Creeping Bentgrass at the Fylde Vintage and Farm Weekend, 2014

Last night we headed out to (and round and round) Wharles - a tiny village in the Fylde countryside - looking for a huge field with a marquee where Creeping Bentgrass was playing.

Regardless of the fact that their website said it was the third annual event, it was actually the fifth year that we have done this event! The last few years we have done the Saturday night but this year we were asked to perform on the Friday night to help bring a few more people in.

That said a lot of the regulars came in later saying that they thought we would be there on Saturday as usual and had only just heard we were already up and playing! This event is always a good night for us and last night was no exception. A great reception from an enthusiastic audience.

Fylde Vintage Weekend and Farm Show

Last night we were out in the wilderness of the Fylde countryside (a very nice place to be!) We were playing in a huge marquee at the Fylde Vintage Weekend and Farm Show to a packed and very receptive audience who were determined to get the most out of us.

When we got there we found these two gentlemen building a stage for us. "Will it be alright?" we were asked.

"I was thinking about having a curving staircase to come down as we start," I said.

"Aye, keep thinking..." came the answer.

The show hadn't really got going until today, but the marquee filled up and there were several familiar faces who came to see us at the Heskin Hall show. Some indeed said they had come especially to see us again. I love an optimist...

I had had a rather frazzling couple of days fighting the weather to get back from Newcastle in time for the gig (see this blog entry for details) and was running on sheer adrenaline. This led me to make several instant comebacks to a large group by the stage who were quite witty and we built up a fantastic atmosphere during the night.

We started playing around 8:15pm and at 11:45pm I announced the last song but that was just a challenge to them and we played seven or eight encores, finishing well after midnight and eventually getting away sometime after 1:00am!

Now this was a field and not particularly well furnished with street lighting...

Apologies to anyone trying to sleep in the caravans we kept going past and reversing around whilst we tried to find the gate...

Also apologies to the good people of the Fylde who may have been awoken by the raucous and ever so slightly rude roars from the audience as we played "Living Next Door To Alice" as one of those encores. Well really, I was shocked...

To the young lady who kept shouting for us to do a Lady Gaga number... next year...

Photos once again courtesy of Jeannie Lancaster.

Fylde Vintage Weekend

I've been reminded I missed a gig report! A few weeks ago was the Fylde Vintage Weekend, a chance for classic cars, tractors, traction engine and farming equipment to come together for a weekend of displays, some with real live sheep and some without...

David caused a bit of controversy shortly after we arrived. To our surprise we saw him crouched down with his camera lens poking through a tent flap.

"What are you doing?!?" we asked. "I was photographing birds!" he replied... What? By poking your lens into their tent?!? Is that not an arrestable offence?!?

Luckily not...!

We played in the beer tent marquee on Saturday night and had a cracking night.

I was starting to think we wouldn't get away - I don't think we have ever been shouted back for so many encores. It was a good night and a great audience!

A special mention has to go to Rosie the dog who barked her appreciation at the end of every song! I suspect it may have been the clapping that set her off, as she even joined in at the appropriate places in The Wild Rover! Or perhaps that's her boyfriend...

Wharles the Heck Are We?

Last night we played a Steam Fair in Wharles, which is an area out in the Fylde countryside between Kirkham and the M55 motorway.

It was one of those all too familiar bewildering happenings.

We had a phone call from Jack, who does the steam fairs out at Chorley and he had told us it was Saturday night in Treales (which is an area out in the Fylde countryside between Kirkham and Wharles...)

Then David got a call to say it was Friday in Wharles and thought we wouldn't be able to do it because I was due to be working in Plymouth on Friday. However, having turned it down with the organisers, he phoned Fran on Thursday night and she was able to tell him I was on my way home (from Hertfordshire) because the event in Plymouth had been cancelled. (Following this ok?)

We loaded the car for the last time - I've swapped it in today for a new Mazda - and followed the SatNav as we weren't really sure where Wharles was.

It took us down a road labelled as a dead end, but we figured that as we were in a field it could well be correct. The road tuened into a track and the track turned eventually into ruts and potholes and after a mile and a half with 3/4 of a mile still to go the surface was getting me worried about the bottom of the car and I had to reverse a mile before we could turn round to go through Kirkham to get to it on surfaced roads. The SatNav woman refused to apologise and kept trying to make me turn back to try again...

"Turn around when possible" kept being met with a chorus of "P*** off"

Anyway, we found it in the end and had a great night with a smallish but enthusiastic crowd. It went pitch black outside. Going to the loo was a painful experience for one member of the audience as he walked into a 3-foot high metal pole that had been erected to mark out a pitch.

Fran was gingerly coming back from a visit, feeling the way cautiously in the dark when someone came out of the disabled loo and banged the door just behind her. "I'm gobsmacked you didn't hear me scream, I jumped out of my skin!" she said.

So to the garage who took my Mondeo in part exchange, I'm sorry about all the mud caked all over it...