Keen to revisit the previous weeks successful music session at the Bayhorse Inn, Totness and to try out my new membership of the Caravan Club, I headed straight for the Steamers Quay Caravan Club Site at Totnes.
The Steamers Quay Caravan Club Site is ideally suited to explore Totnes because it is so close to the centre of Totnes town but it is also a pleasant place to sit and chat. Amazingly, sitting and chatting was what I did a lot of. Regular readers of Hippy Hopcott’s articles will know my predilection for playing a folk tune or two thousand and my long running search for the perfect pub folk music session (see my session record blog).
At my visit to Totnes the previous week, I’d already identified that Totnes was particularly promising as a place to find kindred spirits (in other words anybody silly enough to take art, poetry, music and writing seriously and in great quantities). However, imagine my surprise (and delight) to find that my camper-van was surrounded on one side by a trombone player and on the other by two folk musicians from Bagas Porthia, the traditional Cornish and Celtic music song and dance band.
And chat we did, as you do when you meet kindred spirits – at great length.
Apparently the Bagas Porthia band have a couple of dancers who simply take to the floor and everybody else joins in doing the simple Celtic and Breton dances. This was interesting to hear about because it suggests that they do not have much need for a caller.
The session at the Bayhorse Inn turned out to be less varied than the previous week with only one tune deviating from the standard line of Irish jig / reel type music and early on, I was given the strong impression that my soprano sax wasn’t very welcome.
So it was the company of like minded spirits at the Steamers Quay that made this visit to Totnes memorable rather than the folk music session.
However, at the session, I bumped into an old face who had been a regular at the Pennymoor Live Rehearsal days at the Ring o’ Bells many years ago and she told me of a local session which she thought would be more my cup of tea.
Apparently, the Wednesday mixed folk session at the Royal Oak in Higher Town, Malborough, Kingsbridge is a real blast and would be very welcoming to a traditional English folk musician who knows just a few Irish tunes and plays the soprano sax.
Now, if I can just find a camp site that is convenient …
By for now
Rob
(Rob Hopcott – online author and seeker after the perfect camper and caravan site and folk music session)
