Holiday

Bob-Dubery

I'll be on holiday from Friday evening, thus will not be clogging up the forum in my usual way.

Maureen and I will be seeing The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain on Sunday night. The show is at St Jude's church in London, and the organisers e-mailed to say that as we were coming so far they had reserved good seats for us. What a lovely gesture.

The next week end we will be up in Yorkshire and will be catching some of the acts at the Beverley Festival.

Mid June through to mid August seems to be festival season in the UK. Loads of them, and most of them on a much smaller scale than Glastonbury or Cropredy. Which is great - the venues are smaller, usually covered and they can attract niche acts instead of going for a Robbie Williams type super star to attract a big crowd.

This is the third time now that we've attended a festival of this sort of size. Previously we attended the Lewes Guitar Festival (headline act Richard Thompson) and the Brampton Festival (up in Hadrian's Wall country, headline act Richard Thompson). At this festival this year the headline acts are Billy Bragg and Seth Lakeman (hey! Wait a minute...). In each case the festivals were well run, had good sound, had plenty of loos, good food concessions etc etc.

In some cases the festival organisers will put on free shows in the town as well. At Lewes (which ran for a whole week) they put on a free lunch-time concert each day in the town gardens to say "thanks" to the town folk. At Beverley there is a well-organised fringe festival with lots of sessions in pubs and squares throughout the town. Lewes also had a lot of workshops conducted by some of the artists performing there - buy the ticket, take along your own axe. These would deal with specific topics EG gypsy jazz guitar, flamenco, even acoustic guitar construction.

You don't have to camp either - though there often are camping facilities provided. If you get in early enough you can always find good B&B accomodation near by. In many cases special shuttle bus services are laid on.

So this can be a great way to get some live music into a holiday. You don't have to stand in the rain with half a million other folks looking at the big screen through binoculars. There are also quite a lot of similar festivals dotted around Europe.

I don't know about you all, but I'm no longer keen on going to mega-huge events like Glastonbury or some massive show at the 02 Arena. These smaller scale, more intimate events suit me very nicely. And there's always web sites providing all the details, on-line ticketing so you can book in advance.

inflames

I hope you and you wife enjoy the holliday!
We will miss you and the forum

Have a safe trip!

Riaan

Sounds great Bob enjoy the holiday!

Dirk

Enjoy Bob, sounds like fun

TomCat

Hey Bob

Enjoy the trip and have a great time..

[deleted]

Enjoy it Bob. catch some cricket if you can ?

And send my condolences to any Ozzies you see wandering the streets of London! ? ? ?

Squonk

Have a good Holiday. which I am sure you will, and come back with good stories to share.
Have a thornton's toffee and a courage directors bitter on my behalf and all the other english treats. If you were going to Cornwall, I would have suggested A pasty and a cream tea! ?

Bob-Dubery

Thanks for the wishes folks. I hope that my overarching point is that there are lots of opportunities to incorporate some good live music into your travels - and this doesn't necessarily have to mean sitting in some huge arena or standing in some muddy field and staring at big screens.

Talking of big screens... a couple of years ago Maureen and I ended up at Cropredy the day AFTER the festival. We had arranged to meet some friends at the traditional post-Festival bands V village cricket match. Said friends turned out to be pally with Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull bass player Dave Pegg. We were introduced and started chatting and he told us about the big screens and the problems they cause for the musicians. Because what happens is that they delay the video image so that it synchronises better with the sound as heard by the people at the back of the crowd who have to rely on the big screens. So he can hear the drummer from his monitors, but out the corner of his eye he can see the drummer hitting the drum a little later or even see himself playing a note that he just played. So care has to be given to the positioning of the screens, and the guys on stage have to learn to not pay any attention to them if they can see them.

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote Have a good Holiday. which I am sure you will, and come back with good stories to share.
Have a thornton's toffee and a courage directors bitter on my behalf and all the other english treats. If you were going to Cornwall, I would have suggested A pasty and a cream tea! ?

English treats = cold pies and warm beer ? Actually it's not as bad as legend has it, and a pint of real ale is one of life's little pleasures. I'm not sure we're going to be in Courage country. I always try to drink the local real ales - though I make an exception for a pint of Harveys as IMO their beers take a considerable amount of beating. We'll be in Yorkshire - so a pint of hand drawn Theakston's Old Peculier should feature in the holiday diary.

Courage director's is pretty good stuff.

I'm hoping to get in a good plate of bubble and squeak.

Manfred-Klose

Enjoy it, and brings us some photos ?

TomCat

I'm hoping to get in a good plate of bubble and squeak.

I haven't had bubble and squeak for years. Now I feel homesick..... ☹ ☹

Have a plate for me too......

Bob-Dubery

TomCat wrote
I'm hoping to get in a good plate of bubble and squeak.
I haven't had bubble and squeak for years. Now I feel homesick..... ☹ ☹

Have a plate for me too......

Tom, for YOU I'll take a photo ?

TomCat

Bob Dubery wrote
TomCat wrote
I'm hoping to get in a good plate of bubble and squeak.
I haven't had bubble and squeak for years. Now I feel homesick..... ☹ ☹

Have a plate for me too......
Tom, for YOU I'll take a photo ?

LOL....Thanks...appreciate it...... ? ?

Banditman

If you get time in London & fancy some good live music, have a look at what's on at the Mean Fiddler. Great live venue for bands you haven't heard of. If you like Old Peculiar, try a pint of Hobgoblin.

And avoid any petrol station services pie which comes pre-wrapped and cooked.

AlanRatcliffe

Have a great time Bob!

I'm also jealous of the bubble and squeak - haven't had any for years. Avoid the Railway caf pork pies at all costs. ?

Squonk

I have Bubble and Squeak quite often. Married to Irish girl, and they still think they are a poor nation. Lot's of leftovers fried up and plenty of potato dishes as well. ?

Riaan

Married to Irish girl, and they still think they are a poor nation. Lot's of leftovers fried up and plenty of potato dishes as well.

That peculiarity is not limited to the Irish...over the years I've learned to spot those coming. Usually a magazine on the kitchen table, open at an article called "Be creative with leftovers" or "Last week's rice - he won't even notice" and so on.

I then buy a packet of biltong on the way home and hide it till everyone had gone to bed... ?

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote I have Bubble and Squeak quite often. Married to Irish girl, and they still think they are a poor nation. Lot's of leftovers fried up and plenty of potato dishes as well.

I don't think it's an Irish thing or a poor nation thing. The poms are very fond of bubble and squeak. I'd bet that it goes back to WWII when provisions were not plentiful and thus the public were encouraged to use left overs or to try dishes that could be made with easily available ingredients - EG Yorkshire pud.

Plus B&S is pretty damn yummy. Left overs can often be good eating.

Bob-Dubery

Bob Dubery wrote
I don't think it's an Irish thing or a poor nation thing. The poms are very fond of bubble and squeak. I'd bet that it goes back to WWII when provisions were not plentiful and thus the public were encouraged to use left overs or to try dishes that could be made with easily available ingredients - EG Yorkshire pud.

Alternate theory. These dishes originated in servants at posh homes having to feed themselves from what the lord of the manor left on the table.

Squonk

No it's not an Irish thing ?
But with my wife saving as many pennies as she possibly can and the mixing of the Irish and Cornish heritage, we generally get quite a lot of fry up's , especially after a good roast. Cabbage, roast potato etc.
Another treat we have quite often are Potato Cakes and fried eggs, Quite a customary Sunday evening meal.
I wont get started on the Black and White Pudding just yet... ?