Bampton

No photos of Bampton this year I am afraid. The weather was so foul that I left the camera at home this morning.

It was still a great day, as it always is, with superb dancing from the Bampton sides, the opportunity to wander around some fascinating gardens and of course the chance to catch up with folkie friends from around the country. Most of the usual suspects were there but the number of casual visitors was way down, I actually managed to park outside The Grange which is the closest that I have ever parked to the centre of the village.

I have noticed that my posts are appearing under the name of my other blog but Google seem to expect me to create a second login identity in order to use a different name and I really can't be bothered.

Shop

We have just updated our on-line shop to let you pre-order forthcoming releases from Eliza Carthy and Spires & Boden. Plus in our "local" section a recent release from Veteran of East Anglian melodeon players including two musicians from Essex.

The commission that we get from Amazon for sales helps fund our web site so please, if you are buying from Amazon, use any of the links on our site.

Pat Tracey, Keith Summers and Other Things

The Guardian published an obitiary of Pat Tracey today. I really don't know if I should be pleased at the recognition of a major figure in the folk scene or angry because it took them three months to publish it.

Pat isn't the only Essex folkie to be remembered recently. I have just spent a most enjoyable time at the fourth Keith Summers Memorial Weekend. These events, funded in part by a bequest from Keith, are a gathering of singers and musicians from around the British Isles (and occasionally beyond) in a back street pub in central London. One of the entertaining elements is watching passers by stop at the door and scuttle away in horror at the sight of people actually singing or playing music for themselves. Our photo gallery contains pictures from the first three festivals, and I have sorted out 22 from the 150 shots taken from this one for inclusion in the near future.

Looking back at the local folk scene Blackmore Folk Club has abandoned the Black Bull for the second time in it history, and more significantly has also changed the day of week on which it meets. Full details can be found in our Stop Press page.

Our June edition should be in the post by now, the usual reminder will go out by email but if you are a reseller or subscriber and you copies have not arrived by the end of the week please let us know.

Radio

I caught the tail end of something interesting on Radio 3 this morning. What sounded like an early music group playing Princess Royal. The announcer then said it was Trunkles and added that it reminded him of Percy Grainger. I really don't know how I avoided throwing something at the radio.

Our June edition is at the printers and I am gradually playing catch up with recovering files from my broken PC. I have just reconfigured the mailing list so I will be able to pester people with Stop Press mail outs again and will send out invoices to the advertisers who didn't get them during the coming week.