Saturday 6th July 2024

Dream in Colours, Steve's new band

Well that's closure. I've followed the band Show of Hands since the late 1990's. I think my first ever concert of theirs was part of the Nailsea Folk Club sessions and they performed in the Tithe Barn. But as they say all good things come to an end, and tonight Steve, Phil and Miranda performed for the very last time. They're going on to do other things but by closing the band they're also closing their brainchild the lovely Abbotsbury Family Festival for good too. After 25 years, it was a night of finality but very upbeat.

I first came to the festival around 2006, though I can't remember it. Then on July 3rd 2010 I remember seeing Adrian Edmondson's Bad Shepherds performing riotously. In 2014 I came and Julie and I saw the fantastic Sheelanagig perform, I wrote about it on this blog (July 5th). But the real stars of the day were always Show of Hands. Somehow ten years have since passed and so last October when I saw this was to be both their final performance and the final ever Abbotsbury Festival I instantly booked tickets.

Phil, Steve and Miranda's afternoon set

It was hilarious when Julie and I first got there a little before 1pm. The West Lawn wasn't open for another half an hour so we joined the back of the queue, a queue like I've never seen before, seated visitors (of a certain age) snaking through the Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Garden for miles it seemed. Joining the back of the line we only had a twenty minute wait then we joined the melee to pitch our chairs at the best spot on the Lawn. This left an hour and a half until the music began. Everyone therefore started eating lunch, and I mean everyone. A crowd of predominantly 60-80 year old, fans I'd say who have aged with the Duo over the years, I checked, Phil's now 71, Steve is 70. Even 'young' Miranda Sykes is 46!!

At 3pm the pair sang a number of their classics. Then Steve's new band took the stage, Dream in Colours. They were absolutely terrific, three young musicians, Johnny Kalsi 'drums', Bennet Cerven, fiddle and Eliza Marshall a world class flautist, plus Steve. I can just see why it's time to move to something new, their energy was infectious. After this a singer from Cornwall whose name I've forgotten performed before the duo returned at around 7.30pm for their final finale. 

The final song, a meshing of Cousin Jack

I'd not say the crowd was rocking, more of an age where excessive foot tapping was in order, but they were loving it. We were really lucky with the weather too as on Friday night apparently it was a wash out. But then at 9.30 the band who produced the astonishing rural anthem album Country Life bowed out. No tears, just joy and good emotions, just how it should be, quit while you're at the top. And the drive home through the Dorset countryside at dusk was superb. What a great day.

Chav I know but an opportunity I couldn't miss.

I'll end myself with this cheeky selfie with Steve after he'd finished singing with Dream In Colour. They were all milling about outside the Merch tent and I'd been speaking to Eliza Marshall asking her what she'd been playing (a bass flute) and Steve was next to me. So I asked. My final memory of a duo I've a lot of time for. The band has gone but the memories remain.

Friday 5th July 2024

 

Well she's back. Treacle, nemesis of Gingernut had been missing for about three weeks. Not properly missing, I think her family had been away, presumably then she was in a cattery or somewhere. Anyway suddenly she reappeared on Wednesday but not her usual routine, she was more distant and didn't stay in our garden long. We didn't see her yesterday but today she's back on her perch on our windowsill. Even though she can be a pest when trying to get outside (she runs in), we missed her a lot. I think she's put weight on and seems calmer. Gingernut hasn't noticed her yet.

I suppose I'd better mention the election result. The exit poll shown last night was quite accurate. As I write there's one seat left to declare, Scotland's Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, which usually is SNP, but looks like it might be Liberal Democrat,  but Labour have won a landslide win overall. Though oddly only because Reform combatted with Conservative and split the centre right vote. Labours actual voting percentage is only 33.7%, only up a couple of points from the last election in 2019, but enough to gain them 211 seats. A very interesting time.

Thursday 4th July 2024

Well here we are. General Election day 2024. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called this early election about two months ago. It surprised everyone, including us at Radio 4. It's been a bit of a scramble to reschedule programmes for tomorrow to allow for election coverage to be extended. That said the day dawned fair, but my mind was still undecided as I entered the voting booth in the village hall. Liberal Democrats or Conservative? I've never voted Labour and won't today. Anyway I made my mark (no reveal) and left to have a ham egg and chips lunch at Garden Park as I was starving. Julie decided not to vote as she just couldn't work out who to vote for.

Fast forward ten hours and I grabbed this image off the television at 10pm. The BBC's election coverage had begun and on the stroke of ten they revealed the exit poll prediction. Landslide victory for Labour, crushing defeat for the Conservatives. After this I went to bed, though flicked through my phone for a while, Sunderland South was the first to declare just after midnight..Labour held.

Wednesday 3rd July 2024

 

I actually took this image early on the morning of July 4th, while lying in bed slowly waking up, reflecting on the day before. It's a familiar view of light dancing on the wall, but 24 hours earlier I was less inclined to view it. Having turned sixty all of a sudden I seem to have become a little unwell. I don't think it's serious, certainly after being checked, poked and prodded the conclusion was nothing sinister. But something isn't 100%, meaning I have occasional off days like today (or yesterday as I'm writing this on the day after). A few hours in bed sleeping and I'm back to normal, but it's concerning for me as for the main part of my adult life I've just breezed through without a care in the world. It's a simple conclusion, I'm getting older, the body isn't as strong as it was. I'm not sure I like it, and still think like a teenager. But one thing's for sure, I can't stop time.

Tuesday 2nd July 2024

 

I forgot to check this yesterday. There is an umbrella organisation called the Alliance of Literary Societies of which the Richard Jefferies Society is a member. The ALS as it is known has around 100 members ranging from the big societies in terms of members such as the Thomas Hardy Society, the P.G.Wodehouse Society and The Jane Austen Society so more specialist groups like The Bewick Society and The David Jones Society. The Richard Jefferies Society sits somewhere in the middle and has been a long standing and formerly very active member, hosting the ALS Annual General Meeting twice I believe.  On the ALS website they host a Society of the Month page and back in April I wrote up a piece for it. May and June came and went and it wasn't published. I checked with the ALS and received a lovely reply from Marty their Chair apologising over this non publication, ending it would go up on July 1st. Which it did but I forgot to check until today. Quite strange seeing my words on a literary website, below.

'The mind is infinite and able to understand everything that is brought before it’. So penned Richard Jefferies in his somewhat spiritual autobiography The Story of My Heart published in 1883.

Sometimes dubbed Nature’s Philosopher, (John) Richard Jefferies was born in 1848 in the hamlet of Coate, then a rural backwater close to Swindon in Wiltshire. Always a dreamer, reserved in manner, as a young adult he was a familiar sight walking the fields and hills near his home. Yet over his short life Richard Jefferies caught the sentiment of the Victorian age with 19 published works before his untimely death in 1887. Today Jefferies is perhaps better known for his keenly observed chronicles and essays on nature. Yet Jefferies’ early career was as a journalist for the North Wilts Herald and the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard. He became a nationally prolific agricultural journalist following the publication of his 4,000-word letter to The Times about the agricultural labourers in his home county.

A little over 60 years after his death the Richard Jefferies Society was founded in 1950 by Harold Adams with the aim of maintaining Jefferies’ reputation and, successfully as it turned out, campaigning to preserve his birthplace at Coate as a museum. Today this is managed by the Richard Jefferies Museum Trust, with whom the Richard Jefferies Society works alongside.

Jefferies’ writing is hard to define. His early works such as The Gamekeeper at Home or Wild Life in a Southern County suggest a keen observer of wildlife intimately attuned with the natural landscape. Later works, such as The Life of the Fields are reflective of the world around him. He also wrote novels and the much-loved children’s classic Bevis. Edward Thomas, an admirer, wrote a biography of Jefferies. Henry Williamson was influenced by him. Rachel Carson kept a copy of The Story of My Heart by her bedside.

Though Jefferies remains an enigma, his Victorian philosophy towards the world he observed still resonates with today’s concerns with mindfulness and connection with nature. In recognition of this the respected Richard Jefferies Award was set up in 2015 to celebrate the most outstanding nature writing published in a given calendar year. The Society also holds a financial bursary to assist high quality research projects.

Now heading towards its 75th Anniversary in 2025, the Richard Jefferies Society is evolving and looking to embrace new ways of delivering his message to the next generation. Yet the Society’s heart remains our core membership, open to all whether a devoted researcher or casual reader. Further details can be found on the Society’s website below.

www.richardjefferiessociety.org

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Monday 1st July 2024

 

Garden produce. We don't have a huge are to grow edibles in, so many are in the raised bed, or pots or bags, such as these second early potatoes. I think we planted these in early April, and Julie dug one bag up yesterday. As it turned out we may have harvested these a little too early. They were delicious but in total only 800g (1 3/4 lbs) from one bag. We'll therefore leave the other two bags for another few weeks.

Tonight I picked some strawberries. There was a lot to pick though I didn't weigh them. To be honest any strawberries are a bonus. Over winter I kept about twenty plants alive, just, but in the end I didn't know where to plant them. I had two troughs so in desperation planted all the strawberry plants in here, too close really but in reality they've done very well for little effort. And delicious too. Plenty more to come too in the coming days. Yum!