there and the public doesn't need/want to see us first thing in the morning...). After attacking the meadow at the top of the garden for 45 minutes I had got about two thirds of it down from knee to ankle height when the rain started. I'm a coward and decided to stop using the electric strimmer, so I've still got some more strimming to look forward to next week.

After lunch we headed over to Norfolk as I'm planning to help my Dad paint his flat roof tomorrow if the rain holds off. Popped in to see him at the golf club where he was helping run a Juniors Competition. The early evening was spent helping him set up a Flikr account so that he can share his photos with family in Australia. We seem to have got that sorted and while he's gone off to watch a bit of TV with Mum and Sonia I'm typing this lot up.

Oh well, time to be sociable with the rest of the family. Let's see if drinks are being served. To quote my mother "The sun is over the yard arm somewhere in the world"

What to do on a wet bank holiday weekend?

The Bank Holiday weekend is in the balance - quiet or rowdy? Wet or dry? Whatever the weather I'm hoping of a relaxed weekend as I'm recovering from a small visitor. A stomach virus came to stay with me for a couple of days so I've been off work and have spent my time on the sofa catching up with the backlog of Lost videos in between dashing up stairs...slept through for 10 hours on Wednesday night from 7pm and was even too feverish to work a computer so it must have been serious. Made it back into work today but was warning people not to stand between me and the door.

On the rowdy front, there's a possible party in Hucknall for one of Sonia's friends from her MA course, but as we forgot to RSVP we'll need to ring to find out if it's OK to turn up. Plus we might pop into the Arboretum during Saturday afternoon for Audio Massage in the Park if the wet weather holds off.

On the quiet front, the wet weather might also scupper my plans to nip over to Norfolk to help my Dad paint his flat roof next week. In the mean time we've also got a few birthday presents to sort out, so it looks like a trip into town tomorrow. This should be interesting as NCT bus drivers are on strike. So, will town be quiet or rowdy? My money is on the queues for the car parks getting rowdy so we might get some exercise from the walk as I'll not be driving in and definitely will not be on a scab bus!

But we won't be able to walk far under the weight of our flak jackets and stab vests, clambering over the burnt out wrecks of stolen cars that litter the ring road as we try to get away from the millions of muggers who lie in wait around every corner...if you believe the national media's version of life in Nottingham.

A quiet weekend in Nottingham

It was a quiet weekend, just a birthday party, a cup final, a haircut and some tickets.

Chris had his 54th birthday bash BBQ. We started at about 7. The rain held off most of the evening as the dozen or so of us sat around chatting and making sure that the kids didn't get too near the hot charcoal. Sonia is starting to convince Rob that they are distant cousins. Lots of lovely grub and drink, then after we'd eaten all the food and drunk all the beer and wine, we all headed off to the pub to carry on. Think we left at about 11.45 (ish).

Woke up on Saturday morning with a sore head and the cambridge tickets in my wallet. There was a vague memory of Chris with a string of tickets about 7 ft long and him handing them out to the appropriate parties. Headed off to the weekly shop. While Sonia was doing the hunter gatherer bit I went for the head massage of a No2 haircut. Barber's "bangin' mix tape of happy house" was not quite what the doctor ordered...

Afternoon was spent texting Paul each time West Ham scored, but as a Liverpool fan he had the last laugh with their usual display of a late equaliser followed by victory in a penalty shoot out.

Billy Bragg, De Montford Hall, Leicester, 04/05/06

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. Not just because it's my birthday and Sonia was there beside me but because of the Bragg gig last night.

So why am I smiling about a gig? Let's start with a big thank you to Helen and Phil for doing the driving so I could have a pint, which meant I was relaxed when Bill came on stage at 9.

He opened up with The World Turned Upside Down and kept the volume and speed up for the next couple of songs before starting his characteristic "chats" between the songs. The 2 hour set was a mix of new songs such as I Keep Faith, old songs in a new way (with topical references thrown in such as - "how can you lay there and think of England when you don't even know who's the manager yet?") interspersed with explanations of what the Hope Not Hate Tour was about.

At one point we were given Bill's theory of how St George became the patron Saint of England which involved a jobbing Saint looking for work and coming here in the 14th Century. He moved on to produce a big cross of St George flag and talked about the need to reclaim it from the likes of the BNP, epecially as we are only a few weeks away from the World Cup Finals where a multiracial England will be represented by a multiracial England team. Personally, I'm not convinced that we need National Flags and Saints at all (says the "aging" socialist idealist in me).

The self proclaimed "soul/folk" singer gave us a few traditional tunes including John Barleycorn - that morphed into England, Half English. The music wasn't all "politics and shouting". Bill was joined on stage by Ian Mc Lagan, formerly of The Small Faces and The Faces, who provided keyboard support for several songs. A poignant section was their cover of a Ronnie Lane song about his father (the tune sounded like Witchita Linesman to me) which was followed by Bill singing the song he wrote about his - Tank Park Salute.

The first session ended with the "traditional" updating of The Great Leap Forward with Benjamin Wegg-Prosser getting a mention this time. The first encore was followed by a second "greatest oldies sing along" encore. A man on stage with an electric guitar singing most of the songs from his first 2 albums with an audience that knew the words was about as good as it gets. Bill seemed to be really enjoying himself, and so were we. I didn't feel cheated when he finaly finished the second encore at just after 11 and left the hall asking "how good was that then?"

Summer festival dilemma resolved

The tickets for Cambridge Folk Festival went on sale today. Like hundreds (or maybe thousands) of others who wanted to camp on the main site, I was on the phone on the dot of 10 when the box office telephone lines opened.

Despite ringing simultaneously on both the house phone and my mobile, I started to enter the zen zone of: hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial - hear engaged tone - hang up - hit redial...

After an hour and a half of this, I was snapped out of my telephone trance when my mobile rang in between "hang up" and "hit redial". It was my mate Chris to tell me he had got through and was on hold on his home line. Did I want him to order our tickets when he spoke to the box office?

YES!

He rang me back about 10 minutes later to let me know that we have two weekend festival tickets and a camping ticket for Cherry Hinton.

More good news came after lunch with a text message from Mel to say that she had got through and would be spending her 30th birthday weekend at Cambridge. All we need now is for Helen and Phil to get their Saturday ticket sorted.

Not your typical Godfrey wedding

It's spring so it must be time for another family wedding...



Graham and Ros finally tied the knot after being together for 22 years. It was a quiet do (for a Godfrey wedding) near Bedford. Wedding at the Registry office followed by a reception at Wyboston lakes.



We were all asked to get to the Reception so that we could welcome the bride and groom as they arrived. As we stood around drinking the champagne and wondering where they had got to (Had the S type Jag broken down? Had they stopped off for a pint on the way?), one of the Best Men appeared and asked us to step outside to welcome them. But we weren't to go to the car park, we were to go out on to the landing stage outside the bar.

While some of us looked around for a boat, the younger ones with good hearing were wondering what the strange noise was...then we saw the source. A helicopter flew in over the lake and hovered so we could see the passengers - Graham and Ros in full wedding outfits waving like mad out of the window.



After they had landed, we got on with the business of listening to speeches, eating great food, drinking lots of beer, and dancing to family wedding tunes. We really enjoyed ourselves, and it was good to have so many relatives together with a bar and a dance floor. Sonia and I wandered off back to the hotel for a nightcap (and game of pool against my Dad - who won) before hitting the hay. The next morning we met the survivors at the breakfast table and after plenty of coffee I drove us back to Nottingham.

Summer festival dilemmas...

It's that time of year when you start looking at the list of festivals and dream about sunny days listening to good music with a couple of beers inside you. I've not volunteered for the Workers Beer Company for a good few years, so that rules out the likes of Glastonbury (if it was going ahead) or Reading. Looks like I'll have to pay.

The middle weekend of July sees the TUC festival at Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival. We've been for the past 3 years and it used to be a small gathering but has grown so that there were an estimated 10,000 trying to get into the village for the Sunday procession of the banners last year. You can download a photographic report (in pdf) of last year by clicking here. Don't look too closely at the couple hiding from the sun under the umbrella on page 3 between the photos of Billy Bragg, Tony Benn and Elanor McEvoy. Not our best ever picture and you can only see Sonia's sun hat and her shoulder but interesting company to keep.

But the last weekend of July is The Cambridge Folk Festival. I've seen the line up and Sonia is excited by the possibility of seeing Richard Thompson, Cerys Matthews, Eddi Reader, Seth Lakeman and Nizlopi (the JCB song people). I'm up for them plus Capercaillie, Chumbawamba, John Tams & Barry Coope and the general Cambridge experience. But it does require a dedicated morning on the phone when the tickets go on sale and could depend on how good I am with the autoredial.

So you can see my dilemma...where to spend a long weekend in July sitting in a field drinking beer and listening to music? Cambridge has an internet cafe so I could blog from there, whereas Tolpuddle is very rural - no shop in the village, just the pub and the Martyrs' Museum where the festival takes place. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie (Another Free Billy Bragg Download)

Billy's song about Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza trying to help Palestinians, is available as a free download from his site.

A play created from her words due to be performed in a New York Theatre was cancelled. This was condemned by Alan Rickman who co-directed the London shows of the play.

The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie was written on Billy's recent tour of the USA, and recorded at Big Sky Recordings, Ann Arbor, on 22 March. It was first released as a download on The Guardian web site, and the tune is borrowed from Bob Dylan's The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll.

Lyrics

---

An Israeli bulldozer killed poor Rachel Corrie
As she stood in its path in the town of Rafah
She lost her young life in an act of compassion
Trying to protect the poor people of Gaza
Whose homes are destroyed by tank shells and bulldozers
And whose plight is exploited by suicide bombers
Who kill in the name of the people of Gaza
But Rachel Corrie believed in non-violent resistance
Put herself in harm's way as a shield of the people
And paid with her life in a manner most brutal

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

Rachel Corrie had 23 years
She was born in the town of Olympia, Washington
A skinny, messy, list-making chain-smoker
Who volunteered to protect the Palestinian people
Who had become non-persons in the eyes of the media
So that people were suffering and no one was seeing
Or hearing or talking or caring or acting
And the horrible math of the awful equation
That brought Rachel Corrie into this confrontation
Is that the spilt blood of a single American
Is worth more than the blood of a hundred Palestinians

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

The artistic director of a New York theatre
Cancelled a play based on Rachel's writings
But she wasn't a bomber or a killer or fighter
But one who acted in the spirit of the Freedom Riders
Is there no place for a voice in America
That doesn't conform to the Fox News agenda?
Who believes in non-violence instead of brute force
Who is willing to confront the might of an army
Whose passionate beliefs were matched by her bravery
The question she asked rings out round the world
If America is truly the beacon of freedom
Then how can it stand by while they bring down the curtain
And turn Rachel Corrie into a non-person?

Oh, but you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.

---

Download The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie

Bush War Blues (Free Billy Bragg song download)

Billy Bragg has released a new song - Bush War Blues - for free download.

He recorded the song at a radio interview in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during his US tour at the suggestion of his new American record label, ANTI, who really liked it when he played it at the South By South West hootenanny.

'Bush War Blues' was recorded at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor by Geoff Michael, Gregg Leonard and Chris Duross on 22 March 2006.

Download it, share it. Go do that voodoo that you do so well.

Striking news from Notts

Well, it has been a long and hectic couple of days. Yesterday I was one of nearly a million local government workers on strike to defend our pensions. I was up at about 5 a.m. to get ready for the picket line. Got up quietly to make sure I didn't disturb Sonia. After a healthy breakfast of porridge and a banana, left the house at about 6 and drove through a quiet Nottingham to set up the picket line at Trent Bridge House.

Got the bright yellow banner set up at about 6.30 (with the help of the Head of County Personnel!) and settled down to a freezing morning on a windy corner in West Bridgford. The dawn came up at about 7 along with another 2 pickets, Jenny and Denise from School meals service. The rising sun didn't make it any warmer.

Only a few members of staff tried to sneak in before core time started at 7.30 and had to walk past me and cross a formal picket line. Overall very few actually went in to TBH, I estimated about 35 to 40 in a building where 450 work. Some had exemption letters from the branch because they were in the last year of service and a day's strike action would affect their pension. One promised his day's pay to the strike hardship fund - thanks Norman.

Recruited one new member on the line. He said he didn't want to cross the picket line but he wasn't a member. Gave him an application form which he filled in there and then. He then went home. This was about the same time as we were visited by UNISON's Regional Secretary, Helen Black and local NEC member Chris Tansley. Helen and I compared notes on how we had done on the radio. I was put forward as a media contact, and was interviewed by Radio Nottingham on Monday afternoon. They used a quote from me on the 8 o'clock news and a lengthier piece at about 8.15. Managed to get my name wrong on the news bulletin but Sonia was up by then and rang them to tell them my name wasn't Barry!

We turned away the post delivery, so a big thank you to the CWU member for his support.

By 10.15 we all agreed that no-one else would be coming in as core time started at 10, so I headed off to the Branch Office to drop off the banner and then went to the Forest (Goose Fair site) to join the march. Was met by BBC TV cameraman who was to interview me. He hooked me up with a radio mic and then followed me round as I photographed people, chatting about how well the action had gone, and him asking the occasional question about why I was on strike etc. I was worried that, after four and half hours in the cold my nose woudn't stop running, but it didn't show on East Midlands Today that evening.

Ran into several old friends and acquaintances as I went round taking photos. Was glad to see a good turn out from the Angel Row gang. Here's the photographic evidence...


The march set off and I was followed around by the BBC man. I ran into some more of the Angel Row gang on the march, so here's their photos...

The march ended at the Albert Hall, where we held a rally with speeches from the unions involved. After that most people wandered off, with some discussing which pub was closest and others returning to their picket lines. I headed back to the Branch Office where I ate my sandwiches in the car before joining Jackie, Jill and Pete on the County Hall picket line until about 4.30. Once we had met the postal van, we packed up for the evening.

I headed home for a hot drink and a hot bath, remembering to set the video to record my 5 minutes of fame. More of my photos are posted on the branch blog.

I hear I have an audience...

Heard this evening that I have at least one reader: Hiya Mark down near Bristol!

Glad to know that someone reads the blog. Hope it doesn't bore you too much, and that Mel enjoys the news you pass on. Here's a link to your longwhitecloud.org website for anyone else to see what you got up to on your world travels.

I'm sure that you are only checking in occasionally during your lunch breaks or at the local library...

I'm in the middle of trying to work out how to put the headers for blog posts as updated hyperlinks into a webpage. I can get the basics of an Atom XML feed from the blog but it ends up with all the text below as well. I'm trawling the web for hints (or even the relevant HTML that works in Front Page) so that I can have a feed from the branch blog on the home page of the branch web site www.nottsunison.org.uk

UPDATE as at lunchtime on 14th March: DONE IT!

Fixed the problem by using the nice people at www.rss-to-javascript.com

Just had to copy and paste the Atom feed URL for the blog and they generated the Javascript for it. The results can be seen on the home page of the branch web site

Swarb's Lazarus, Lowdham Village Hall

Legendary English fiddler Dave Swarbrick has a new trio called Lazarus with Kevin Dempsey and Maartin Allcock.

Better known as Swarb, he received a new pair of lungs in October 2004 after years of debilitating emphysema. Famously, the Daily Telegraph printed his obituary in April 1999 which Swarb regularly signs when fans produce a copy.

Now he is able to play live again, his first gig was Friday night in Lowdham Village Hall, and we were there. Sonia spotted the gig in the Nottingham Evening Post and I managed to contact the organisers Farnsfield Acoustic who said they would save us a couple tickets on the door.

When we got there, the Hall was full of people who had brought their own drinks (no licensed bar in the hall). It was a no smoking venue, especially appropriate given Swarb's lung transplant.

By the time the lights went down, the Hall was packed. Lazarus came on to affectionate appaluse and cheers for Swarb's first live gig since the transplant. They settled down to play two sets, intermixed with Swarb chatting about the songs, who wrote them and where he learnt them. There were also a couple of bad jokes (see below) and banter between the band members.

It was clear that this was their first gig, as Swarb said; "it's alright practicing but now we're up here we're committed, and maybe I should be". As they started a group of four tunes, Swarb would wish the others good luck and hoped to meet them at the end...which they did. At one point he extended his chat before a group of songs and after a couple of minutes jokingly admitted that he was only doing this because he was trying to remember how the third tune went. His fiddle playing was vigorous and the tunes soared around the hall.

The interval came too soon, but Swarb could be found at the back of the Hall signing CDs. We bought a couple and he signed them to each of us. Lazarus CDs should be available later in the year as they are recording their gigs.

The band finished to a standing ovation, having decided that they wouldn't leave the stage to come back on for an encore; "we're too old for that" was the comment from the stage. But not too old to play great music in front of an appreciative audience who welcomed the return of a fiddling legend.

And the bad jokes?

A 3 legged dog walks into a western saloon. It's wearing a cowboy hat and guns in it's holsters. The piano player stops and everyone looks round as the dog speaks..."Ah'm a-lookin' fer the man that shot mah paw"

Two ships collided in the English Channel, one full of red paint and one full of blue paint. The crew were marooned...

Don't blame me, the last one was Swarb's.

More Sunny Sunday photos

As well as the previous posting, I took some photos of the Victoria Centre clock tower (and flats) while the Trinity Square Car Park was no longer in the way. I regret not taking pictures of the Guildhall while the Forman building was down, so I wasn't going to miss this chance of clear weather and minimal traffic.

The first photo is the view from the middle of the road by the Students Union building of NTU.

The next two were taken standing on a wall by the Guildhall Offices to look over the building site hoarding around the demolished car park.

While using up the film, I also took some closer shots of bits of buildings in the area. First up is a column head at the Synagogue. The sunflower sits oddly in pseudo classical setting.

The shadows on the roof of this NTU building caught my eye, as did the detailing to the ridge and eaves.

I also liked the look of the Oriel window and dressed stonework on the side of the Registrars' Office, sitting behind ornate railings. The detailing of the window heads, and the City of Nottingham coat of arms indicate a very different style of building Council offices than we use today...

Sunny Sunday morning in Nottingham

Spent an hour or so this Sunday morning finishing off a film that had been in my camera since Xmas. As it was clear (but cold) day I wandered into town. Parked down by Nottingham Trent University. So here's some photos of a cold but clear Nottingham Sunday morning...

First up is the Corner House rotunda, as seen from the Royal Centre

The light that morning was so good that the Corner House and the Guildhall both reflected well in the glass of the Royal Centre

Across the road from the Royal Centre is Nottingham Trent University. The following two shots are of their buildings in the area.

And the "opposition" are in the neighbourhood too. This is the Adult Education Unit of Nottingham University, opposite the Central Police and Fire Stations

Favourite Authors

When people ask me who is my favourite author (and they rarely do, but I'm going to tell you anyway) I'm torn between Christopher Brookmyre, Robert Rankin, and Jasper Fforde. These are the three authors whose books I am always willing to read regardless of reviews (if/when they are).

Brookmyre's "tartan noir" appeals to the Scot in me. Not a sentimental shortbread box lid image of Scotland, but crime thrillers with a singular sense of humour and Scottish references that might not make sense south of the border. I first came across him when I bought a paperback with the title "Boiling a Frog" and have been hooked ever since.

Rankin's books first caught my attention when I bought a paperback of The Antipope as a student in 1981 on my year's work experience (building a prison in the middle of an old airfield in Norfolk). The alternative reality of a Brentford with links to other worlds, running gags, and a love of the occasionally obvious but unavoidable bad pun keep me amused. Every time Brentford do well in the FA Cup I start to worry about the future of the planet...

Jasper Fforde appeals to the book lover in me. Again, an alternative reality. This time it's Swindon but the Crimean War is still rumbling on, dodos are not extinct, some people can jump in and out of novels, and croquet is a contact blood sport.

NTL Broadband + Freeserve e-mail account = problem

As I said in my previous post, I've got Broadband but have had problems with using my existing e-mail account. The technicians seem to be awake and answering calls at this time on a Saturday, and thanks to Anthony Wright (NTL Technician), I identified where the problem was and fixed it. I can now send e-mails from my old Freeserve account.

I've sent the uncompressed version of the Xmas family photo, and it went in about a second. Took a similar amount of time to download as well. the only hold up was the transfer between the servers. Key thing is now can receive photos from Mike and family in Australia without having to wander off to make a cup of tea while they download.

And now for breakfast and shopping - those twin joys of a Saturday morning - followed by laundry and other domestic stuff before we go to see Blood Brothers at the Theatre Royal tonight

Broadband is go!

Got hooked up to 1mb broadband this afternoon, so far so good apart from being unable to send messages from my old Freeserve account. Am trying to sort out settings but have had my first experience of NTL's version of "shortly" as in "a technician will reply shortly to your enquiry". Five goes so far and each time I've given up after about 10 minutes, only to find when I log on again that there is a message saying that the technician hasn't heard from me and assumes everything has been sorted....will try again tomorrow, might just be a Friday evening thing.

It's a small photo of a big card...

It's amazing what you get up to in your lunch time on Valentine's Day...just me and a few people and a 6ft card. There's no prizes for picking me out

Richard Thompson, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester: 2/2/06

We travelled up to Sandbach on Friday afternoon to see Sonia’s aunt Julia and her husband Jo. They kindly put us up for the night Jo did the driving into Manchester.

The evening started with a bit of sleb spotting at Wagamama restaurant. While we were eating Matt Lucas and David Walliams (Little Britain) wandered in. Waited to be seated without a fuss and then enjoyed a quiet meal while about half the people in the place recognised them.

We made the Bridgewater Hall in time for a quick drink and settled down to watch Jeb Loy Nichols play a half hour support slot. Sonia was very pleased to see him as she has been a fan since she first saw him play at Cambridge Folk festival a few years ago. Our seats were in the gods but the view was good and the acoustics close to perfect.

Richard Thompson came on to thunderous applause and was joined on stage by Danny Thompson who played double bass. They worked well together, complementing each other’s playing. Richard Thompson was in fine voice, chatting between songs and reminding the audience that “product is available in the foyer”.

The set included songs from the new album “Front Parlour Ballads” as well as old favourites. Thompson’s back catalogue is so large that I recognised about half the songs. “Hots For Smarts” was a new one on me, as was the song that the BBC banned in 1974 about licking ice cream. ”They said it had a subtext…it did” was his explanation for the ban.

With just two of them on stage, many songs were stripped back to their essentials. “Vincent Black Lightning 1952” made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

My only disappointment was that, despite being on stage for two hours including 3 encores, he didn’t play “Beeswing”. A minor grumble for a great gig in a great venue.

The drive back to Sandbach meant we got back to Julia’s and Jo’s close to midnight. We slept well, and after a breakfast of bacon cobs, gave Julia a lift to Nottingham Station so she could travel to Peterborough to see her daughter Nina.

Julia’s business has a website, and I promised a mention. So click here to visit it.