Wallingford Bunkfest

Fri 1st Sep  Wallingford Bunkfest

We were surrounded by fibreglass gin palace cruisers this morning, and our mooring on the Wallingford side of the river was on a high wall, and it was not easy to get on or off the boat.  We had made arrangements to take the place of Merchant the fuel boat at around 8am when he left for Abingdon. The cruisers were then to have a reshuffle, and get the longest of them on the inside against the wall.

Surrounded by Cruisers in Wallingford

It seemed that they had been told 7am, not 8am, so they started their engine and began to cast off just after 7am.  Fortunately we were up and about and ready, so we cast off and moved out to let them into our space.  Chris on Merchant also appeared and he was soon ready to go as well, so he set off and we took his place. We had to face downstream in order to get our stern onto the mooring so that we could get ashore.

Waiting for Merchant

Over to the other side

A narrowboat called Hobby Horse had been moored under the willow trees further up and Michael and Mandy saw Merchant go past them. They thought they could take his place, so they came downstream. They were surprised to see us moored up where Merchant had been, but we invited them to moor alongside us, which they did, facing upstream, so their bows were alongside our stern.  Later, a friend of theirs in a cruiser came alongside them, so there were three boats out.

Two boats alongside

Wallingford Bridge

We went into Wallingford, and visited the Friday market and a few shops, as well as seeing a few live bands.  The best of these was “All Things Considered”, who were performing at the Boat House, opposite our mooring.

Wallingford by Night

No significant boating today

Sat 2nd Sep  Wallingford Bunkfest

As there was a camp site attached to the leisure complex, we asked them if we could use their elsan point. The answer was yes, which was very helpful as the next one is at Abingdon, and the previous one is at Mapledurham.  They don’t keep it locked, and there is access to it from the upstream end of the moorings.

We had a visit from Caroline Watsham, our narrowboat dwelling, saw playing, BCF member and friend from Banbury.

Caroline

Then we went into the town and took in some of the Bunkfest Festival.  Many of the pubs and clubs were involved, and there was a main stage as well, so it is not possible to see all the bands perform.  Some we ruled out just from the description in the programme.  There were dance teams and Morris sides as well, and lots of craft stalls. We missed the best singaround, at the George, because we wanted to catch the main stage programme at that time.

Dancing in the street

Music at the Boat House

The bands which we found good were:

Noah’s Cape, a group of three ladies with good instrumental arrangements and excellent harmonies.

Moonrakers – three ladies and a man, with fiddle, celtic harp, guitar, whistles and concertina, and beautiful vocals.

Dave Fidler and the Corvettes – good guitar and vocal work from Dave, with backing vocals from some young ladies.

Bunkfest crowds

Rusty Shackle – a six-piece all male band with many instruments. Good harmonies, and very polished arrangements.

Rusty Shackle on Main Stage

Le Vent du Nord – the highlight for us. They hail from Quebec, and all the songs were in French. A wonderful sound which included fiddle, bouzouki, guitar, hurdy-gurdy, accordion and amazing percussion on a sounding board, using the toes and heels of both feet, by the guy who played fiddle and also sang.

Bunkfest image

The day was sunny and the evening was warm and dry, which made a great atmosphere.

No boating today

Sun 3rd Sep  Wallingford Bunkfest

It was a little damp today, following yesterday’s fine weather.

Sunday celebration poster

We took our brollies and joined the morning service in the Kinecroft – the public park area where the food stalls and tents were. This was put on by Ridgeway Community Church (where we usually go on a Sunday when we are here) in partnership with Wallingford Baptist Church. The worship was ably led by Dave Fidler and the Corvettes. 

The theme of the talk was HOPE, using naval flags as visual aids:

H Pilot on Board   -  We need Jesus in our lives

O Man overboard  -  We can’t save ourselves

P Vessel about to leave  -  Make sure we get on board

E Altering course to starboard  -  We have to make life style changes

Sunday worship service

We missed most of the rest of the festival, as Hazel was unwell, and we went back to the boat.  Thankfully there were no remaining acts that we really wanted to see.

Michael on Hobby Horse had a mishap when crossing from his boat to ours – he slipped on the wet gunwale and got a wet trouser leg. Otherwise unscathed.

James went to Bill McKinnon’s “Anything goes” session. This followed on from a previous Irish tunes session, and hardly anyone moved, so it was still mostly a tunes session. James sang one song, and another guy sang two songs, but it seemed that everyone was politely waiting for the song to be over so that they could all dive in again with the next jig or reel. Too many squeeze boxes, pipes and fiddles.  It was the wrong session to choose.  Having said that, there were some very talented musicians and it was still a lot of fun.

Bill McKinnon session

No boating today

Next:  Further up the river to Abingdon