John Wild

Futher checking shows it needs signing up to usenet.nl. There is a free trial period of 14 days, but you have to cancel before then or they start charging at £7.25 per month.

I just did a google search and found this. Not sure what their price might be. https://www.designday.fr/174519/alf-edwards-the-art-of-the-concertina-flac-album-download.html

I was told mine was the last of a batch of 10 which Brian ordered from Steve Dickinson.

"In 1975 Steve Dickinson resurrected the company and re-started production with concertinas beginning with serial #60000. This Original 1975 Wheatstone Concertina in this auction is number 60088." This suggests that Steve Dickinson produced at least 89 new instruments in 1975, which seems on the high side. Does anyone here have a record of the annual production rate from 1975? 60088 was probably later than 1975. I own no.60095, which I purchased as new in 1989, though that was from Brian Hayden, not directly from Steve Dickinson.

I believe the Thornam Magna address predated the current Stowmarket address. I do not know when the move happened.

I'm inclined to think it is a simple typing error.

There is a concertina playing in this band........... I recognised Dave Townsend on concertina. with a serpent also present, do we have the Mellstock Band here?

Interesting attribution. I was sent a notation for Schneewalzer attributed to Thomas Koschat, 1845-1914. It carries the subtitle Waltz No.1 of the "Walzer idyll" Ein Sonntag auf der alm op.71. I do not have any more detail than that.

Kerr's Merry Melodies are often overlooked nowadays. Each of the 4 volumes has more than 400 tunes. The fourth collection has sections for "Operatic melodies" and "Waltzes, polkas etc.", which includes some classical pieces.

In the Piper's Companion series of books, volume V (5 if you do not know Roman numerals) is "Classics for folk".

There is a signature at the bottom. It is not very clear, but the last name looks like Baker, and the first name might be Lillian. I cannot identify the middle name.

And they are pictured standing up, which must give a greater strain on the thumbs in particular and the whole hand in general.

The way the pound has been going in the currency markets might have worked the other way. ?

I tend to agree with that. However, he has lots of contacts and is busy in organisations such as Hands up for trad. And you can learn from some content in his Vlogs.

1) Try contacting Simon Thoumire via his Facebook page; If Simon is not giving direct lessons himself, he might be able to advise you where else to look. Watch his series of VLog's on Youtube. 2) Check this page on the International Concetina association website: https://concertina.org/regional-groups-with-regular-meetings/ Of course details may not be fully up to date, especially with lockdown, bit at least there are some contacts as a starting point. 3) Look for folk clubs in your area. again, these may be inacive due to covid restrictions. But if you get contact details, your local club may have a website or have information on a broader website. Check local radio schedules for folk music programmes - these may give details of related events in your area. Sorry I am not in that area myself, so I do not have more specific information. Generally I would expect there to be more activity in Glasgow/Edinburgh, but that is not an absolute rule. Best wishes, John Wild.