The festival is raising funds for LHCRT (Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust). We had not been able to book into the festival, as, by the time we knew we were not doing the Chesterfield Canal and therefore had time to come to Huddlesford, their website declared that the boat entries were all full.
So yesterday we had moored a bit further along the canal and today we walked about half a mile to the event. It was a hot day. On the way we found David and Mary Litchfield on Kew, so we put our chairs out on the grass there. Steven and Gwyneth Carter arrived, and Pam McLellan. Other BCF members nearby were David and Angela Dunham, on Norfolk Belle, and Eric and Doreen Wood on Credalwood.
Strangely we never spotted John and Vee from Thistledown, who had said they were booked in when we saw them on Tuesday.
After a coffee, we walked to the junction and paid our £5 visitors entrance fee on the footbridge. We also enquired about the hog roast tonight, which we thought would be a simple exercise. In the end it took all morning.
1030 Volunteer at the entrance: “You need to go and see Bob on the LHCRT stand”
1050 Someone on the LHCRT stand: “Bob’s not here, but you need to see Doug Swain. He’s wearing a high viz jacket and has a dog. He’s somewhere over there beyond the arena.”
1100 Volunteer beyond the arena tried unsuccessfully to raise him on the radio and then said: “He went that way twenty minutes ago” pointing to another car park.
1145 After a futile walk in “that direction”, we were unable to find Doug with the dog. We went back to the stand past classic cars and a lot of the stalls, where we found Bob: “It’s probably sold out, but you need to see David the Commodore, if there are any tickets left. I gave them all back to him this morning, and they are mostly sold out. He’ll be in the clubhouse.” He also tried to raise him on the radio, with no joy.
1215 On arrival at the clubhouse, James spotted a man with a high viz jacket and a dog, at the top of the stairs. “Are You Doug Swain?” Doug was not the man with the tickets, but he was very helpful. He said he thought there were plenty of tickets left.
1230 He found a keen lady who said that it was David the Commodore who had them, and he was with the VIPs at the opening ceremony and would be in the club bar afterwards at 1.30pm.
1235 We joined the queue for burgers and hot dogs, and enjoyed Black Rat cider at £3 a pint.
1340 In the club bar “I’m looking for David the Commodore” “Oh that’s me! Are you the guy who wants tickets for the hog roast?” James parted with £30 and finally had two tickets!!
Classic cars
In the end when we went to the hog roast, no-one asked to see the tickets. The food was good, and the band, Granny’s Attic, were excellent. Sadly, the Black Rat cider had run out, so we had to make do with Thatcher's Gold.
We all had a discussion about tomorrow’s service. We had been asked to play and sing, with another musician we had never met. We didn’t know whether we would be in the field with no PA, or on the main stage with PA. In the end, the weather decided it for us. As it was forecast wet tomorrow, the main stage would be turned around to face into the café area, and we would all meet at 0830 to get set up under cover. Andrew Spolton was heading it up, David Litchfield was reading, and talking about BCF. We were singing six songs, four of which we knew well, one which we never play because it never works well, and another we have never played before. We did some homework back on the boat to get the two songs onto our system.
Sun 22nd September Huddlesford Heritage Gathering
With an alarm set for 7am, we managed to get along the towpath with instruments, computer tablets and stands, and arrived at the venue at 0830 as planned. Thankfully we had very helpful guys on the sound desk, and we had a sound check. Our other musician (we still don’t even know his name) arrived at about 0920 for a 0930 start, so we barely had time to get him sound checked, let alone run through anything. He also had his wife and daughters with him, playing recorders. We dropped out of one song as we were in a different key, and the song that never works well didn’t work well, which is why we never choose it. However, generally it went well, and there were about thirty people there. Traders on the towpath said they heard it from where they were.
Over coffee and cake afterwards, we met David and Angela, who had rejoined BCF this weekend after a period of absence.
James went over to the busker’s tent to see if they needed any extras, but there were a lot of people standing around wearing instruments, so he came away again.
We both returned to the boat to sit out the rain.
Later we saw Narrow Escape go past. We spent some pleasant days with Barry and Jane two years ago on the Kennet and Avon.
No boating today.
Next: In and around Hopwas, Fazeley and Tamworth until next weekend, when there is a BCF fellowship weekend. We are taking part in the worship there as well. Then we start the three-week journey back to Aylesbury.
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