A wet day....

When you wake up in Whitby on Regatta Day, there are some surprises. The pier and quay area have been transformed into a giant funfair, brought overnight. This morning we woke up to something else as well, very heavy rain. I managed a short walk to The Middle Earth for a songwriting workshop with Mike Ryan and Steve Tilston. Not that I want to write songs, but am interested in how other people do it.

Then a look round the shops, mainly to keep out of the rain. Lots of jewellery shops, mainly selling Whitby Jet and Amber. Not all of them though!



I usually get a piece of jet to take home with me, I've got lots of earrings, necklaces, brooches etc courtesy of my lovely and very generous husband. One of my favourites is a pair of jet earrings in the shape of coffins.

Was hoping to catch the Red Arrows demonstration for Regatta, but the weather was so bad they were grounded and couldn't take off from their base.

Then it was off to another concert, Pete Morton, Chris Parkinson and Maggie Boyle.


I've known Chris for years, he used to live in Sheffield and went out (and then married) a fellow clog dancer. Pete is also a good friend and sang at our wedding, so it was nice to see old friends. An excellent concert, Pete is a great singer and songwriter, Maggie sings and plays flute and borhan, and Chris is an ace squeezebox and harmonica player. They were joined for one number by one of the Wright family who play the Jews harp. An interesting instrument and one they're trying to revive.

Then I had to leg it up to the Metropole, and I mean leg it. One thing you get used to in Whitby is moving quickly between venues, and no matter where you start from it normally includes a steep hill. I wanted to see the Wilsons doing a special concert to commemorate 25 years since the miners strike. They're 5 Geordie lads with huge voices. Today someone had thought to give them microphones which was scary. You could probably hear them in Robin Hoods Bay. Some great songs about miners including a fair number about mining disasters. Apparently the National Coal Board used to define an accident as when more than 12 miners were killed, and a disaster when it was more than a hundred! Lots of very poignant stuff , including Close the Coal House Door Lad written by Alex Glasgow about the Abervan disaster which although I was only 10 I remember vividly.

I walked back in the rain to the house, and saw some sad sights that you only get in seaside resorts in the wet. A family playing crazy golf in the pouring rain, and a sideshow stall with soft toys as prizes which looked like drowned rats, they were dripping.

The tide was very high, and I noticed that the penny hedge had withstood it, so Whitby is still safe.




Later we went to a concert in the Spa Theatre. John Kirkpatrick, squeezebox player extraordinaire, and Steve Tilson again.



Last on was a group that weren't in the programme so we didn't know what to expect, Raj Raj Raj. Turned out they were 15 young musicians, playing an assortment of instruments, at one point 8 fiddles and an mixture of squeezeboxes, flutes, whistles and percussion. There was even a Jamie Cullen lookalike in the front row.



They were great, incredibly enthusiastic and talented. Took video of them here, which may not be good quality but I hope gives an idea of how good they were.




As those of you who know me well know, I'm a passionate believer in the English folk tradition and the need to keep it going and see it evolve and develop. It really pisses me off when people, usually the English, make fun of it, especially Morris dancing. I've been to many folk festivals all over the world, and I've never met a nation more scathing and embarrassed by its own traditions than the English. So, it really cheered me up tonight to see Raj Raj Raj, made me feel our traditional music is in good hands for the future.