CROPREDY FESTIVAL 2012

Just over one week later we were off…

I honestly don’t know what it is that keeps drawing me back there ?

Is it the music, some of which seems to be just mates being put on to give them a paycheck, or is it something else ?

What I do know is that out of all the festivals I’ve been to, and there have been a few, this is the one I actually like going back to, so maybe it’s a comfort thing ?

Who knows ?

It’s nice to see the next generation of folkie types before they get big, bitter and well known, and it’s a reasonably friendly place because the same people keep coming back and I’m not just talking about the artists, so why do we do it ?

Beats me ?

Sitting or lying in a field, usually on damp grass and listening to predominantly acoustic folkie music is definitely not to everybody’s taste but for some reason I seem born to it ?

Thankfully, my wife seems to have fitted in quite happily with all the goings on and is just another Cropredy regular which makes it even more amazing when she’s accosted by a tourist whilst in The Gambia because she’s wearing the latest t-shirt and asked if she goes ?

One day we’ll actually meet up at Cropredy with someone who’s asked her whilst in The Gambia, and if that occurs I might even put my hand in my pocket and buy them a drink ?

I said MIGHT so don’t all jump at once will you ?

Anyway, the car was packed on Wednesday night and only needs us and a bit of food for the journey and so at 6.30am we were out of our cul-de-sac and heading for the A1.

I don’t know about the others, but as far as I’m concerned we do A1, M25, A41, M41, A361 and that’s it.

Basically it’s Stevenage to Aylesbury to Bicester to Banbury to Cropredy.

So simple that even I can do it, and besides, the car seems to know its own way there without any help from me.

Ok, I’m driving it, but rarely conscious of doing so.

Once we’re on the A41 it’s usually plain sailing all the way.

The weather however, is a bit of a problem…

It’s windy, and we keep driving through squally showers followed by a bit of sunlight.

Christ ! 

I wish it would make it’s bloody mind up ?

Apart from the weather the drive is reasonably uneventful and at about eight thirty we text Vicki, Annie and Liz and tell them we’re having breakfast at Bicester.

It would seem we’re about half an hour in front of Jim and Vicki and about forty five minutes in front of the rest ?

Fine.

I’ll enjoy my breakfast then.

About thirty minutes later we’re on the M41, just under twenty miles from Banbury and the weather has become grey and overcast which is par for the course for Cropredy.

No real traffic on the 361 and so we just cruise to the pub where we are all to meet as usual.

Wahay !  We’re the first to turn up

(Blimey !!!  That’s rare)

But we are, and as soon as I’ve turned the car around so it’s facing outward, the landlady comes out and asks us if we want breakfast ?

Errr… No thanks, but if there’s a cup of tea going ?

Apparently there is.

Brilliant.

Tea and a pee…

Which is when Liz, Mickey and James turn up, 

closely followed by Jim and Vicki

and Annie and Shakey in quick succession.

Not bad…

It’s half past ten and now everyone else has arrived.

Rob and Karen, Colin, Chris, Candy, Phil, Mandy and Rosie...

The gang’s all here.

Mind you, it takes about another half an hour for those with drinks to finish them, so forget any chance of getting on site earlier than usual.

Finally, we’re off.

Straight through the village and around the corner to field seven as usual…

Oh well…

It’s been home to us now for about the last six or seven years ?

Now to get the tents up.

It’s the second year for the one we use so it’s not quite as difficult as it was last year, AND, it only took us three quarters of an hour…

It’s obviously time for the first alcoholic drink of the day, which in my case is a can of Guinness poured into my tankard…

‘You can’t drink Guinness out of a tankard…’ says Vicki, absolutely horrified at my doing so.

‘Don’t be silly, I could even drink Guinness out of your Wellington boot…’ was my reply.

Honestly… I ask you ?

If you want a drink then you can drink out of whatever receptacle is available, surely ?

This snobbery over drinking has even permeated Cropredy and must be nipped in the bud as soon as…

I think Vicki’s going to get a few wind-ups over the weekend ?

No, I’ll re-phrase that.

I KNOW Vicki’s going to get a few wind-ups over the weekend !!!

First queue is to get arm-banded up, second queue was to get in.

We’re in approximately the usual place, slightly back from the sound tower and on the right facing the stage.

As usual it’s me, Haddy and Annie.

Everybody else is off to the pub or the Cricket pavilion.

I’m more interested in seeing if the poncho I bought last year is going to fit over me AND the chair ?

Thank Christ for that…

It’s started spitting with rain and just as Fairport Acoustic hit the stage it starts raining heavily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH72Z74P9YM

I definitely think it’s going to be a wet one ?

Nice set by Fairport, tho’, just a shame about the weather.

Kieran Goss is up next and he’s good enough, trouble is, he comes across as just another folkie singer-songwriter.

It’s a shame because he’s worth a bit more than that.

Legend are next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViOLXoqiNuc

Hopefully the rain will stop when they hit it with some cool reggae sounds ?

Well, it does and it doesn’t.

Ok, the rain stopped for a little while, enabling me to do the charity stalls at the top of the field and to hit the cd stall, but by the time Bellowhead hit the stage it had started up again.

I still have a blind spot for Bellowhead.

I know they’re very popular as a live act and I know they sell loads of albums

(cd’s & mp3’s to you, I’m old school)

But there’s something lacking for me and I can happily leave them alone.

It seems I’m in the minority, but hey, that’s taste for you.

Squeeze were quite good as headliners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5dFd0wVhM

It’s surprising how many tracks you’ve forgotten when they start playing them ?

By the time Squeeze are about to finish we’ve all made a run for the camping field to get there ahead of the finishing rush and avoid the bottlenecks.

It’s cold and damp in the tent.

Hopefully we might get some sun tomorrow ?

Fuck me !

That was COLD…

At least it’s not raining at six in the morning so drag some clothes on and queue for showers with the other early birds.

When the water runs hot it certainly sets you up for the rest of the day.

If the weather holds we might have a reasonable day, today ?

There’s a few acts that I want to see, and Haddy’s looking forward to Richard Thompson and Joan Armatrading but it’s the younger ones today that I’m interested in.

I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about Larkin Poe and Ellen & The Escapades so let’s see how they do ?

And Dead Flamingoes is Richard Thompson’s daughter Kami, and she can sing.

Breakfast is made and eaten.

(veggie sausage, fake bacon, fried egg and baked beans on two chunks of bread with two cups of tea each if you’re interested ?)

Wash up the cutlery and plates and we’re ready for the off, now all we have to do is wait for Annie who’s reasonably sorted and we’re off again to our usual spot.




As soon as we reach the arena and drop our chairs and bags I’m off to the cd tent where I spend a few quid doing up my Leonard Cohen collection and getting the Dave Swarbrick box set because it’s finally on special offer.

The lass behind the counter reckons I have good taste for what I bought and I’d like to think so but
it’s more a question of making hay while the sun shines.

If you get a chance to buy cheap then do so.

Never leave it until the next day because sod’s law says it won’t be there and you’ll have lost your chance.

Anyway, I’m happy with what I’ve got and the next trip will be for t-shirts from the Fairport merch’ tent with Haddy.

Ioscaid were quite good.

Not as stodgy as I’d feared.

The problem with the youngsters is usually one of ‘presence’.

Obviously it will come but whoever it is, they always come over as very earnest and always very technically proficient.

Just once I’d love the young folkies to be a balls to the wall folk freakout with the emphasis on enjoyment and dancing rather than just being musically excellent.

Don’t get me wrong.

I think what Fairport are doing by giving a spot to the winners of the ‘Young Folk Musicians of the Year’ is admirable and it obviously gives them massive exposure to a live audience but you can see why most of them are going to be playing folk clubs.

Ellen & the Escapades rock.

That’s the best way of describing them.

Yes, they have folk leanings but they would be equally at home in a rock club.

Apart from Fairport, my favourite band so far…

Dead Flamingoes features Kami Thompson, Richard’s daughter, and James Walbourne on guitar and they don’t disappoint.

Well, they don’t disappoint me anyway.








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fByVE6bmHg

The link isn't from Cropredy, it's from a gig they did at The Slaughtered Lamb, I can't find them on Youtube from Cropredy but it gives a fair indication of what they're about..

It’s neither folk nor rock but it’s definitely been worked on and they sound good.

Yes, I like this pair…

There is a sense of humour at work on that stage and it makes the set much more appealing.

Good one.

Tarras were quite good but it strikes me as more of the same, and then we had Larkin Poe…

Now I’d heard good things about this lot and besides which, if you’re going to have two pretty sisters, Rebecca and Megan Lovell fronting the band on vocals, guitar and mandolin AND vocals and various dobros then you’re half way there if your chops are up to it.

They were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNnzTtGgkr4

I loved ‘em and even Haddy was heard to say that she liked them.

Rocky folky country bluesy songs that you couldn’t really categorise into genre, and definitely a band to watch out for, and shit hot picking and playing.

A cracking set, which is what you’d expect given that the pair of them used to be two thirds of the bluegrass outfit The Lovell Sisters.

Their sister had called it quits when she wanted to get married and go to college so they took the name of their great, great great (or thereabouts) Grandfather.

(And yes, he was related to the other more famous Poe…)

And just carried on, changing the bluegrass into something a little more rock-ish.

Whatever it is that they play, they do it bloody well.

Excellent stuff.

Best band on so far, bar none.

Now it’s time for the Saw Doctors…

All the way from Tuam and all that.

They’d played here previously a few years ago and were really good but today wasn’t one of their better gigs.

Everything was ‘right’ but there just seemed to be something lacking, even with Anthony Thistlethwaite of ‘World Party’ (remember them ?) in the band, it just seemed like forced exuberance.

Shame.

The crowd seemed to like them so maybe I’m just getting old and grumpy and too critical ?

Richard Thompson is on next and so at least half the crowd are looking upwards for the dark clouds…

Haddy’s guitar hero takes to the stage and basically gives a masterclass in sheer entertainment.

It’s not just the fact that he is probably one of the most technically proficient guitarists playing and neither is it the fact that he can string a few words together into a better than fair song.

It’s those wry introductions along with a shed load of talent that makes the bloke so watchable.

I’m sure all the guitarists in the audience are checking out his left hand on the big screen just to get some sort of inkling as to how to do what he seems to do effortlessly, but not being a guitarist I don’t care.

This guy is England’s secret weapon.

Yes, we have a few technically proficient guitarists like Clapton, Beck and Page, all of whom can do things with a guitar that most can only dream about, but Richard Thompson has a style of his own.

He has said it’s because he went from Hank Marvin to folk music rather than rock and while that may be a possibility there is no doubt that whatever style he wishes to play, whether folky or rocky, it’s only going to come out sounding like Richard Thompson... Or Richard and Kami Thompson doing Richard and Linda (Kami's Mother) Thompson as in this clip of one of their early well known ones...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFKkJsrwzI8

And… I’ve managed to leave the minidisk recorder back at the tent.

Bugger !

Oh well, you can’t win them all.

While Richard has been on we’ve had a few drips of rain and it’s getting colder by the minute.

Sometimes this festival business can feel a bit like too much masochism…

Still, it’s Joan Armatrading next and we’ve been looking forward to her.

Unfortunately Haddy is flagging and starting to shiver and so we manage the first four numbers before heading back to the tent for a warming cup of tea and a kip before it falls down.

Too late.

We’re half way back to the tent when the heavens decide to open and we get soaked…

Bummer !

Still, it has been a good day for music.

Ellen’s lot, the Flamingoes and Larkin Poe have all been recommended to Rhythms of the World for next year…

It’s at times like these when that small flask of tequila comes in handy just to warm you up inside after the cup of tea.

Saturday at about six in the morning is pretty abysmal…

It’s raining, but it looks like it’s about to stop ?

Leg it to the showers before a quick breakfast because I actually want to hit the boot fair down the road and see if there’s anything else on the music side that I might want ?

Plus, we haven’t been down to the shops yet and there’s a cd stall down there too…

Dump the chairs on site as soon as they open and then really start moving.

The boot fair is reasonable and I finally find a couple of stalls where I can spend some money and Haddy finds the ‘hippy’ dress stall where everything is priced like an antique…

How do I dissuade her from blowing all her money on one dress when there’s a cheaper stall further on ?

Difficult, but not impossible…

Ok, bashing her over the head with a big club and throwing her over my shoulder might have been the easier option, but finally I get her away from the overpriced antiques to something a little more ‘her’.

I’m off to get that Emmylou Harris live dvd and Bob Dylan live from Stockholm cd…

Time is getting on and we still have to get to the shops by the bridge…

Come on…

And another one.

Finally I get the Rolling Stones ‘Satanic Majesties’ cd.

Dunno why it never turns up cheap around our way, but it never seems to ?

Right, come on… We’re done… Gonna miss Richard Digance if we don’t move ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bhHTe1R3AY

We actually managed to miss most of him which is a shame because the more I see him, the more I seem to appreciate what he does.

Oh well, never mind…

It’s been a bit of a rush, but I’m well happy with the music haul.

It’s Ashley Hutchings and the the ‘Morris On’ lot next so we can sort of calm down and chill from all the rushing about and just listen to the music.

We’ve been joined by Jim and Vicki,

 Liz, James and Mickey, Shakey and Phil and Mandy with Rosie and apparently there are more coming ?

Nice one, because we usually don’t seem to see anybody else until early evening ?

‘Oi Vicki, give us one of your wellies, I’m gonna get a Guinness…’

‘Fuck off !’

‘Ok, whatever…’

Just in time for Brother and Bones.

Ok, but nothing special on the day.

Calan are quite impressive with Huw Williams daughter fronting them.

Huw’s a pretty good singer-songwriter on his own account and talent seems to run in the family.

The ‘clog dance’ duel is quite amusing…

And then it’s Big Country…

Earlier I wrote in this piece about ‘mates’ being given a paycheck’

Since Stuart Adamson’s death not much had occurred with Big Country, but here they were, older, wiser, still good musicians, but it just came over as a band who’d reformed for the paycheck…

Back in the 1980’s I quite liked Big Country’s sound and even have an old vinyl album or two somewhere at home, but I honestly thought they were a pale shadow of their former selves and certainly doing it for all the wrong reasons. 

If they had new material then maybe, but this was all re-treads of the hits and well known album stuff.

Sad…

Disappointing and sad.

Ok, we’re going down the front for Dennis Locorriere…

So why are you going down the front for a ‘has been’ front man for an American ‘rock’ band when you’ve just dissed Big Country ?

Because Dennis is bloody funny, very expressive and I’ve seen him on and off over the years since he called it a day from being one of the two front men for Dr Hook & The Medicine Show and also because Dennis plays new songs in with the old songs.

There is an element of showmanship but it’s always tempered by that absurd sense of humour and a bawdy streak which cuts through any seriousness which might inadvertently creep in to his set.

And… He can sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_RPRdGOao
 

Plus, back in the 1970’s when Dr Hook first came over to Britain I got invited back to the band’s London hotel with a few record company bods after the gig and they got me totally smashed on the best grass I’d ever had at that point in my life… AND… I met Shel Silverstein who had come over with them.

And to me, just that fact alone demands a little bit of respect.

The set is the usual mixture of old Dr Hook numbers and new songs which to my mind are just as good as the stuff they were doing at the time of ‘Little Bit More’.

There’s something about Dennis, he entertains while he’s doing the set.

He’s always had that vaguely lunatic side to him but the songs always carry him through.

Probably because most of them are about losers, and however amusing they may end up, most of us can see ourselves in them somewhere ?

Who knows, I’m only guessing anyway, but if you get a chance then go and see him live.

Just don’t take your maiden Aunt because you might have to explain ‘Freakin’ at the Freaker’s Ball’ to her and that might just prove embarrassing…

It’s Fairport time.

And so it starts to rain…

Typical !

It doesn’t last long however, and so it makes the set even more enjoyable.

I’m not sure what’s happened to Fairport, they seem to have got a bit of ‘bounce’ to them tonight ?

‘Fotheringay’ in the first five numbers, what’s going on ?

And then they bring on Blair Dunlop and the two girls from Larkin Poe for a couple of tracks…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o0HPBzIMlU

We get ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ and ‘Percy’s Song…’

Shit !!!

Can it ever get better than this ?

(Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Jerry Donahue AND Dave Swarbrick)

Not for me, anyway…

And when Haddy starts harmonising on Percy’s Song like her daughters out in The Gambia do when I play it, then it makes it even more poignant for the pair of us.

Blimey !

The old boys are quite animated tonight.

What with their guests and ex-members flitting in and out of the band, Fairport blow one of the best sets since…

Well…

Since they reprised ‘Babbacombe Lee’ anyway.

They played an absolute blinder.

Obviously asking the fans what they thought they could play as they had been doing, has galvanised them as far as the really old back catalogue is concerned because the fans had returned to the older material with a vengeance.
A lot of Full House got an airing which was definitely fine by me and Annie, and when the finale was about to occur I don’t think we’d sat for more than twenty minutes for the whole two and a half hours so far ?

Then it was Matty Groves, and finally Meet on the Ledge.

They started it and my eyes welled up.

Talk about emotional…

But I guess losing your Father does that to you ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhV7JwJoHco&list=PL1312954861530D29&index=6

‘If you really need it, it all comes round again…’

There’s something about that song and loss.

I haven’t a clue what it is, and Richard has never explained the lyrics, but it does make you wonder how such a simple song written while he was in his teens can have such an effect on people ?

Meeting, greeting, losing, it’s all in there and it means different things to different folks but I KNOW what it means to me and that’s all that matters.
I can't really explain it but it's a lot more than just the words of the song.

Haddy knows what it means to her and it’s pretty much the same, so there’s two cultures thinking along the same lines, but again, it’s never actually been explained, so who really knows ?

When the band have finished we walk back to the tent feeling slightly elated and enervated.

The weather was horrible in places but the bands were mostly excellent.

It has definitely been a Cropredy to remember.

Right, let’s all congregate in the ‘lounge tent’ and drink up the remainder of the alcohol…

Sunday dawns nice and blue.

Trouble is, it’s time to tear the tent down and go.

Sods law strikes again but then it wouldn’t be Cropredy without it, would it ?

We have a reasonably easy drive home, and literally as I start to unload the car the rain starts pissing down.

You’ve got to laugh…

The cd haul...

Postscript: 
While searching through Youtube for the clips, I came upon the Sky Arts programme which was aired on Sky tv. 
It's an hour long and worth a watch and also features other artists that I haven't, in that all the above is just one person's opinion and recollections anyway.
So if you want another slant on it then you can watch Sky's highlights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmPGtojdsq0
(I do however take issue with the remarks about the weather... Yes, it was sunny... Sometimes...)
 

SCOTLAND (A HIGHLAND FLING...)

Scotland.

Haddy had flown to Glasgow as soon as my father’s funeral was over, for the birth of her daughter Fatou’s baby.

Fatou hadn’t helped matters in being late to deliver.

She’d been up there a week and still Fatou was waiting, and getting more and more fed up by the day.

Not that it was her fault, these things happen when everything is ready and not before, but to those in the family who are just waiting and not actually going through it, then the wait can seem interminable.

But, barring emergencies or problems, babies come when they are ready and not before, and that’s just the way it is.

Vincent, Fatou’s husband, had taken leave from his firm and was doing his best trying to cope with everything that was going on, and his wife.

Fatou, Vincent Jnr & Vincent Snr

Finally, little Vincent popped out into the world, looked around, and started crying. 

Proud Grandmum Haddy & Baby Vincent

The end of July was cold, it was wet, and he didn’t seem to like it one bit ?

Ok…

Now I can book a week off to go and get my wife and see a bit of Glasgow at the same time.

Scotland intrigues me.

I’ve only ever been once before when the poetry group I’m part of went to Edinburgh in 1996 to play the Edinburgh Festival.

That had been a lot of hard work but certainly enjoyable.

Trouble was, there was no real time off to do much other than rehearse and so anything we might have wanted to do or see had gone on the back burner.

This time, although I’d only be there for a week, it was going to be more relaxing…

I’d hoped to be able to hook up with some musicians I knew and at least buy them a couple of beers in their own city but they were away playing a festival, and when I arrived on the early morning flight from Luton to be met by Haddy and Vincent, the rain had moved in with a vengeance and was literally bucketing it down.

Hmmm…

That’s not good.

When we got back to their flat on the outskirts of the city, I found out that one of Fatou’s friends had decided to come from Wales to be with her at this time, bringing along her little baby girl as well.

Unfortunately she hadn’t told anybody in advance that she was coming, and so the flat was a little cramped to say the least…

Oh well, we’ll cope.

Haddy had thought that her actions were a little ‘questionable’ to say the least, but Fatou hadn’t felt like telling her to go straight back home and she certainly hadn’t got money to move into a hotel so we all crammed in…

Fatou was having a few problems and so she was still in hospital with baby Vincent, but by the sound of things they were going to discharge her that weekend so she’d be coming home as soon as Vincent  Snr received the phone call

And the rain came down and flood warnings were being broadcast everywhere.

Great !

Oh well, at least it’s a first floor flat.

Thank God they’d managed to move out of the tower block that they’d previously been in.

Now I will say this for the record before adding anything …

I don’t know enough about Glasgow to comment about their ‘social housing’ problems, but…

Those tower blocks are a serious cause for concern and the sooner they are flattened and some of the scum that infest them are moved out or better still, exterminated, then the city can maybe revitalise itself ?

Here’s a couple of cases in point…

One of Vincent’s friends, a pastor of one of the local churches, had been attacked by five ‘kids’ whose ages ranged from fourteen to eighteen, in the lobby of one when he tried to move past them to get in the lift and get to his own flat.

The ‘kids’ had been out of their minds on alcohol and drugs and all of them also lived in the building with their families.

The lobby is covered by CCTV and those watching the events take place on the monitor had decided not to call the police until the assault was over, because ‘they wanted to see what the kids would do next ?’

Christ !

They’d already seen the cunts kick the shit out of a man of God so what the fuck were they actually waiting for ?

But then if you live in the building yourself, you have to be careful don’t you ?

Yeah right !

And these people worked for the local council ?

Believe me, I’m not making this shit up.

The pastor was in hospital for a week after having a few bruises and broken ribs but at least he survived the attack…

The second case is a little more amusing…

A guy the pastor and Vincent both knew went to visit the pastor at his flat.

He too was accosted in the lobby by the same bunch of kids, but he made it to the lift and got in after issuing the kids a warning…

Unfortunately one of the kids didn’t go back to his alcohol and bag of glue.

He set off up the stairs to waylay the guy when he got out of the lift, so when the lift door opened it was one against one…

Five minutes later the lift door opens back in the lobby and the limp rag of one seriously beaten kid is lobbed straight at the other four with the warning that if any of the others wanted the same then bring it on…

All four still standing kids turned and ran.

Seems to me like one guy had the right idea ?

But if all this crap is being caught on CCTV and the council is doing nothing then there is definitely a problem at the council.

Isn’t there ?

The two older kids who beat up the pastor were going to be prosecuted but it was the youngest who started the attack and apparently the younger ones cannot be prosecuted ???

Doh !!!

What the fuck is wrong with Scottish law ?

Oh well, if you ever visit a tower block in Glasgow then bear it in mind and take a weapon…

A flame-thrower is probably favourite.

But I digress…

Billy Connolly used to make jokes about the Scottish people looking a sort of ‘blue’ colour because they always ate the wrong food and never got any sunlight.

He might have been making a serious point ?

Looking around at some of the people, it kept bubbling to the surface in my mind…

They DID actually look like that.

I know that down ‘South’ where I live, we tend to take the piss somewhat about the diet of deep fried Mars bars (I tried one in Edinburgh, it was a Mars bar covered in batter and deep fried with the fish and chips…) but bloody hell !!!  Some of these people look like they actually live on them ?

I have never, even in Africa, seen a more unhealthy looking population and that’s a fact.

It’s not everybody, but there do seem to be one hell of a lot of them…

 Poor old Fatou is lying in her hospital bed looking all ‘washed out’ when I first saw her and the baby.

Thankfully, he was asleep.

It turns out that she is down for discharge the following day, and so they will both be coming home.

This means that if it stops raining the way it is, I can go and explore the park opposite where she and Vincent live, with Haddy, after doing a bit of shopping with Vincent.

Right, shopping’s done and everything on the list she’s been given that she’ll need has been bought.

Now we can relax…

Difficult, with a six month old baby in the room, but not impossible.

Thankfully, she’s a happy little soul who just sits next to her Mum and gazes around at everything with her pretty round brown eyes.

Vincent seems to have thought of everything in advance back at the flat.

Not surprising, after all he’s an architect in reality and when he gets off from the office he teaches people to drive.

The extra money this brings in is definitely helping the pair of them.

Fatou used to be the manager of our local Tesco’s café but she won’t be able to do that type of job for a bit.

Certainly not with the price of baby minders being what it is.

Finally she gets the all clear to go and so we all troop down to the hospital in Vincent’s car…

As we’re going down in the lift with another family, the Grandfather looks over at Vincent Jnr, takes stock of his size (he was a nine pounder) and says in a voice we can all hear

‘He’s a big ‘un… I bet I know what his name is, it’s ‘Shuggie…’

Perfect.

'Shuggie'

It started me off giggling, much to Fatou’s disgust, because he definitely WAS a little ‘Shuggie’.

Jeezus, isn’t this rain ever going to stop ?

I need to get out somewhere and stretch my legs, but the rain is still bucketing down and the balcony has two inches of water in it.

Right.

That’s the next job, unbung the drain holes and let some water out from the balcony.

At least it’s covered, and so were any passers by when I’d unblocked the holes.

Now it’s broom time to sweep away any excess…

It took half a day but the mission was finally accomplished.

The following day we’re looking at a cloudy sky but it isn’t raining so Vincent, Fatou and baby Vincent, Haddy and I pile into the car for a quick trip to the city centre.

It’s strange in Glasgow…  

All those things I’ve heard about musically over the years are there and reasonably easy to see.

The ‘Linn’ building where they made some of the best record decks ever.

Sauchiehall Street, famous for being mentioned in every newspaper and by that Connolly bloke whenever there’s a fight…

Glasgow city centre: Charity shops first stop...

To be honest, we didn’t get much further than that when the rain started up again, but I’d picked up a couple of cd’s and dvd’s from a couple of the local charity shops, after all, it always pays to look in different areas because they definitely won’t have the same stuff that you are used to looking at in your own locality.

Ok, back to the car and home again.

We’ll try again at some other time.

There are actually a lot of places to go and explore or see in Glasgow.

I hadn’t made a list or anything like that, but everywhere you went you saw signs for this gallery and that museum and I have to be honest, under different circumstances I could have wandered around quite happily trying to take them all in, but the rain wasn’t helping anybody or anything.

That was interminable…

It seemed to go on for ever.

Glasgow in the usual weather scheme...

Finally, with a couple of days left of the break, we’re back in Glasgow city centre where Vincent takes us to lunch at an ‘All you can eat for a specific price’ Chinese restaurant.

The food is fine and so we all leave a few pounds heavier than when we came in.

Thankfully we managed to get in before the lunchtime rush and it must be a popular establishment because it was absolutely ‘rammed’ at lunchtime.

When we finally leave, with overfull stomachs and bursting buttons the sun has come out.

It isn’t going to last, and one look at the sky is going to tell you that, but it does exist in Scotland…

You just don’t see it very often, that’s all.

When we got back to the flat the sky has turned grey again but the rain has held off, so finally Haddy and I manage to go for a walk around the park opposite the flat.

It was certainly different to any park local to us, in that the wildlife who live there don’t actually seem to give a damn whether humans are out and about or not ?

They just carry on with their own lives in full view of the population.

Rabbits come up from their burrows and hop about with humans approximately thirty feet away.

Foxes come and go across the paths, stalking this, that or the other, but not taking a blind bit of notice of any humanity that crosses their path.

Ok, if you got too close then they’d probably bolt, but they just looked, gauged the distance and carried on with whatever they were doing in the first place.

The water birds, listed and described as to what you might see on the park’s signage next to the lakes are also seemingly used to the local humanity, AND, the whole place seems to be policed by ‘Park Rangers’ who seem to be doing a bloody fine job in keeping the place friendly, reasonably litter free, and accessible to everybody. 

There is one old rusting ruin in the middle of it, boarded up so you can’t get too close, and obviously used by the odd wino or two if the bottles were any sort of evidence, but in the main, that is one amazing park.

Even with the kids playing football it seems a peaceful place ?

It’s walkable all around in a couple of hours, maybe a bit less, but the layout is good and there is always something different to see around the next corner.

All kudos to (I presume) Glasgow City Council for the layout.

I’m impressed.

Needless to say, when we finally get back to the flat it had started raining again.

On our penultimate night there, I decided to splash out on an Indian take-away from the shops underneath us.

No problem…

Fatou had made a specific request, but everything else was as usual in these cases.

Samosas, Naan bread, Bhaji’s, Popadums, all the trimmings, what seemed like a ton of rice and the odd Dhansak, Jalfrezi and Rogan Josh…

We ate like kings and queens.

And apart from Fatou’s specific request which was odd, to say the least, it was very nice.

I suppose you would have to say it was something that you might encounter in Scotland, but certainly nowhere else and as far as I’m concerned, it’s up there with the deep-fried Mars bar as something to be avoided, but Fatou liked it, so what the hell ? 

'Ectoplasm...'  The dreaded Haggis Pakoras...

Any guesses as to what this particular dish is ?

I actually posted a picture of it on Facebook with a request to see if anybody could identify it, and ‘Ectoplasm’ definitely made us laugh…

No ?

Give up ?

They are actually Haggis Pakoras…

And they are definitely an acquired taste !!!

Totally stuffed, we finally shuffled off to bed…

It’s going to be quite a sad day tomorrow when we leave.

We are actually getting the evening flight and so we have all day to say our goodbyes and wouldn’t you know, it had stopped raining for the day…

Unfortunately, it’s the usual thing.

Packing takes up most of your time and there is nothing else to do apart from say goodbye to all the neighbours and the shopkeepers downstairs.

We managed to get diverted to one of Fatou and Vincent’s friends on the way to the airport and so we are well past the check-in time when we finally arrive, but it keeps the final goodbyes to a minimum and we race through everything and finally sit down on the aircraft in totally different places.

If we’d got there earlier then we might have been able to sit together, but shit happens and we’re not, so it can’t be helped.

Another hour and we’ll be back in good old Luton.

(I use that phrase with a little difficulty because there never seems to be that much good ever happening in Luton…)

Well, another hour’s flight and probably another thirty minutes trying to get Haddy through whatever form of immigration hold-up that the powers that be are going to inflict upon her, but it’s where we get off, and it’s only about sixteen miles from home.

Surprisingly there is no immigration hold-up and we are both through without any major hold-ups, which is a first, for those interested in historical fact.

Catch the courtesy bus to the car park where I’d parked the car and we’re on our way home within forty minutes of landing.

The past week has been different, I’ll say that for it…

Hopefully, the weather has rained itself out, as Cropredy is a-coming in the next couple of weeks...

Yeah, I know, I must be having a laugh...