Christmas 2015

Photo by macinate at Flickr

We were quite thin on the ground for our Christmas session, partly perhaps because it was slightly earlier than usual and partly because it was lower key, having had the mega-bash for Maggie's retirement the week before.

Important news, also posted elsewhere is that there will be no Dragon Folk Club sessions on 18 or 25 December, nor on 1 January, when the New Inn is closed. So we will be back and raring to go on 8 January 2016 when themes could range from Boxing Day, through New Year and Twelfth Night to, well, anything you fancy. Just please be there to see the old year out, albeit belatedly, and welcome the new year in.

Maggie's retirement bash

Maggie S

Maggie S arrived to last week's session, mince pies in hand, almost convinced that it was our Christmas session but in fact it was a party to honour her contributions to the club over the last 30 or so years that she has been first its treasurer and then the overall organiser. A very good crowd turned out to mark the occasion. In practice Colin took over a few weeks ago but there's no problem with an excuse for a party.

With so many friends old and new appearing throughout the first half it seemed we'd never start on a second round, so rather than miss anyone out, I will try to list all of the songs sung on this occasion - though I will struggle with a couple of them.

Simon had arrived indecently early to help with the set-up, not that there was much to do, so Colin asked him to start off proceedings.

St Andrew's Day 2015

The Saltire (Cross of St Andrew)

While there was no official theme this week Richard, as at the same time last year, pointed out that this was our closest session to St Andrew's Day, so a thin veneer of Scots Pine came over the club.

While we weren't exactly a huge throng it was "pleasant and delightful" to be joined by Gary, who hasn't attended for a while, by Terry H, who probably hasn't previously been to our current venue, and by Malcolm, a newcomer to the club and happy to sit and listen to the rest of us make fools of ourselves! (Only joking)

A military hang-over

North flank of Kinder Scout

A reasonable turn-out this week included a long-awaited return by Paul, who has moved slightly further away from us and hadn't previously joined us at our current venue. There was no theme although Derek found himself singing military songs all evening for no particular reason except that the songs of other people inspired him.

Colin was MC and Mike started off the evening with Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire (Roud 9618), which he had failed to sing the previous week for remembrance.

Remembrance - 2015

As last week's session marking Remembrance continued, news of the massacre in Paris started to unfold on my phone. I didn't mention it to those assembled as the scale of the incident wasn't yet clear and I didn't want to disrupt proceedings, but it now seems somehow appropriate that we were remembering past conflicts and mostly asking for peace. I don't want to dwell on it too much but I'm sure we would all want to offer support to those in Paris and the rest France who we know, and those we don't.

Campfire songs and more

The Gunpowder Plotters

Last week's theme was campfire songs to mark Bonfire Night. Attendance was rather sparse, not least because of the tendency of dogs having to look after their owners at this time of year lest they take fright at the noise of fireworks - these dog owners can be very flighty.

The linked recordings are of particularly variable quality because of the nature of some of the songs sung - par for the course with this theme.

Halloween 2015

Stanton Drew stone circle
(photo: Simon Meeds)

So, after last week's session the handover has officially been made. Maggie has retired from running the club and Colin is the new master: holder of "the book" and the money bag (sometimes affectionately called "the scrotum"), which Mike made forty years ago. We hope and believe that Mike and Maggie will still be regulars at the club but this move takes some of the responsibility from Maggie's shoulders which she has borne for so long.

The themes this week were Halloween and Australia/New Zealand (being the finalists in the Rugby World Cup). I think almost all, if not all songs met the former theme and a couple gave a nod to the latter.