Well I have now recovered from an evenings hell in my little tent,battered and buffeted by heavy rain and a gale on Saturday Night. On Saturday Morning I travelled up from the Surrey Sussex border starting out at 5-30 AM and my Sat Nav started giving me crazy advice just about Sheffield when I needed it most. To turn right when your on the Motorway in twenty yards when on the M1 is not what I wanted to hear. Someone up there must have given her a slap as suddenly she started to give me the correct advice ,only to come across road works which took me back to the Town Centre again.I eventually got to the Peak where Mark lives and althogh I gave everybody advice as to wear winter cloths I did not think that I would actually be right. My first job was to join Roger Digby for the Anglo hour and with Roger's usual meticulous planning started and finished at exactly the planned times.It was very well attended and seemed well recieved. The sessions were excellent,a good mixture of tunes.There were many things I missed over the Weekend that I would like to have attended but didn't perhaps next time.The one thing I did attend was Dan Worral's Historical talk on the Anglo. It was excellent.Very well prepared a mixture of facts,Graphs,Newspaper articles and backed up with photographs. What an interesting and comprehensive talk it was. If any of you are wondering what to include during a concertina workshop ,Dan is your man.
I eventually got home exhausted on Sunday Evening and fell asleep watching the television,but my wife will confirm that there is nothing unusual in that.
Well done Mark for organising this weekend let us hope for better weather next year.
Al;

Well, what do you expect if you go so far north? Personally, I would have made the trip in July or Aug..... ah; you've just reminded me why I stopped going to camping events!

Seriously. though, sounds like it was a great event and a success all round.

Regards,
Peter.

It was certainly nice to see so many members from this site.I did so much talking I missed some workshops I intended to go to.
My good friend Dave Prebble looked a lot better than the last time I saw him, a wee bit slimmer,health improving and playing as well as ever.
Not quite ready to dive into the Canal, but moving in the right direction. OH YES (an in joke re a little nodding insurance dog).
Al

Well, I went South to Broadstairs festival on Saturday - and it rained all day!

Some outdoor activity was curtailed, but the lunchtime music session in the Lord Nelson just went on (and on) !!

best wishes

John Wild

Count yourselves lucky you didn't go west - Ireland was experiencing Monsoon conditions!

This year’s Bradfield fest was wonderful, despite the weather - though I don’t know about year’s past since this was my first year attending. We arrived Friday evening and Mark and Joan were gracious and helpful hosts. How they arranged it all I’ll never know. I think there are actually four of them.
The music was great fun. As an Irish player I was apprehensive about being surrounded by so many vigorous players of English music but it all worked out. The English tunes are lovely in their own right and the English players were very supportive of our music. The ceili was lovely. Country dances alternated with solo spots from guest musicians. Wonderful music, terrific singing, and more craic than one expects from solid Yorkshiremen. Mark Davies was the compere without peer, both at the ceili and at the pub evening. Everybody participated in one form or other and there was never a dull moment.
Our trip was marred only by an unwelcome puncture in the expensive tire on our fancy car. We’d been given an upgrade from a Ford Fiesta to a super-duper Saab. Because of the flat we spent a rainy Saturday morning driving around the outskirts of Sheffield looking for a garage. The tire was not covered by insurance and when the man at the tire repair garage told us the £200 tire was ruined we were in a dither.
The Irish lads in the back seat were of course delighted to make a song about the misadventure. The final verse will have to be when, taking Dick Hogan’s advice, we went on the offensive and accused Hertz of putting us in an unsafe car. Hertz apologized and offered to refund half of the fee and not to hold us responsible for damage to the tire.
It was a pleasure to meet so many posters to this forum, who were knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. The area is very beautiful, the locals inviting and appreciative, and our hosts - Mark and Joan Davies – very welcoming. Mark organized a wonderful little festival. The level of accomplishment was both very high and very varied. There were English and Anglo players, players, singers and dancers, locals and imports, participants and audience. This is a charming little festival that is well worth future visits.

I'm now feeling wistful reading this; I've only been once, in 2005 (or at least I think it was). I recall (as a singer) having a really good time, but wondering how on earth, in the height of summer, it managed to be quite so cold and windy on the Derbyshire Peaks (and especially in the barn in the wee small hours) at that time of year!! Glad to hear it went well. Maybe I'll be back next year ... and, with another year under my belt, maybe with a concertina as well as my voice!!!

Another hugely successful weekend !

Given the elevation of the farm and the interesting mix that the English weather seems to save especially for this weekend, I would definitely advise that the aged, infirm and, dare I say, 'wimps' (Dave now running for cover with a brolly ) should book bed and breakfast early for next year. My admiration goes to
those gritty folks who did battle with the Pennine weather and refused to give up. This particular wimp was safe and snug indoors, but even that brings its drawbacks. You have to compete with the dogs for every scrap of food. After demolishing a whole pack of biscuits, the foxhound took off with my loaf of bread while the Lurcher capitalized on this diversion and pinched my malt loaf. Where my last scone went I don't know, but the cat was looking very shifty to me
All in all, honours even I'd say, since marginally more food was retrieved than was scoffed by the dogs.

This lovely music weekend simply is not to be missed!
The whole atmosphere is so different to any 'folk festival' that I have ever attended. This event is so much more than that !!
Bradfield is, in essence, an informal and extremely friendly, almost 'family', gathering of friends old and new getting together to have great craic and share a vast variety of music and song in truly lovely surroundings.

There is such a vast range of knowledge and skills on tap at Bradfield that, sadly, it is not possible to attend everything.
I very much enjoyed Geoff Crabb's 'Toolbox talks' on various elements of concertina building and, as ever, learned much from him.
The Anglo Hour, provided quite an insight into different approaches and styles for concertina playing. Introduced, chaired and generally 'kept in order' by Roger Digby, this session gave all of us a deeper understanding of the capabilities of the instrument and left us with plenty to think about. I was honoured to be asked to contribute and really enjoyed myself.

I got involved in a most enjoyable workshop with Andrew & Margaret Watchorn. Unfortunately as a result, I missed some of Dan's well researched and I must say, extremely well received presentation, but hopefully I'll catch it all another time ?? Well done Dan.

Likewise, I got entrenched in a cracking session at the Royal and arrived too late for Jody's workshop. He certainly must have got his ideas across as strains of unfamiliar transatlantic jazzy backbeat sounds were coming out of quite a few anglos over the remainder of the weekend

Thanks to everyone, organisers, guests players/singers and the like, who all pulled together to make this such a wonderful weekend. Thanks as well to husbands and wives who allowed their spouses 'leave passes' to attend.

A special thanks to our hosts Mark & Joan. They must be absolutely kn*ckered after all the preparations, running round and organising that was necessary to make things run so smoothly. THANK YOU

Already looking forward to seeing everyone again next year.........oooh Yesss !

Dave

If it's any consolation, it rained all day Saturday at the Goderich Folk Festival last week! We did get great weather for the Celtic College week beforehand though. The English music session at the Park House Hotel is now well established at this largely Irish week now and we had 50 people on the Thurday night.

Great classes all week with the English side well represented by Crucible. For concertinas, our own Frank Edgley was there giving lessons in Irish concertina. I think there was also an Irish female concertina teacher but I didn't cross paths with her.

Highlights of the festival were JIIG (including Ian Robb - soon to be on English International), Crucible and a 6-piece Irish all-female group called Liadan.

I would just like to add my three ha'pence to the above. As a first timer, I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the event. All the talks were interesting ( I especially enjoyed Dan Worral's) and the sessions were great. My thanks to Mark and the guests for a great weekend.

Hi
It was interesting putting faces to names - but no one looked as i had visualised them
Unfortunately i only made it for some of the Saturday - but I enjoyed that which I did get to.
chris

Many thanks, Alan, Dave and Simon, for the kind words on my talk. Always nice to give a talk to people who know as much or much more than you do! And I got some great leads for my history stuff from several folks there.

Bradfield was a really wonderful weekend. Non-stop music. I tended to stick to the Royal pub and the English players this time, thinking to go for more variety on the next trip (a bicycle would be a good thing to have at this event). I would have liked to have heard some of the (by all accounts) superb singing and Irish playing at the other two pubs; I also missed Jody's workshop, but then we've been pleasured to host him in East Texas the past couple of years (and I got to hear even more of the inimitable Jody in sessions there at the Royal, thankfully). Having mentioned those regrets, the English playing at the Royal was simply excellent, and the main reason I did not wander....and I got to meet so many folks from this Forum. I was visiting there with Roger Digby, and during those sessions also got to hear and meet Dave Prebble, Alan Day, Chas Marshall, Tony and Brian from Sussex, and several others whose names either I did not get or I cannot remember....all superb concertina players in the English style, and they bowled me over with great tunes and techniques. Thanks, all!

Mark D. has done a fantastic job...a small festival with great folks and no commercial trappings and hassles. The beer isn't bad either! I certainly hope to return someday.

Am still in England...a great session last night, and another in a day or two, both in Essex.

Dan

ps. and a big thanks to Alex Cadogan ('Hallelujah Al' on this Forum) for the loan of the Salvation Army projector.

Sorry I missed it, rain not withstanding. I heard Crucible the week previous at the Millrace Festival in Galt. They were incredible, although plagued with terrible sound. Everything (except the melodian, which seemed to be switched off for most of the set) amplified at painful, shrill levels. Great energy though, and a wonderful show. I'm starting to think that this is the style of music I'm most interested in playing.

I had hoped to hear some concertina (I have never, ever heard one played live! ) but there seemd to be a curse on me. As we ran from one stage to the next we always just seemed to miss the concertina! I saw Paul Harris' beautiful old anglo at his feet for the whole set, but he didn't pick it up while I was there. Same with Crucible! And I had to work that day, so didn't arrive until after the Morris dancing. (Were you playing there?)

Bill,
Perhaps you should come to the bi-weekly English session on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Ferret and Firkin. There is also an English session every Sunday afternoon at the Golden Kiwi in Cambridge. Contact me with a personal message if you need more info.

I've been going to the concertina club at The Royal for about a year and had heard various names , so it was nice to put faces to names and meet folk from this forum.
I've quite recently moved on to Anglo after years on mouth organ and melodeon and it has been really helpful to get to know so many knowledgeable and enthusiastic folk.
The sessions were excellent and the talks too thanks to all who made it a success.
Thanks Mark and Joan for organization and hosting the event. Looking forward to next year already. Off to Whitby this weekend!
keep squeezing.

I'd like to second everything that's been said. A wonderful weekend, and quite unlike most festivals, as Dave says, it's more like a family gathering.

Mark rightly insists that its not a concertina festival, and indeed there is much more, but concertinas were particularly well catered for this year, with some fascinating workshops. I spent much of my time in the sessions in the Royal, and concertinas clearly outnumbered the melodeons, which is not my usual experience!

It was good to put some more faces to names and to at last meet people I have exchanged views with on here. And of course to meet old friends and play good music.

Thanks as always to Mark and Joan, and looking forward to next year.

hi all
well it was a jolly good weekend ,many thanks to mark,and all that took part.
and to dave for the thursday night(he had to watch us drink the harveys beer we had with us)
just got to wait another year now!!
bryan hawes
cplayer

Due to other intererests I cannot organise the 2009 Bradfield Traditional Weekend on the weekend of 7th,8th & 9th August(so ignore the email I sent to all those on my contact list)I am considering bringing it forward to the weekend of the 24th,25th & 26th July.The only event that I know of that it clashes with is the Cullerlie Traditional Singing Weekend in Scotland.It will no doubt clash with some "folk festival"or other in the UK but as I have no interest in "folk music"that is not a problem.Has anyone got any thoughts about this?

I would like to concur everything that has been said before.Beryl & I spent saturday night trying to avoid being swept away in our tent by the northern winds! But sunday night we had a very good nights sleep at the Royal!!! The sessions at the Royal were excellent and all the workshops I attended were of a very high standard. The organisation of the events must have been extremely complex but this was a credit to Mark and Joan. If someone can predict good weather next year we will bring our tent again!!!
Regards from the south west(windy & raining)

Hi Mark,

That weekend works fine for me.

Might give the folks who have regular commitments at Sidmouth a chance to come and enjoy the Pennine sunshine

Dave

hi mark
count me in please
bhawes
cplayer

This year's TMSA festival list (see TMSA Event List for the event calender) gives two others on that week-end this year (Loch Lomond and Ugie), but since they're not concertina related events, you needn't worry about clashes in Scotland.
Cullerlie is very much a singing event, and I've meant to go some year, but never got round to it.

I've thought about visiting Bradfield, but since it always clashes with Auchtermuchty Festival, I've never been able to make it.
If you go ahead with the proposed weekend in July, I will try to attend.

PS Weather report - Auchtermuchty weekend.
Torrential rain on Saturday evening - localised flooding in Fife.
I think it's time to retire the old tent!

A thought that has been puzzling me since the Bradfield weekend.

Dan Worrall showed how the Anglo died out virtually after WW1 until the 60s revival.. So what replaced it in working class or popular music? It must have been an immediate and accessible and cheap instrument like the guitar in the 50s. Was it the uke or banjolele? Or did people just listen to radio and records? What were the 'Race Records' for the British working class?

I have old melodeon 78s but no concertina recordings, has anyone gone through catalogues of the recording companes? My earliest concertina clue is Wm Mullaley recorded in America in the 20s

Was it the ukulele and banjo and George Formby, Jazz or 'flapper' music which would be chromatic and multi keyed?
When I was a lad in the late 40s and early 50s we wanted keys that would fit in with what we got from America and we weren't sufficiently competent to play in keys other than mouth organ keys. I think the mouth organ may have kept the anglo tradition alive, I played for hops and later square dances in the early 50s on a Hohner mouth organ ( which we used to buy at the barber's shop - 'something for the weekend') using jigs and reels which were part of my Manchester /Irish and local Lancashire culture. My Gran used to lilt 'Off She Goes' or'Humpty Dumpty' for our kids' birthday party dances in our Coucil House scullery. She was 4th generation Cheshire/Lancs.

Then skiffle came along and 'liberated' us from complications, a bit like Punk did later on, and keys like C.G.D became common for a while and the Anglo and guitarn fitted that as did D/G melodeon for the emerging 'folkies' of the 1960s. This merged nicely with Irish traditional music and the Morris revival so here we are.

The recordings I have of the English concertina continue after the war, up to 1935 the Concertina Bands were still going strong and Music Hall was still alive,Dan's graph showed Anglo concertina production dropping off before and after the first World War, but many of the English and Duet system concertinas players continued to perform.John Nixon,Tommy Elliott,Alf Edwards,Perci Honri were just a few who performed through to the late sixties.It would appear just from recordings that in the concertina World the English and Duet was preferred to be listened to. Certainly after the Second World War I would expect the piano to be the most popular.Sing songs in pubs,most front rooms had one.Both my parents played the piano.There was not a lot of money about before and after both wars, so to spend money on an instrument was a luxury few could afford.
From memory the sequence of popularity was Trad Jazz, Skiffle, Blues, Rock and Roll, Folk Revival which included Morris revival (John Kirkpatrick)and the popularity of the Anglo.
Al

That weekend probably still works for me

This weekend is bigger than any one -- or two -- of us. That being Mark and Joan.

I'll try to come though daughter #3 might have a wedding in the US that weekend.

You know it will suit me Mark

I think this was the original aniversery week end

Dave E

Already in the diary.
Big hand to Mark & Joans impecable organisation, once again.

As well as the Irish sessions, and meeting old friends, the highlight for me was the ad-hoc band - I tried to keep the repertoire to Northumbrian tunes that were not played as much nowadays, so it was a joy to have the wonderfull Watchorn duo alongside me and I never cease to be amazed that Jody and our Irish friends managed to sit in and play probably unfamiliar tunes all night.
Nevertheless, we had some authentic American sets (and dancing) from Jody as well.

What a concertina-fest.