Folk on The Water - Part 1.

Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd July.
Josh and I set out for Folk on The Water weekend and whilst nervous, I am really looking forward to the break. We travelled by coach as the train was the cost of a fortnights holiday in Cyprus and I refuse to pay silly money. The coach was full of Germans and Aussies. What a mixture - the Aussies cackled like girls all the way and the Germans gave us smug down their noses looks. I really don't know what was worse.

We had to change at Bristol and I could not believe my eyes with the sight that greeted us. The bus terminal was like the Derby and Joan club, forget my bad arm and the arm guard I was wearing, I was ignored and battered by various models of Zimmer frame. One old lady , who looked like she might depart this Earth at any moment, cracked us on the shins with her Zimmer as she pushed her way, doggedly, to the front.  It was though a bunch of badly behaved toddlers had gathered for a bit of Zimmer frame brawling? WHO lets these people out anyway? Honestly I am not joking some of these people had 'one foot in and the other out'!

Meryl and Jack met us at Leamington Spa and we walked straight into our first gig after 8 hours travel. Those magnificent boys Breathe  were playing. They are a Pink Floyd Tribute band and played a great set. If you closed your eyes the sound was phenomenal and you could have been listening to the original band. Meryl showed us aboard what was to be our home for the next few days a sixty two foot narrow boat called The Patricia Helen. We met Avital and Amos, a band from Tel Aviv. Josh and Amos immediately clicked and were inseparable for the rest of the Amos' trip. So then we were four. Glyn, Dutch and Kelly were still de-rigging the stage. Meanwhile The Git caught a frog in my specially customised Folk on The Water Hat...hmm..charming!!

By the time we (and the gear) were all on board it all got pretty 'up close and personal' and a few glasses of wine in we had to admit defeat and crawl into our very petite bunks.  I don't think anyone slept that night. I was too excited, and I think everyone else was too hot.

I cooked a bit of breakfast the next morning and we managed not to fight over the bathroom. Captain Dutch T Kirk gave us The Poo Lecture. We were sniggering like school kids as he told us that if we want to anything more than a number one then we had to avail ourselves of the pub facilities as he didn't want the barge to fill up with poo before our scheduled stop at 'The Poo Pumping Station'. We could not hold it in anymore and ended up crying with laughter and then wanting a wee because we had laughed so much!

After only one night Kelly had to go and I was really disappointed as she had become my 'schoolgirl ally' and totally got my warped SOH! So if you are reading this Kelly, then stay in touch, it was such a pleasure to meet you. We slipped moorings and chugged gently down the canal, the morning sun poking its nose through the cloud and all the stress just fell away....

The stress stayed right up there for the blokes on board as they had 11 - yep - ELEVEN locks to get through and they worked so hard as a team. I couldn't believe that Dutch, Amos and Glyn had only been passing through locks for a few days.  The Git was madly excited and ran all 11 locks that day pushing open and closing the gates. He absolutely loved it and it gave him so much confidence. Everyone on the canal were really nice. As barges passed us, people waved or chatted and helped each other through locks. I was quite amazed by the community spirit but soon got used to it. We got to 'two up' through a couple of locks which was quite exciting and that's when I realised what a monster the Patricia Helen was. Some 8 feet longer than most barges and no bow thrusters! Bow thrusters are a bit of a 'cheats' way of turning on the canal! The day had got pretty hot and we decided an ice cream was called for. Captain Dutch decided to be difficult and wanted to choose one himself ( we said we were going to get him a mini - milk) and got only 3 out of 10 on an extremely difficult mooring, twos up, at the shop and water station. Even the ducks protested at that swing in!

We finally moored at The Bridge at Napton and I think the guys breathed huge sighs of relief. I cooked Ratatouille for the evening meal and then it was on with the show. A magical evening followed. It was an intimate gig ant the audience were mesmerised. I walked in to find 15 year old Eleanor Davis on stage. I was blown away with her performance, think Katie Tunstall with a more powerful range. Bloody amazing and when I got to meet her she was a sweetie, no trace of Diva there! Gary Hill was on next, a quiet thoughtful guy who's guitar playing left us almost moved to tears. Avital and Amos played a haunting set to a hypnotised audience.  On came Ellen Miller. Wow, again I did not realise how young she was. With a power crystal clear voice, she DID have me in tears with her 'Song For Henry'. We were in heaven when Matt Hernandez and his dog Nanu enchanted us with his Flamenco guitar. What a Gig!

We all piled back to the boat down a black as pitch towpath and how we all got on there is beyond me. We were eight in number as Eleanor and Simon, her dad,  had joined us. The level of conversation went down as  the wine flowed. Amos entertained us with stories of  'Mutant Ninja Killer Cockroaches' in certain areas of Tel Aviv. I don't quite know what was funnier Amos' impression or his story. We had a fabulous hour or so laughing and talking (thanks for the bloody decent bottle of red , Simon) before we all climbed over each other and rolled into our bunks. The Captain and his No 1 one slept top to tail and that was the cause of much hilarity! I have to go now as I am off to yet another venue and dependent on whether we get a WiFi connection I will update this as soon as possible.

Take Care out There   Muse x

PS I will update Blog pictures on my return home.