The previous night’s entertainment had been spectacular – Scottish supergroup Session A9 were tremendous in spite of one of their fiddlers, Adam Sutherland (ANOTHER Sutherland, they seem to do a lot of this musical stuff), being down with a bad cold. TGO Challengers who pass through Ault-na-Goire may well be familiar with the Sutherlands.
Session A9
The Copper Family from Rottingdean in Sussex have been singing their songs for generations. They had three generations on stage at one point – their songs are some of the most well-known in the English tradition. Listening to their singing brings me out in goose-bumps!
The Copper Family
Keith Donnelly’s late night (early morning!) spot meant it was 2am by the time I got to bed. Keith is a favourite of mine – and of the Mrs JJ, she’s normally early to bed, but not when Keith Donnelly’s about. His absolutely insane humour had his audience in stitches, I went to bed with aching sides.
Keith Donnelly
After such a late night I felt justified in having a lie-in on Sunday morning….but even I was surprised to sleep until 9.30am.
The previous day had been extremely hot, with clear blue skies and a strong sun. The clear skies made for a cold night and I was glad to be in my caravan.
I had a hurried breakfast and headed off into town to meet up for another lunchtime music session in the Falcon. The usual suspects had gathered in the bar and the session was in full swing when I arrived:
The Falcon does an excellent Sunday dinner, it’s one of our Bromyard Festival treats. The rest of the time we self-cater so we feel justified in pushing the boat out just this once over the weekend. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have to leave the session early because the chef goes home at 2pm. Still, it’s a nice treat.
Back on the Festival site the festival was winding down towards the final concert. I have to confess that the line up didn’t float my boat – perhaps I was folked-out. I popped into the concert for a short time then headed over to the beer tent to meet up with some old friends and to listen to the impromptu music session that had sprung into life.
By 11pm I was in bed.
I seem to recall that Bromyard is a sunny festival, hot during the day but cold at night. My journey home on the Monday morning always seems to be in gloomy weather, leaving Bromyard and the summer behind. This year was no exception.
Once at home it was back to parent-caring and trip planning: the Backpackers Club Treasure Hunt (a laid-back orienteering event with an overnight wild-camp) is next weekend, in the Lake District. Then I need to plan my trip to Spain to walk a section of the Via de la Plata.
I really must get my finger out.
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