Whitby, nearly the end..

Wednesday was glorious, and I drove to Scarborough to pick up Dan from the trin station who was joining us for a couple of days. Lovely views over the moors and the coast. Back in time for my first storytelling session with Taffy Thomas, Ruthie Boycott-Garnett and a Welsh storyteller who'd I'd not heard of before Guto Dafis.  I love some storytelling, and it was good to see Taffy's tailcoat.

Then I mooched round Whitby for a bit. Took in the views

watched some dancing

and was lucky to see Fools Gambit attempt a quadruple tumble, which they had been dared to do by the MC - a rapper dancer. Of course, they did it beautifully.

 It was just before this that I saw something you only see at a folk festival - a morris dancer with a tankard of beer in one hand and a toothbrush in the other.

Then to the Shambles to meet the others. Some went on to more storytelling, some of us went back for a pre-dinner cocktail. In the evening we all went out for a meal together - by this time there were 18 of us as more family had joined us for a short while. These had come all the way from Turks and Caicos and we hadn't seen them for a year so it was a great get together. The Vineyard looked after us very well and we had a great time.

Then the LNE, of course. this time it was Will Hall calling, and the band were form Sheffield - The Melrose Quartet plus 1.

We danced a lot at this one - right till the end at 1am. Then our usual walk back, past the session that was still in full swing outside the Middle Earth, and a nightcap.

Thursday was nice again, and while the rest went off to various workshops, I mooched again. I can mooch for ages round Whitby, round the harbour, round the shops, round the pubs.....  I caught sight of the flashmob ceilidh which definitely didn't happen,

and finally made it to The Station for a pint with A and D - first time I'd been in all week which is most unusual.

Then we all headed back for what has become a tradition (have you noticed we like our traditions?) -the annual seafood salad tea. We had lobsters (2 plump dressed ones cost £11!), dressed crab, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, anchovies, rollmops, prawns, and ham!

After tea we all trooped off to the Pavilion Theatre to get in the queue to see Peggy Seeger. A real living legend if ever there was one. Sister of Pete Seeger, married to Ewan McColl, and a singer, songwriter and accomplished musician. At 77 she certainly looked and sounded good!

Then it was all back to Beka and Paul's to prepare fr the most important night of the week - The Pirate Ceilidh!  We didn't go over the top at all. Oh no. We had swords, eye patches, makeup, bunting....

Martyn Harvey and Blackbeard's Teaparty provided the music - and they were excellent. Not heard them before, but they definitely got into the spirit of things. Hope they come back. Took some pictures, but camera battery was flat so couldn't get any video, but I think we were all too busy leaping about. A great evening!  I've heard rumours that someone asked them to turn the volume down - shame on them!

Whitby, the middle section

Monday was a lovely day, but very busy in Whitby,  with it being Regatta Day. Sat in the sun and watched some dancing at Scoresby monument, which isn't there any more.

Then went to a talk on Dry Stone walling by Will Noble, who  I really know because he sings at the carols at Dungworth every year.  He has a lovely voice, but I'm afraid he sings one of my least favourite, and least Christmassy Songs, The Mistletoe Bough. We call it the Miserable Bough and usually go to the loo during it. Sorry Will :-).

But, his talk was excellent. He told us how he began working with his father who was a farmer and a stonemason when he was just a kid, and how he's just really picked everything up. When he was 13 he quarried enough stone in the field next door to his house for his father to build a wall ("I just liked digging holes....").  I was amazed at some of the things he's done. Built walls in the show gardens at Chelsea Flower show, and worked with the artist Andy Goldsworthy.  He helped to build Stone River, in the grounds of Stanford University. Now his two children, Cuthbert and Lydia are following in his footsteps. An excellent hour - I really do like these little quirky things at Whitby!

Then off to the Shambles pub to meet friends and family, and some dolls house shopping with our granddaughter in the shop downstairs. Thanks to Lily I know have a tabby cat to put in mine.

Next we all went off to Dance Adversity Challenge - a university Challenge spoof between two dance teams - this year it was Shropshire Bedlams against Hexamshire Morris Men refereed by Stanley Accrington. All good clean fun, and Saul Rose hasn't got a competitive bone in his body....

Pie and mash shop had sold out of pies on way home, so we had to make do with an inferior Pukka pie from the chip shop. 
Then back up onto the top of West Cliff with our friends and family to watch the firework display that marks the end of Regatta. I love a good firework show, and this was excellent, fantastic view from the top as the fireworks were set off from the east pier.

Then we went (with the kids), into the Late Night Laugh concert, which didn't start till 11, and some of them made it through to the end at 1am. It was a great night.
John Connolly:

 Keith Donnolly and  Stanley Accrington:

I didn't get a pricture of Keith Donnolly - I think it was because I was laughing too much! Only night of the week we didn't get any dancing in.

Tuesday morning was another trip to a talk, this time from Peta Webb on the Songs of the Titanic. Peta had a CD of songs from different parts of the world, in different styles and taked us through them. They varied tremendously from the slightly jolly ones, to the very stirring "be British, women and children first" type, and the negro and gospel ones. These were very moralistic and saw the sinking of the Titanic as a sign from God that humans were trying to push the boundaries too much. There was also a belief that blacks were not allowed on the Titanic, so this was in some way retribution for this.

Then I went for a walk to the end of the West Pier. Nice to see the bridge to the extension had been repaired. I wasn't too keen walking over it though, there's big gaps you can see the sea through. Well, they looked big to me!

It was nice to see some impromptu clog dancing on the pier, and the beach was full.

 More dancing at the bandstand,

 and a climb to the top where there's a fantastic view

Then a walk up to the Met  to see the Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies concert. A huge queue, but we all got in. It was a great concert, with a mixture of old and new songs.

Then back down to the Coliseum for the second comedy event - Family Folk Tunes, a spoof of Family Fortunes. The sky turned ominously dark, and as we got there, the heavens opened and there was a thunderstorm. Unfortunately the venue saw fit to keep the doors locked so we all stood out in the rain, huddled under two umbrellas - in shorts! The Nobles vs the Ferry-Kenningtons, and they really had asked 100 folkies the questions.

 Of course, we had the obvious one:

After a regroup, a meal and a couple of drinks we made it back to the Late Night Extra. Lovely walk up as usual

Great lively night with caller Martin Harvey. Lots of dancing, and in the foyer the Speed  Ploughing Competition. How fast can you play Speed the Plough on any instrument. My favourites were air concertina and comb and paper. Ouse Washers Molly did a dance spot

and I even got to do a Kerry polka with Alice.

Whitby Folk Week - part 1

One of my favourite weeks of the year - and we stretch it out by setting off on Thursday and staying somewhere on the way for two nights. so, here's what we did.

Thursday
Set off, pick friends up. Drive to Wetherby for coffee stop. Had a look round the market - it's a nice little town, never been here before. Then to Helmsley for lunch, and a trip to the famous Dolls House shop there. But, shock horror. Dolls House shop gone. Every time I've been to Helmsley I've been in it, and never bought anything because I was waiting till I had a dolls house. Now I've got one they've sold up!  Still, we had lunch in the Feathers and a walk round the shops and the market square which was looking lovely as always.

Saw some great scarecrows by the Castle

Just a short drive to Kirkbymoorside, and soon checking into the George and Dragon. Very nice. Then a walk round the village and a drink in the other pub in lovely sunshine. It's been hot and sunny all day.
Dinner in pub. Excellent.

Friday
Weather not so good. Looks like rain. But, we have a walk planned! Andrea wants to catch a bus to Pickering and just as we're setting off on a walk one appears. Try to hide it from her unsuccessfully, but we set off regardless. About 5 mins into walk and the heavens open. Rains heavily on us for about 30 mins. But, you can only get so wet.

 Finally fines up and we get to Hutton le Hole for coffee. And a look round the craft shops and the Chocolate Faculty to stock up on hand made chocolate.

Then shorter walk to Gillamoor and lunch in the pub.

Then a couple of miles back, over the moors, through the heather, and  past the ruins of Kirkbymoorside castle, which wasn't too impressive - there's not a lot left of it! Time for a beer before showering and resting before evening meal, again in the pub as we couldn't really find anywhere else.

Saturday
Off early, so drove back to Helmsley so Stu could buy a top he'd seen the day before - a striped one in preparation for the pirate ceilidh later in the week.

Fab views over moors as we drive to Whitby - beautiful purple heather. It's great when we get the first view of Whitby Abbey in the distance.  Have our traditional coffee at Sherlocks and play spot the first Sheffield people. Doesn't take more than a couple of minutes. For a week Whitby is transformed into Sheffield by the sea! Get our shopping done at the Co-op, drop the car off at the house, and a lovely sunny walk down the estuary into town, making sure that the Penny Hedge is still there.

Crab sandwich (of course) in the Duke of York. Then to the Endeavour to watch the parade which has changed route, and is coming onto the east side. There's some great rapper dancing in pub while we wait from Whip the Cat, and we are amused by the instruments stuck to ceiling.

So, we the watch the parade go past - lots of great morris teams:

Then dash down to swing bridge where there is chaos.  The bridge has been open and is jammed with people.

There's obviously some debate about how to get the dance teams across. Eventually a path is cleared.

Back for fish and chips. And mushy peas of course.
Whitby is very busy because Regatta weekend clashes this year. Apparetly its all to do with the tides!
Then to spa for opening ceilidh. Brilliant sunset on the way.

Ceilidh is ace - Martin Harvey, Peeping Tom with dance spots from Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhodens.  I popped out of the dance to see the Melrose Quartet in the Spa Theatre - an excellent Sheffield group. Its was hot!

Sunday
Walked in lovely sunshine to top of the West Cliff to watch Red Arrows display. One of best bits of Regatta being at the same time as Folk Week.  Lots of boats in sea to watch them.

The roar as they go over our heads, off the land over the sea for the first time is amazing. Brilliant display - got some photos, but lots of just the sky!

Stu then took his banjo to the "Not quite ready for a session" workshop. I met the others, and went to concert:
The Wilsons - huge wall of voices - and funny with it.

One my favourite singer songwriters, Steve Tilston

Jez Lowe - again a favourite of mine for many years.

An excellent couple of hours.
Then an unexpected concert. We were due to see Sid Kipper (aka Chris Sugden) perform, but Chris is ill, so at the last minute Eliza Carthy and Saul Rose stood in. And her dad, Martin makes a guest appearance.

Another brilliant concert and we were treated to a really weird  sky on the way back - I'm not sure the photo captures how strange it was.

On way to Spa later we saw a huge convoy of trucks bringing the fairground rides onto the pier for Regatta day tomorrow. Lots of people out watching and filming them negotiating the narrow roads and sharp bends.

Good dance display in the ceilidh by Fools Gambit - an excellent young Morris team. Very energetic - they even got on their starting blocks to begin the dance.

Here's a video of them with Saul Rose on melodeon: