Hartshill Scout Hut

Oooh I haven't been in a scout hut since, well since I was a cub back in Wales – happy memories. As venues go I suppose that this is at the cheap and cheerful end of the scale which made it a change from last week – I don't suppose you'll find a scout hut in one of Pevsner's books (or a tipi).

As our usual bass players were both off enjoying themselves elsewhere we borrowed Bob from the Jacklin Cheshire Frets Orchestra to pay double bass. It made a nice change hearing those jazzy walking bass lines under the jigs and reels. Ceilidh-jazz anyone?

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Doxey Marches
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Falling Masonry
Clopton Bridge
Boston Tea Party
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Virginia Reel
The Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight

Ceilidh-Jazz.

 

Hartington Hall, Naomi and Daniel

It's always exciting turning up to a new venue for the first time. So when I arrived at  Hartington Hall for Naomi and Daniel's wedding I had visions of performing in a seventeenth-century manor house, all oak panelling and a roaring log fire. Maybe I could slip away at some point, Pevsner in hand, to admire the plaster ceilings and five-light mullioned windows. So it was a bit of a surprise to discover that we would actually be playing in a tipi in the garden!

In the event what the tipi lacked in old world charm it made up for in quirkiness and, more to point, dancing space. Coming from mid-Wales where during the 70s every valley seemed to have it's own little tipi community I felt right at home, although I have to admit it was a bit on the chilly side by the end of the night. Quite a few of the dancers kept their coats on (this was the third gig this year where it was too cold to hold my pick – at least this time it was October and not mid-summer).

There was a wonderful DIY ethos to the proceedings with the ceremony printed on recycled paper, making a welcome change from the usual silver wedding stationery, lots of outside games and a wedding 'cake' made of cheeses – wish I'd been there all day.

Jeff's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Naomi and Daniel's first dance (Midnight on the Water)
Lucky 7
Caledonian Gallop
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Galloped
Virginia Reel
Shelly's
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Waltz
The Old Swan Gallop
Holmfirth Square Eight
A Hornpipe
The Dishrag
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North