Back to the top Last updated: 04 Jan 2008
| December 2002 | 'Christmas' | Sue | 217 |
| November 2002 | 'Reflection and Refraction' | John | 216 |
| October 2002 | Singaround/music session | Pete B | 215 |
| September 2002 | 'Lost' | Ian | 214 |
| August 2002 | 'Travel' | Peter | 213 |
| July 2002 | 'Classics' | Janny & Doug | 212 |
| June 2002 | 'Queen', 'London', 'Football' | Bob | 211 |
| May 2002 | 'May' | Sue | 210 |
| April 2002 | 'Eggs, Ego and Existentialism' | John | 209 |
| March 2002 | Singaround | Pete B | 208 |
| February 2002 | 'Heat' | Ian | 207 |
| January 2002 | 'Wassail' | Peter M | 206 |
The 217th Harbury Folk Club had a Christmas theme which matched the truly magnificent Christmas decorations at the Shakespeare.
The Harvesters opened the evening with White Christmas followed by The King/The Last Snowflake. Peter McDonald was next, singing Christmas in Australia complete with the correct headgear in order that we could all imagine we were really there! Then we all enjoyed singing along to his version of When I'm sixty four. Pete & Liz returned to the theme with Patapan. Ron followed with a Christmas reading and then sang about a different kind of screw. Ruth sang a superb Latin carol followed by a Christmas spiritual entitled Sweet Little Jesus. Jenny & Andrew were multi-lingual in their rendition of Oh Christmas Tree. Maureen & Janny closed the first half with a lovely St Nicholas Song complete with a surprise visit from St Nicholas himself!
Pete Grassby started the second half singing the Coventry Carol and The Holly and the Ivy. Peter followed with Winter Song and The Streets of London. Des sang The Cherry Tree Carol & The Good Old Way. Unfortunately Westlife could not be with us but at enormous expense and at very short notice we were able to persuade PondLife to perform The Trunch Calypso Carol. Daniel & Susie Bones finished the second half with 2 fabulous songs, Rhythm and Rhyme and Who will sing me Lullabies.
The third half began with Ron singing The Mummers Song. Paul Francis gave us Tidings of Comfort and Joy and a recitation. Ruth sang The First Mercy and Pete Bones recited the famous Fanta poem or is it Santa? Peter McDonald, minus the hat, sang Here is my Home followed by Margaret with bells, singing about the most famous reindeer of all. Ian & Sue finished as they started with White Christmas.
The raffle made £32.00 for Macmillan Nurses. Thank you to everyone who took part and to the audience for being there. Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to you all. See you in January.
Sue Hartland
November's theme was Reflection and Refraction. It was an evening of light entertainment which included references to rivers, baldness and even by a stretch of imagination painting with light (swipe me)! A colourful spectrum of talent where the laws of physics and, dare I say, tone were challenged and distorted by some. The exception were Band of Folk who somehow went off at a tangent and developed their own theme of fractions that just didn't add up, totally missing the focal point.
Many thanks to Pete Grassby for his complex but ecologically sound raffle system which raised not a crock of gold, but a worthy £28.00 for leukaemia research.
On reflection, not too bad an evening. December's theme is Christmas, an untimely challenge for anyone.
John Black
Once again I decided to have a singaround and music session for the meeting of the Folk Club, on Thursday 3rd October. I had adopted the same format for the two previous meetings I had hosted, so I could be accused of being boring and unadventurous.
A singaround and/or music session is run very informally as there is no stage, but performers sing or play tunes from where they are seated and when appropriate, everyone joins in. This provides a good platform for people who do not usually perform, to have a go.
When I arrived at the Garden Room of the Shakespeare, Carole and Andrew had kindly arranged the room for the singaround, so all I had to do was get a beer and get nervous.
At 8:30 on the dot, I kicked off with the song "Three Score and Ten" and promptly forgot the second line - the nerves were getting to me. After several false starts I eventually got through it. I was consoled that things could only get better, and they did!
There was a total of 16 different artistes or combinations of artistes who performed a wide spectrum of folk music ranging from jigs and reels to ballads to dirges.
Although there were too many performers to mention them all by name, I was particularly pleased to welcome Lizzie Darby. Although she had sung and played her flute in a group before, she made her debut as a solo singer, beautifully singing a Mary Black song. It is good that we are getting more and more of the younger generation coming to the Folk Club and taking part.
All the performers were in fine form and the audience was in good voice, at one time competing admirably with the playing of American Pie coming through the speakers from the next bar!
One of the many highlights for me was Ron Shuttleworth singing a hilarious song about the amusing experiences of singarounds to a medley of well-known folk tunes. Another highlight was Ruth Forte singing "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose" and to finish the evening she sang "Matchstick Men" during which she thoughtfully forgot the second line. I am sure that was only to make me feel better.
Many thanks to all performers and others who contributed to making the evening such a success. Also, thank you to those who contributed towards the raffle. This raised £31.00 for Focus 2002, a charity currently providing relief to refugees returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan, to where they had escaped from the Taliban Regime.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 7th November when John Black will be hosting. The subject will be "Reflection and Refraction". This will again be in the Garden Room at the Shakespeare Inn and start at 8:30pm.
Pete Bones
September's theme had been contrived to provide a follow-on from the previous month's "Travel" theme by offering "Lost" as a challenge. Clearly, none of the participants suffered that fate as no less than nineteen acts managed to find their unassisted way to the conservatory of The Shakespeare with impressive ease. The Harvesters, providing the night's host, took to the floor first and included a new a song about the crew of the ill-fated Mary Celeste. Brian followed with two fiddle tunes and then Pete and Liz gave us an old favourite "Ellen Vannin" (the sea providing more than one suitable song for the theme) and "The Sloop John A". Peter Mc played "Golden Memories" on the concertina accompanied by himself (on a Minidisc) and "Another Train". Rick completed the first part of the night, trying to find his lost "Spotted Cow". Amazing stuff, that beer!
The second part got into gear straight away with Janny and Maureen and "Two Brothers", and then recruited Pete and Peter Mc on guitar and second concertina for a lovely song from the repertoire of Altan. Des had the task of following that and took us in search of "The North West Passage" before admitting that "Johnny, I hardly knew ye". Susie, Daniel and Liz Bones provided the next act with their haunting rendition of "Dark-haired Alan", and were then followed by another fine fiddler, Ann, with a set of reels and then a mazurka. Singer and guitarist Peter was next with two fine songs and then Ron provided a version of the old ballad "Geordie" from the North-East of Scotland and a hilarious American song. Keith Donnelly completed an excellent second section by duetting with Gilly Darby on "Lost you for a song" and then changing the mood completely with a karaoke version of "YMCA", retitled "At The Folk Festival".
The third half opened, as it the tradition, with the drawing of the raffle, which had yielded an excellent £36.00 for Myton Hospice. Alan took the first spot with his "Chastity Belt" and a fine love song. Tracy made a very impressive debut with her unaccompanied rendition of "The Maid on the Shore" and left the audience wanting more. Pete Grassby was next, who decided to "Go and list for a Sailor" and then chose "To be a Morris Fool" instead. Katherine Fear is a fine singer and songwriter and gave us two lovely songs. Keith Adams was next with a song many of us remembered with great affection, Jackson C. Frank's "Blues Run The Game". Jonathon followed him with Simon and Garfunkel's "America" and then Gilly Darby wrapped up a memorable night with two powerful songs, including a self-penned blues.
With so much talent in one place, it's hard to believe we don't charge money on the door but then we don't have a door on this room, just a curtain. And who ever heard of working for "curtain money"? Once again, many thanks to the landlord and staff of The Shakespeare for making us feel so welcome (they had even rearranged the room for us before we arrived!) an providing the perfect setting for so muck quality entertainment. WE meet, as ever, on the first Thursday of every month and all singers and audience are welcome.
Ian Hartland
'Travel' seemed like a good theme for the Folk Club in August, it being a month when many folk are on the move. As it happened, the Club itself had to travel from the Dog Inn to the Shakespeare because the managers at the Dog decided that they can no longer accommodate us. So, once again, we have to thank Andrew and Carole for welcoming us at short notice and we now look forward to a long and happy association with them at the Shakespeare Inn.
Thankfully, a good number of performers and audience caught up with us at the new venue and some had travelled from as far afield as Coventry. This month, the culprits were Brian Rogers (making his first appearance at the Club), Bob, John & Chris, Alan, Keith A, Keith D, Pete Mason, the Harvesters, Pete & Liz, Ron, Des, Brian K, Rik and me. Travel turned out to be a fairly easy theme, if interpreted loosely - our musical travels took us to (amongst others) Manchester, Arkansas, Liverpool, the Settle Carlisle railway, Carmarthen, on the Old Open Road, in a 30-foot Trailer with the Raggle Taggle New Age Travellers-o. Bob's Charabanc Trip was deservedly popular, Rik's Cock o' the North particularly well done with a neat concertina accompaniment and Brian R's When all men sing a fine way to end another memorable evening.
The raffle raised £36.83 for Cancer Research. The next session will be at 8:30pm on Thursday, September 5th, in the Shakespeare, with Ian hosting an evening with the theme of 'Lost'. Be sure to find your way to the right venue.
Peter McDonald
The 212th Harbury Folk Club was held in the Shakespeare due to refurbishments at the Dog. We would like to thank Andrew and Carole for letting us use the Shakespeare at such short notice and making us so welcome.
The theme for the night was Classics, and the new duo in charge for the evening opened with that classic tune by Peter McDonald, The Windmill, with Janny on concertina and Doug joining in for the last 6 notes. Who said playing the Melodeon was difficult? There were too many excellent contributions to list from a star studded line up of talent which included Ron, Pete & Liz, Peter McDonald, David, Brian, Pete Grassby, Rick, The Band of Folk, John, Ann, and if I have forgotten anyone, blame the Landlord.
I would though like to mention a couple of high spots; Mike Putnam, on an unscheduled stop from his UK tour, got the audience singing a Tongo round; Nell and Loes joined Janny in a couple of Dutch songs which of course we all understood. The evening was to have concluded with the mass band of musicians playing Speed the Plough, but much to the enjoyment of those of us left, they just kept playing tune after tune.
The raffle was for Multiple Sclerosis and raised the sum of £50. A classic evening at the Shake.
Doug & Janny Freeman
The 210th Harbury Folk Club was on May 2nd at the refurbished back room of The Dog Inn. The theme was May, which seemed appropriate, although Election Day would have been a good choice!
The Harvesters opened the evening with a traditional song Searching for Lambs followed by Middle England. Brian gave us 2 May tunes, Pete & Liz kept us in the mood with The Cuckoo and reciting the Alphabet! Rick was on form with Seventeen come Sunday and the enchanting Skylark. David made his debut appearance at Harbury. I very much enjoyed his Punch & Judy Man. The Band of Folk finished the first half with 2 O’Carolan tunes and The Canary Jig/Waltz.
Peter opened the second half, accompanying himself on the concertina (how does he do that? I ask myself) and then sang a solo version of Play it all Again but Double up joined in anyway! Ron sang a famous May Day song Hal an Tow and not to disappoint us he sang the voting song. Dick told us a joke, very funny, but nothing to do with the theme, and sang Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore. Gilly confessed to not knowing any May songs but who cares, just sing! I could not let Rick go home without another song and then the Harvesters closed with Bring Out the Old Songs.
As you all know by now this is a game of three halves! Ron kicked off with a song about The Mummers followed by Brian playing Planxty Brown. Pete & Liz sang a fine version of Daddy Fox and Dick sang Paddy in the Whale. Gilly sang us one more and Peter brought the evening to a close with my very favourite song of all time, Feel so Near.
The raffle raised £31 for this year’s 'Race for Life'. I donated it to my colleagues at Barclays because the bank will match the amount raised.
Thank you to everyone for a most enjoyable evening.
Sue Hartland
'Eggs, ego and existentialism' was the theme; quite a number of musicians were there or maybe not. I took copious notes of the evening's performances but find myself unable to read them! The memory links Eggman, hornpipes, Roland and Beeswing with Dumplings and breaking the mould.
Thank you to all of you who donated money to leukaemia research (12.00 GBP) and, on a philosophical note, next month's theme is 'May'.
John Black
After quite a number of very successful and enjoyable meetings of the folk club, I suppose it was about time we had a disastrous meeting. Our meeting of 7th March had the potential for being such a meeting, as the day before, I was apologetically warned by the landlord of the Dog Inn that it was unlikely that we would be able to meet in our usual venue. This was because the builders who had been working in the room had not finished.
However, in the event it turned out to be another enjoyable meeting. The landlord had very kindly availed the snug for us to have our meeting and somehow the crackling of the log fire combined with the noise coming through from the public bar contributed to a very warm and friendly atmosphere.
I had previously arranged to have a singaround and music session for the evening. This was quite fortuitous, as it was an easy format to accommodate in the available space.
At one time during the course of the evening there were no fewer than 55 people in the snug. This was more than capacity and unfortunately there were one or two people who tried and failed to get in. To those people I apologise for any disappointment and please come back next month when I have been assured that the larger back room will be back in commission.
During the evening there were 30 items performed by 18 different artistes. This must be approaching a record. The standard of music, entertainment and humour was its usual high standard and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. There were too many performers to mention them all by name but many thanks to them for making the evening so successful.
The raffle raised a handsome £38.00 for the Warwickshire Air Ambulance.
The next meeting will be in the back room of the Dog Inn, on April 4th, and as usual starting at 8:30. John Black will be hosting the evening and with it being Easter the theme will be “Eggs, Ego and Existentialism”.
Peter Bones
The heat was on in February; or rather that was the evening’s theme. In a feeble attempt at irony following a night in a rather chilly room in January, I decided to induce mass hysteria through autosuggestion. As it turned out, our thoughtful hosts at the Dog Inn provided sufficient mechanical warmth, and a legion of excellent artists added more of the physical variety. The Harvesters kicked off the night with a song featuring some flat-footing. Peter McDonald followed with a favourite song and then an excellent pastiche of Lord Franklin, accompanied by his new concertina. Brian offered two fiddle tunes and Rick took us on an Australian song tour to maintain the temperature of the theme. The young and highly talented Susie Bones tantalised us with a single offering, The Brisk Young Sailor, about a girl who dresses as a sailor and almost fools the men. To end the first section, Keith Donnelly offered a song he had not quite finished yet! Needless to say, he carried off the experiment faultlessly.
The second half brought John Black to the front with some fine fiddling and his ABBA-esque Water, Water, Water. Songlines were next, or more accurately seven of their normal forty-strong community choir, and they kept nicely to the theme with a Maori love song and then a South African song, which apparently is popular at funerals! Their participatory style is infectious and we hope to see them again, or at least as many as can be crammed into the room. Ron then exhorted us to Bring us a Tea Urn and performed the ever-popular Joan the Leather Queen. A spot from guitarist and singer Peter included two excellent songs and he was followed by the powerful singing of Des, whose contribution to the theme was to recall Bonfire Night. Nice one. A shanty rounded off the half with gusto.
The third half was opened by Dick Dixon, who has only fleetingly visited the club before, and he gave an emotional rendition of The Glenmore Hare. His partner, Sue, followed with the lovely Katie Shaw and then the rousing Sally Gee from the North East. A melodeon tune from Peter McDonald, another song from The Harvesters, followed by Ron and then Des and finally the manic Green Banana Boat from Keith brought a fine evening to a close. The raffle raised a creditable £37 for Myton Hospice.
The next Folk Club will be on Thursday 7th March, when Peter Bones will present a themeless night in a singaround format.
Ian Hartland
In my dictionary, the word 'Wassail' is defined in many ways - 'a festive occasion', 'a drinking bout', 'a type of liquor', 'to make merry', etc.. - all of which seemed to make it a very suitable theme for the Folk Club session in January. All those interpretations, and a lot more, were in evidence and we had an amazing number of genuine Wassail songs. We had Wassails from Gloucestershire, the Gower and Orkney to name but a few and there were several spoof ones too. My favourite was the Death and Glory Wassail sung by Des, another brilliant song by Sid Kipper.
January 3rd was a very cold evening but the lads at the Dog had made great personal sacrifices and put ample heaters into the back room to take off the chill. After I started the evening with the inevitable Here we come a-wassailing, the Jolly Wassailers (Maureen, Janny, Celia and Margaret) took to the stage with two delightfully arranged songs followed, in order of appearance, by Rik, Pete & Liz, Alan, Ron, Pete G, Des and the Harvesters. Of course, it wasn't all wassailing - we had flashbacks to Christmas, a bit of music hall and original songs by Pete G and Ian as well. Alan finished the evening with the folk 'standard' Wild Mountain Thyme which didn't mention Wassail once but allowed the smaller-than-usual audience to sing along like a much bigger one.
The raffle raised £35 for Ovacome, a support group for ovarian cancer sufferers. Next month's session, hosted by Ian on February 7th, has the theme of 'Heat'. Use your imagination!
Peter McDonald