Camping and floods

September is always the end of the camping season for us - not least because we're not old enough to have a camper van yet, so we still have our lovely, spacious tent :-)

This year our last trip this weekend was to Laneham.  We've been before, and thought we'd try it again - it's a lovely campsite, just a couple of very flat fields on the banks of the River Trent, and a good facilities block.

So, after torrential rain at the beginning of the week we were a little apprehensive, but when Stu and I got there Friday afternoon it was glorious. We've been camping a few times this summer, and I think this is the warmest weather we've had for putting the tent up. Perfect afternoon - tent went up easliy (it doesn't always), no arguments, and in an hour we were sitting in the sun reading the papers and enjoying a well earned g and T. With a power station in the background!

Our friends arrived later (one of them delayed because their camper van wouldn't start - more on that later), and soon we were set.

Eventually we set off to walk to the pub, only about 10 minutes away along the river. A good meal of fish and chips followed, and we set off to walk back. That's where the problems started. The Trent is a tidal river, and as we got to where it runs by the road, it became apparent that the road had disappeared, and there was a lot of river where there shouldn't be! It was very dark but we had torches, and managed to scrmable up a grass bak to get round some of it, but there was no alternative but to paddle through some of it. Of cousre, the more sensible people rolled up their trousers, but most of us just walked through. Back at the campsite we had wet feet, jeans, socks and shoes, but a warm camper van, a change of clothes, and plenty of brandy to warm up!

Next day was sunny again and we dried the wet stuff on the handy camper van rack!

We had to walk through the floods again to catch the bus to Retford. Luckily the tide was a little lower, and it was daylight so we didn't get quite as wet.

 Had coffee outside in the sun,

then joined the Chesterfield Canal, and walked to The Gate at Hayton - just over an hour's walk. It was lovely, very quiet apart from the odd boat, lots of wildlife, and an interestingly named lock along the way.

Met family at the pub for lunch, then walked back to town via the Hoppole pub, which had wild hops growing in the towpath near it. Bus back to Laneham, and walked back to the campsite - about a mile. After a rest, and a play with Stu's new telescope looking at the very bright full moon,

We walked to a new pub opened by a local brewery, about another mile, and met my family again. We played dominoes and cards, and ate excellent sharing platters - cheese, pate, pie, dripping, pickles, and a mound of bread. As well as sampling the real ale on sale of course. Then walked back. We walked a long way that day!

Sunday morning was a leisurely communal fried breakfast - each of us contributing something, and although not sunny, the tents were dry.
Then we started packing up and our friends set off in their camper van, only to ring us about 10 minutes later to say they were stranded, they'd obviously had a petrol leak, and needed assistance. Stu set off to help, and left me. Sitting in a field, on my own, in a half taken down tent, which I daren't complete taking down because he'd gone off in the car and all of our stuff was in the field and I had no shelter if it rained....

Still, he came back eventually and we got the tent down just before it rained!  All in all an excellent end to the camping season. Can't wait for next year!

Les Mis

One of the worst things about early morning starts to conferences is that I have to travel the night before, and really I'd rather be in my own house and bed. But, if I'm going to be away from home, I try and find something to do that doesn't involve just sitting in a hotel room. In London it's easy, go to a show. Tonight I went to see this:



Les Mis. Can't believe it's been on for 27 years and I've never seen it. I had a good 30 minute walk from my hotel through Westminster, along Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly to the theatre in lovely evening sun. I had all the wrong things to eat - butter on my bread and chips with my steak - before the show. Then settled down to watch. The imagery is very evocative, even on the safety curtain



And I can sort of see why when it first came out it was called The Glums. It's not exactly a bundle of laughs, but there are some very funny bits in it from the Inn keeper and his wife, the Thenardiers.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The set was amazing, based on a revolve. I've worked with revolves, and they're bloody difficult, but this was seamless. There was no normal flying in of flats, it was all built on the stage, and when the barricades were formed, all of the audience gasped. I was sitting right at the front, and as usual watched the stagecraft carefully. The stage was very dark most of the time, and I particularly liked the green and red lights that lit up in the wings to guide the actors off.

The cast were great, and the leading character, Jean Valjean, was played by an understudy. I can't imagine anyone playing it better than he did. The songs were fantastic, especially Do You Hear the People Sing, and I spent most of the Second Act with tears steaming down my face. I did think it was a bit off to loudly applaud a suicide though :-).

It was a fantastic night, and at the end, Alexandra Burke came on and sang Eponine's song, On My Own. Apparently it was being filmed for Children in Need. Will watch out for it. If you haven't seen it yet. Go.





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Sheffield in the Sun

Sheffield has really come alive today. The sun is shining, and the new students are starting to come back. Freshers are arriving today and tomorrow, and within the next couple of weeks about 40,000 students will come into the City.

Also today is the food festival. The City Centre is buzzing and packed.


Fargate is full of food stands selling all sorts of local produce, and giving away samples, including some very tasty Strawberry and Rhubarb vodka. The Peace Gardens has loads of pop up restaurants, selling everything from pizza and burgers to authentic Turkish food and freshly made sushi. There's even a beer tent selling Sheffield beer from the many breweries we have here. In the glorious sunshine I had a mohito, a mini Yorkshire pudding, an excellent burger and salad, and a selection of deserts washed down with a half of Farmers Blonde. You can't beat Sheffield in the sun! There were some pretty classy carved watermelons as well.

Whitby - the end

Friday morning was miserable. Raining and misty. Drove Dan back to Scarborough so he could catch his bus back and saw nothing. Just mist.

Got back, and went for a walk up to the Abbey and Church. Love the Church.

 Lots of little boxes for people to sit in - all marked with names, or groups, such as this one, and if you look carefully you can see that it's my place as well!

The view is fantastic from up here, and the sun had begun to come out.

After a walk down the Abbey Steps, a drink in the Shambles  and a mooch round the East Side, it was up to the Spa for the workshop showcase. This is where all of the workshops which have been happening all week show off what they've learned. Some friends had been in the Playing for dancing workshop, and some in the longsword.

The parade sets off ay 4.30, always led by the garland, made from heather collected from the moors that morning

 and carried by a sword team, who traditionally mange a few halves of beer as they pass pubs on the way. This year it was Goathland Plough Stots.

After the procession Stu and I dashed off to The Colisuem to catch Dave Burland, one of my favourite singers - lovely voice and so relaxed.

We were lucky to catch the end of Nancy Kerr and James Fagan's set as well.

And at last we managed some Pie and Mash. From the Pie and Mash shop of course. We carried it home, and it made a good dinner after we'd packed.

Then it was off for a pint in The Elsinore and off to the Spa for the final ceilidh. Packed as usual, and we got lots of dancing in. Some of us snuck out to see Bernard Wrigley in the Theatre - he was great. So funny.

Finally, the garland came in, the Plough Stots guarded it,

and we all sang Wild Mountain Thyme.




Got a piece of heather and strolled back. For a nightcap of course.

Saturday we were up early and slightly the worse for wear, but managed a coffee in town, a walk round the shops, and lunch at our normal spot, The Crooked Billet.

The end of a great week - good weather most of the time, some really enjoyable concerts, lots of dancing and good company. Accommodation already booked for next year!

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.