Sorry it's been so long and, like buses, here come two!! A very quick post tonight and hopefully another tomorrow before we return to Trinidad!
Also hopeefully some better pics to follow
Also hopeefully some better pics to follow
Well, I had an amazing time at Cropredy. As always great friends, great music and great craic. When I went the first time in 1998, it was the first time I’d been to a music festival and the first time I’d ever been camping but having gone every year I’ve been in the UK since I’m pretty accustomed to both now!
It’s a small very friendly festival and it has a maximum capacity of 20,000; there is just one stage and as there is no back-stage bar the various musicians stand around the bar chatting to everyone and anyone supping their pints of ale.
It’s a small very friendly festival and it has a maximum capacity of 20,000; there is just one stage and as there is no back-stage bar the various musicians stand around the bar chatting to everyone and anyone supping their pints of ale.
Fairport Convention played their first gig in 1967 and over the years there have been numerous changes of personnel; although Simon Nichol, one of the original members is still there having had a short break in the 70s and Dave Pegg has been with the band since 1969 years continuously!! During the 60’s Fairport released 4 LPs including the seminal Leige & Lief - arguably their finest album and establishing British folk-rock as a distinct and influential genre.
The festival itself started nearly 40 years ago. During the 1970s, Dave Pegg lived in the village of Cropredy and in 1979 when Fairport decided to call it a day they tore across country in their van having opened up for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth in the early afternoon, to do an outdoor Farewell Concert at Peewit Farm on Station Rd in Cropredy.
A year later they decided to reconvene with some friends for what would become their annual reunion and 1980 is the year Fairport recognise as the first Cropredy Festival. The festival has continued ever since. Although the festival is often called a folk or folk rock festival, it is in fact much broader than that – basically whatever music Fairport like is what ends up on the bill!!
As is often said: "Fairport did for real ale what the Grateful Dead did for LSD"
The festival itself started nearly 40 years ago. During the 1970s, Dave Pegg lived in the village of Cropredy and in 1979 when Fairport decided to call it a day they tore across country in their van having opened up for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth in the early afternoon, to do an outdoor Farewell Concert at Peewit Farm on Station Rd in Cropredy.
A year later they decided to reconvene with some friends for what would become their annual reunion and 1980 is the year Fairport recognise as the first Cropredy Festival. The festival has continued ever since. Although the festival is often called a folk or folk rock festival, it is in fact much broader than that – basically whatever music Fairport like is what ends up on the bill!!
As is often said: "Fairport did for real ale what the Grateful Dead did for LSD"
I first went when I was invited along by Val, the mother of one of my daughter’s friends. Val and her family had been going to the festival with friends since about 1988 and Val has always organised everything for us including getting the food and doing half the cooking. This year she was a little sad as her daughter Lisa and family (husband, Martin, 5 year old daughter and 8 month old son) would not be coming as the baby did not sleep very well and they were worried about disturbing everyone! – missing Cropredy for about the third time ever! Imagine her delight on Friday (2nd day) morning when asking Lisa what she was up to, Lisa admitted to “sitting in a field in Oxfordshire” – a well-used description for being at Cropredy! She & Martin had decided that as they were both off work they WOULD come after all – they were just missing it too much! They had been able to find a place in a nearby hotel so felt less worried. As it happened the baby had such a good time that in fact he slept much better than usual!
Anyway enough of the festival - I could go on about it for ever!
Anyway enough of the festival - I could go on about it for ever!
Whilst in Langar I was able to fit in a quick visit to my son, Rob, in Bristol. He plays in about 5 bands so finding any spare time is tricky and he did in fact have 2 rehearsals in the evenings but as it was the school holidays (he works in a school) at least he was free during the day! We had a great time including wandering round the shops in Montpelier near where he lives, looking after a friends cats, having a most wonder iced latte, a brilliant (as always) curry from Oh Calcutta and all in all eating and drinking too much!!
We were also able to fit in a visit to see my daughter, Sarah, with the boat now in its new residential mooring. It makes so much difference as she and Danny are now entitled to live on board and can also cultivate a patch of spare land just down the other side of the canal bank. She has already had one BBQ there! She took us on a quick tour of some of the parts of the city we had not seen so we now know that there are plenty of areas we might want to move to when we finally return home.
We are staying at my sisters just outside Leicester for September – trying to fit in some more visits to friends etc before we return to Trinidad towards the end of October.
Bye for now.
We are staying at my sisters just outside Leicester for September – trying to fit in some more visits to friends etc before we return to Trinidad towards the end of October.
Bye for now.