Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival, Sunday

On Sunday, I got up feeling remarkably fresh considering I had not slept particularly well. I went to the shower block and had a shower, using only Simple Face Wash. I had come particularly badly prepared. The showers are communal and it was a bit like being back at school. I'm not particularly embarrassed about my body but I think I would have preferred cubicles.

After my shower I went back to my tent and a fellow Crow, Jean offered me a coffee, which I gratefully accepted. Jean and various other Crows also offered me breakfast which again I gratefully accepted, being just a little bit hungry after my exertions the previous day. I had bought some batteries for my camera on Saturday so I put them in and fastened the case to my belt. I had been really impressed with the other teams the day before and I was determined to get some pictures this time.

Our first date was the Civic Centre, where we were to participate in a Morris Display. I snapped freely during the other teams' displays and here is a small selection of photographs for your edification:

From the top there is: Redbournestoke Morris Men, hankies aloft (left), the Ironmen (right), Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris (left), The Earl of Stamford's youngest Morris dancers (right) and the awesome Stone Monkey (centre).

I danced a White Ladies and got it wrong (ouch!). My excuse was I was number 3 on the right and I usually dance number 2 on the left. The other Morris Teams were fantastic but I would like to make a special mention of Stone Monkey. They left me absolutely breathless with their Rapper. Each team danced 2 dances. Mr Hemmings danced one dance where a young lady stands in the middle. They chose somebody from The Earl of Stamford's Morris. The poor girl appeared to be traumatised afterwards.

Stone the Crows' second dance was Skirmish. I absolutely love Skirmish and I am dying to learn it. It's a brilliant showcase for the team and when it's danced well (and I've only ever seen it danced well) it's a show stopper.

After that, we had another dance on the Festival Ground and I danced Ragged Crow yet again. I was beginning to feel really proud of myself. Sharing the festival ground with us was the Earl of Stamford Morris Team, who dance Cotswold. At the end of the display, we had another massed Tinners. I really enjoyed myself yet again. I was beginning to feel I could get used to this.

Things were drawing to a close and I went off to remove my "make-up" in the car. Then I went to find two friends and fellow team members, John and Gill. I knew they would be in the Boars Head, not because the beer is good (although it is) but because there would be a massive jamming session going on and I don't think much would keep G & J from such a musicians' paradise.

The bar was packed and I missed them at first. I went and got myself a drink and then came back to the front bar, where most of the playing/singing was going on. There in the thick of it were Gill with her melodeon and John with his whistle. I dragged up a chair (with some difficulty, the bar was so crowded) and sat down behind them. Then I sat back and enjoyed the music.

The standard of playing and singing is amazing. I expressed a wish that I played a portable instrument fairly early on in the proceedings. I play the piano but there is no way I would have fitted it in the crowded bar, even if I could have brought one. I can sing a bit - usually in the car, very loudly and along to various punk songs - but I was a bit embarrassed. Some of the women who sang were breath-takingly good.

There were fiddle players, melodeon players, concertina players, an accordion player, various guitarists, whistle players, banjo players and bodhran players, one of whom also played the washboard. One or two would start a tune and one by one others would join in. I was mesmerised. One of the gents present started to sing "The Leaving of Liverpool" and I joined in the chorus with enthusiasm, confident that nobody would be able to hear me.

We had our tea in the pub and then left for the final concert of the weekend. The main act was Show of Hands with special guest Miranda Sykes and they were well worth the drive home late at night afterwards. I hadn't heard the band before and I had been nodding off during the support acts (sorry!) but I became wide awake when they started their set. I can't name most of the songs they performed but I do know they played "Roots", a passionate song defending the English folkmusic tradition. I also know that they were very good indeed and I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

At the end, while we were leaving, we were treated to the spectacle of a streaker climbing one of the central poles of the marquee (I believe there was another but I never spotted him). It was an amusing end to a good evening. I went back to my car, said goodbye to Gill and John and set off home. The journey was uneventful and I didn't fall asleep at the wheel, which, in retrospect, is a little surprising considering how tired I must have been.

I sometimes finish off a blog with a video but this time, I'm going to finish with two. One is of Stone Monkey doing a rapper dance and the other is of Show of Hands. You can watch one or the other or both if you prefer.

Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival, Saturday

I went to the Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival on Saturday 16 June 2007. Some of the team had gone down on the Friday and bagsied a decent pitch. I went down early on Saturday morning and got there quite early because, to be frank, I had been pretty excited and was too hyper to sleep or wait around. I arrived at about 8.45 after a brief detour via Tesco to get some toothpaste because we didn't have any spare at home. I rang my contact, Carol and her husband John answered the phone and said he'd come and find me. I didn't want to drive my car across the field because it looked so muddy at the entrance and my car is only small and it doesn't even have any wellington boots. I was terrified it would get stuck.

I'm going to have to keep this brief so:

1) I drove up to the tents and the car did not get stuck.
2) John and Ann of Stone the Crows put up my borrowed tent with a little help from me.
3) I got changed and blacked up ready for the procession and got my photo taken with Lizzie. Here it is:

The batteries in my camera then gave up the ghost so I didn't get to take any more photos until Sunday. We walked down to Somerfield for the procession and we discovered that we were to bring up the rear. It was a bit stop and start but I loved dancing in it. You get the chance to rush at the crowd and scare children. Well, that's what Border Morris is all about isn't it? During a couple of the stops, we danced a short Tinners Rabbit, which allowed the teams in front to move on a bit and give us room to go back to our procession dance. At the end, we danced through an honour guard of other teams, which was a wonderful experience and made me feel like John Terry when Chelsea won the Premiership in 2006.

After that, we went to the bullring for our first dance. It was one of my favourites, Ragged Crow. What am I on about? I don't have a favourite dance - I love them all equally. I do like Ragged Crow though, because it looks so good. I sat on the sidelines and watched because I didn't know it... yet! Other teams were dancing on the bullring too so we got plenty of rest between dances. Now, I'm not absolutely sure but I think we danced White Ladies next and I know I danced. At the end of the "show", Murray persuaded some other teams to join in a massed Tinners Rabbit. With all the dancers and all the musicians together, it was a wonderful sight and sound and somebody has put a video on YouTube which features it. Not sure about the music though but here it is:



Then I went off with a couple of young Crows, Rachel and Lizzie and a Crow's daughter (sorry, I don't remember your name!) to look round the festival and get some food. I was told off by a man who had a birds of prey stall because of my hat. Evidently, the birds would have got excited by the sight of the feathers in it. I took it off shamefacedly. I bought some souvenirs for friends and family from some of the stalls - a couple of friendship bracelets for my daughters and a fridge magnet for Sammy the Shark.

We then got some dinner - I got a sausage barm which tasted fine, amazingly - and then we went onto the next pitch, the Boars Head pub. Unfortunately, it had just started to rain, so we did what any sensible Morris side would do and went in. There are a number of rooms in the Boars head and all contained dancers and musicians. We went in a room containing a pool table and I witnessed possibly the longest game of pool I have ever seen.

Now, I don't like to cast aspersions on my fellow Morris dancers and I do not pretend to be a good pool player but I can hit the white. This was the most amazing display of pool playing I have ever seen! It was "two shots!" all round as the white failed to connect with a colour or the white went in the pocket. The only thing not done was to pot the black before time. I took two goes (it was a team effort in every sense of both words) and the first time, I actually managed to pot two balls and of the right colour. I did say I'm not a good pool player. The last shot was down the table and I missed the pocket (but not the ball). I blamed it on not wearing my glasses. This was a deception because I am long sighted.

Anyway, one team won, the rained cleared up and we went out to dance. It was Ragged Crow again and this time I learned the dance. Ragged Crow is danced in sets of four. Usually 2 sets but 3 other Crows made up a third set with me and took me through the dance. We did another dance (I really should have taken notes because I've forgotten everything) and then another Tinners.

After that, more mooching around until we were to dance at the Festival Ground. At the Festival Ground, I danced Ragged Crow properly for the first time. It was great!

The rest of Saturday is a bit of a blur really. I had a couple of beers from the beer tent and I bought a leather Morris Dancer badge from the clog maker. I also went to look at didgeridoos with Brent and Fiona and I had a look at some other weird and wonderful musical instruments. Later I went to look at rings with Lizzie and I got myself a ring for my little finger (so I now wear 8).

We went back to the campsite at the end of the day and Brent and the lovely Fiona went to get a curry (I still owe them a fiver for mine). I was getting colder and colder and I was beginning to feel sick and I was really tired (I had done loads of dances during the day - I'm really not used to the exercise). Somebody noticed that something was wrong - especially when I didn't eat my curry - and took action. I was put in John and Gill's motorhome and wrapped up in blankets and a quilt. John put on the heater and people kept looking in and asking if I was okay. I think my embarrassment slightly outweighed the cold and tiredness.

Eventually, most of the Crows went off to the evening shows and ceilidhs and Ann brought me a hot chocolate. I was really tired and once I felt properly warm again, I ventured out to the campsite toilets, returned Ann's cup to her and went to bed. I did not get cold again but I didn't sleep too well either but what the heck! This was the first time I'd camped in 24 years so what did I expect?

To be continued...