Blists Hill, Shropshire

I recently took up the post as Editor/Coordinator for the in-house magazine of the Moody Owners Association, more of an honorary than a paid position, but there is a small remuneration which will pay for a Guitar Retreat or so, another passion in my life alongside sailing . The magazine is published 3 times a year and sent to every member of the MOA. It's a good quality magazine packed with features and great information, I hope that my tenure won't drag that quality down.

I attended the AGM in Telford at the end of February. It was a great weekend and I met many MOA members from Scotland who I hope to meet up with during the coming sailing season. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to visit Blists Hill Victorian Town a recreation of a late 19th, early 20th century Shropshire Town. The open air museum attempts to recreate the sight, sounds and smells of a Victorian Town. Lots to see and do even during the winter season, although a number of the attractions only operate over the summer period.

Guitar Retreat - The Algarve

This is the first time I've visited Portugal and it may well become an annual feature.

Cobham

I've met many wonderful people over the years both whilst sailing and on my numerous ukulele or guitar breaks. I met Sue and Chris on a Guitar Retreat a few years ago and earlier this year when we were all on a Retreat on Tresco, I had arranged to take them sailing at the end of September. However, after a pretty decent summer's sailing, the weather around the middle of September became a bit more unpredictable. Neither of them has ever been sailing before so it was decided that whilst I might enjoy bobbing along in a force 5 in the rain, they might not. Instead I invited them to stay with me in Edinburgh and we spent a wonderful time walking around the city playing guitar and generally having a great time.

They knew that I would be in Ross-on-Wye at the beginning of November and they kindly invited me to stay with them at Sue's house in Cobham. I've been to London a number of times but this was my first visit to this part of Surrey.

A number of things struck me, it's a beautiful part of the country with some wonderful countryside, trees, parks and villages. It's also very busy. I drove from Ross-on-Wye and arrived in Cobham in beautiful sunshine. Cobham is a village in the Borough of Elmbridge and is a bustling wee place with many fine houses and a busy High Street. The Chelsea training ground is also close by, next to the railway station.

 We spent Monday walking around the magnificent Wisley Gardens and then a short time at Brooklands and the Bus Museum.  

Tuesday was a colder overcast day so we took the train to Hampton Court Palace. 

Americana Guitar Weekend - Ross-on-Wye

I've lost count of the number of Guitar Retreats I have been on over the years - must be about a dozen - and one thing that they have all had in common - apart from expert tuition from the likes of Paul Nicholas  - are the terrific venues. The venue for my most recent retreat in Ross-on-Wye was spectacular. Glewston Court is a beautiful 18th Century Country House set in the wonderful Hereford countryside. 

The weekend centred around Americana and the music of artists such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, The Eagles, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. The tuition from both Paul and Stu was to its usual high standard and the elegant surroundings of the house and grounds made this a truly memorable weekend. 

I came away with a fistful of new songs and techniques which I have been busily practsing since returning home and hope to have these perfected for my next Guitar Retreat in January - this time in Portugal!

Tredegar

When I go on a Guitar Retreat anywhere in the South of England, my good friend Paul Nicholas is kind enough to put me up for a couple of days before and after the weekend. Paul is a singer songwiter from Tredegar in South Wales and a regular tutor on Guitar Retreats and I've stayed with him many times.  I had booked a Guitar Retreat in Ross-on-Wye for the weekend after my trip to Minehead and didn't really fancy a trip home and back after the ukulele weekend so I stayed with Paul for a couple of days. 

When I visit, Paul always takes me to a local Folk Club or venue where he plays and I get a spot. This time it was The Redhouse in Merthyr Tydfil where I played a couple of songs on my ukulele and accompanied the resident band on a blues number at the end. 

We also had a lovely drive and walk around the Abergavenny area and a trip to a local luthier -  Richard Meryck  - to get my guitar set up. We visited the ruin Llantony priory, before having lunch at the brilliant Bear Hotel, Crickhowell. Ii have a friend who is a fan of Half Man Half Biscuit, an 80s rock band of minor success. One of their songs is called "Lord Hereford's Knob" - we drove there just so that I could get a photograph of it for him! 

Bristol 

After our brilliant ukulele weekend in Minehead, Alan and I drove to Bristol where he was catching a flight back to Edinburgh on Monday afternoon. I had decided to stay in Bristol and see friends and do a bit of sight-seeing.

We had booked into a Travelodge near the centre of the city where it would be easy for Alan to get a bus to the airport and me to wander around the sights. I've been in Bristol before in February last year when a group of us went to watch the Wales/Scotland Rugby match in Cardiff. I had flown there because it was way cheaper than any flight to Cardiff and stayed a couple of days. Having been before, I thought I might have a vague idea of where everything was and this was largely true, but Bristol is going through an astonishing amount of re-development and large parts of the city center around Temple Meads and areas around the docks and harbour have changed a lot in just that year and a half. Still, my favourite pubs were still there.

We arrived just after two and checked in before going for a wander. We didn't get very far as there was a great wee pub just across the road from the hotel where we spent some of the afternoon chatting to the locals. They told us of a couple of other nice pubs nearby so we set off. In one of the other pubs, a local told us that music was being played that afternoon/evening in The Seven Stars just around the corner. We spent the rest of the day listening to some really good local bands. I think we staggered back to the hotel around eleven.

The next morning after breakfast, Alan checked out and we set off on a bit of sight-seeing before Alan caught the bus to the airport

I had decided to walk along the river to the harbour and docks before visiting The SS Great Britain.

The river and harbour were really buzzing with lots going on.There were a number of art galleries and other art installations, cafes, a steam train and of course, lots of boats and sailing connections.

The SS Great Britain was fascinating and I spent around 2 and a half hours wandering around the boat itself and the other exhibitions within the complex. The boat has been put into a dry dock where you can see both inside and outside. The inside was really quite cramped for the 350 odd passengers who sailed on her. The cabins and particularly the bunks were really small. People must have been much shorter back in the day. Anyone close to six feet tall would find the sleeping accommodation difficult. Being in dry dock I was also able to wander around underneath the ship.

I made my way back to the city centre and found a really nice place to have my tea - The Old Fishmarket.

The next day I again walked down to the dock area where I visited Arnolfini Cafe Bar where there was a Grayson Perry exhibition. Not my favourite artist but it was interesting nonetheless. I was meeting my friend Georgie down at the harbour at The Stable where we had great pizza and cider. I met Georgie through Ukehoot and she had been studying for PHD in Philosophy at Bristol University. It was great to meet up and catch up on her news. After I left her, I wandered back up to the centre and did a little shopping before finding Brew Dog and having something to eat. I was off to South Wales the next day..

Minehead

I've been on a number of Ukulele Weekends over the past 3 or 4 years and last year my friend Alan and I took a trip on the Uke Express from Pickering to Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to return again this year. The train journey is the highlight of the Ukulele Weekend when up to 300 ukulele players take a trip on a steam train. This year the weekend was based in Minehead and the train was running from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway.

It was a long journey south from Edinburgh and we eventually arrived late in the afternoon after numerous hold-ups on the way. We were staying in a small hotel in the centre of Minehead. First impressions of Minehead weren't great with Butlins at the end of the main street and many tired looking hotels and shops, but as we later found out, a short walk along the promenade will take you to the very picturesque harbour.

As well as the train journey there are various concerts over the weekend and on the Friday evening, after spending an excellent time in the Queen's Head we walked to the Beach Hotel to see a couple of acts which included Dead Man's Uke a brilliant father and son duo.

On Saturday we took the train to Bishops Lydeard and the Quantock Brewery where they had laid on an Open Mic Stage, food and some excellent beer. We had met a really nice couple from Seaton in Devon on the train and I persuaded them to join us on stage for the Open Mic. We played a couple of songs - great fun.

After a leisurely start on Sunday morning, we took a stroll along the promenade to the lovely little harbour which was a very pleasant change from the rather run-down main street. We spent some time in the RNLI station where I tried to get a flag for the boat - it must have been my accent, but the two old ladies behind the counter thought I wanted a budgie. 

We were travelling to Bristol where we were spending the night - Alan was flying back to Edinburgh on Monday afternoon and I was continuing my tour of the South of England and Wales.

Largs, Portavadie, Otterferry, Tarbert.

Looking out from the cockpit on Thursday morning, the plans for the weekend didn’t look that promising and it didn’t improve as it rained constantly for the remainder of the day. However, things did take a much better turn for the better. I had arrived late on Wednesday evening with the intention of doing a couple of maintenance and repair jobs on Thursday but with the weather so bad I was confined to those jobs down below. My two sailing companions for the weekend arrived just before five on Thursday afternoon. John had been sailing with me last year but this was the first time for Ron. After unpacking and settling in we went to Scott’s Restaurant in the marina for something to eat. It brightened up on Friday morning and after breakfast we got the boat ready, tidied up and set off for Portavadie. There was a good wind from the North West and we sailed toward Cumbrae Pass, round Garrock Head and across Inchmarnock Water. After a couple of hours of tacking it was clear that progress was slow, so we started the engine and arrived in Portavadie just before five. We ate and spent the evening on board.

Saturday, despite the grey dismal start to the day, we decided to stick with our plan and head north to Otterferry for lunch at the wonderful Oystercatcher Restaurant. The wind had backed a little and there was a bit more west in it so we managed a slow broad reach up to Otter Spit. By the time we had picked up a mooring the rain had eased a little so we thought that having come this far, we may as well make the last effort to get the engine on the dinghy and cross to the restaurant.  The weather closed in again during lunch and the return to the boat was in slightly damper conditions.  There was still a fair breeze so we managed to sail most of the way to Tarbert where we intended staying the night. It slowly cleared and the sun even managed to come out at one point When we arrived, the harbour was completely full with no visitors’ berths available. It was after five and the Harbour Master had gone home for the day. Had he been there he may well have found us a berth. As it was, we just turned around and headed across  Loch Fyne to Portavadie for the night – there are always berths available there.  I found out later that the reason for Tarbert being full was because of the annual Tarbert Seafood Festival.

A straight passage back from Portavadie to Largs normally takes around four and a quarter hours if you don’t go round the Kyles of Bute. My friends needed to travel back to Edinburgh so we left for Largs at 9.45am which would allow them to get home by around 4.30pm.  Overnight, the wind had backed a bit and was blowing around 25 knots. I reefed the mainsail and unfurled about two thirds of the foresail. We tore across Inchmarnock Water averaging a speed of 6.5 knots and exceeding 7.5 at times, which is about as fast as my boat can go, irrespective of the wind speed.  We sailed a broad reach all the way to Garroch Head with the wind blowing force 5/6 and gusting to 7/8. Once round Garroch Head, I dropped the foresail and we did a short run through Cumbrae Pass and then a beam reach up Largs Channel. We met Waverley just as we were approaching Largs Yacht Haven. It was an exhilarating sail and all credit to John who was on the helm and got us back to the marina in less than three and a half hours.

Despite the gloomy outlook we really only got wet on Saturday.  A great weekend sailing with great company, great food and one or two beers..` I’ve stayed an extra day to try to complete all the jobs I didn’t manage on Thursday due to the wet weather. I’ve done nearly all of them and now just need to tidy up the boat ready for the next trip in a couple of weeks. I took a nice walk into Largs this morning to pick up a piece of Perspex which covers the engine instruments in the cockpit - I broke this with my fat arse on a previous trip.

Guitar Retreat 10th - 17th June 2017

Each year I like to book some ukulele or guitar weekends and holidays where I can meet up with old friends and have the chance to play music together.

Earlier this year I booked a Guitar Retreats course to Tresco Island and spent 4 terrific days on this small island, part of The Scilly Isles, learning from my good friend Paul Nicholas who was the tutor for that week. My second guitar related trip of the year was to take me all the way to The Dordogne in south west France.

I was meeting two friends who had also been on Tresco at Edinburgh Airport where we took a direct flight to Bergerac. The flight was delayed and as we waited I got chatting to a fellow passenger who regularly took the flight and was extremely sceptical about it to the extent that she was convinced that delay after delay would be announced and finally it would be cancelled, which, according to her, was not unusual with our carrier FlyBe. Fortunately, her gloom and doom were completely unfounded and we took off some 30 minutes late.

When we arrived at Bergerac we were met by Johnny, our host for the week, along with his two dogs Teddy and Babou who went with him everywhere. We had a short wait at the airport for our tutor Colin Wilson who was flying from Exeter. Colin has produced over seven albums of published songs so far both as an individual and collaboratively, including an album with Phil Beer from “A Show Of Hands”. I've been on his courses before and knew him to be an excellent tutor. When we arrived at La Perdrix in St Martin de Riberac around quarter past ten in the evening I was pleased to see a number of familiar faces as well as a few new ones. I was looking forward to this week.

Being a peely-wally Scot I was a little apprehensive about the sun and heat in the Dordogne, but I needn’t have been so anxious as our accommodation, La Perdrix a wonderful 13th century monastery, has thick stone walls which keep the rooms cool even in temperatures around the mid 30s and grounds with many leafy nooks and crannies so it is always easy to find shade. The monastery has been added to many times over the centuries and along with alterations and improvements carried out by Johnny, it's now a rambling maze of a place spread over three floors and three buildings crammed with the most interesting of stuff.

On the first morning the group was divided into three smaller performance groups and after a typically leisurely French breakfast prepared by Dominic, the most fantastic chef for the week, tuition started. The format for teaching days was very much the same, Colin would give a song to each group to practise and learn. Whilst the songs were familiar we were given the additional task of coming up with our own arrangements based on ideas from Colin and Stuart (the owner of Guitar Retreats). Each evening after dinner we would perform these songs to the tutors and the other groups and the following morning we would watch videos of the performance and discuss how we might improve them. Stuart had arranged for us to perform at a local cafe, The Cafe du Palais, in Riberac on Friday night to a local audience so there was a wee bit of pressure on us and him.

It wasn’t all guitar and singing. Stuart and his wife Sharon had organised a couple of outings during the week for anyone who was interested. On Tuesday we spent the day in Aubeterre sur Dronne, a beautiful little village with an underground church cut from the rock which wasn't just a fascinating, remarkable place but was blissfully cool and a welcome break from the 35⁰ heat outside. After the visit to the church we made our way down to the River Dronne where Dominic had prepared a picnic for us and where we could cool off in the water and enjoy the artificially made sand beaches common to many French rivers. I had taken my guitar and there was also a ukulele so we spent part of the time entertaining (or annoying)  ourselves and the locals.

On Thursday evening we had our final practices and advice from Colin and Stuart to help us make the performance go as well as it could. Each group had chosen their two strongest songs and along with contributions from individuals, pairs and other grouping as well as from Colin and Stuart, the playlist was written up. We were ready to go.

On Friday morning we had our second trip of the week to the local market in Riberac where we also had the chance to check out our gig venue. On Friday afternoon some of us had decided to take a walk in the woods around Le Grand Etang de La Jemaye, just south of Ruberac and enjoy the cool of an ice-cream in the shade by the lake. Then it was back to La Perdrix to give some time to practice individual performances have an early dinner, gather up the gear and make our way to the venue.

After a couple of minor hiccups at the start of the set, the show went extremely well and was much enjoyed by our audience, which included the grand-daughter of Sir Clive Sinclair. Every group and individual performed brilliantly, so much so that the owner of the Cafe du Palais has booked The Perdrix Players for next year!

The week was one of the best Guitar Retreats I have been to. It was great to meet up with old friends, catch up with their news and enjoy their music, playing and company. I also met some great new friends who I know I will keep in touch with. In fact I am to visit one of them in Moscow either later this year or Spring next year! They really are a great bunch of people from all walks of life including a wonderfully eccentric, mad, Welsh/French writer Jean Bonnin whose equally eccentric and mad, surrealist novels many of us purchased.

I’ll be back next year for more!

Tarbert Weekend June 2017

It’s been some time since Jess has sailed to Tarbert, the last time being September last year for the Music festival.

This weekend we were heading to Tarbert for The Sailing and Cruising Scotland Flotilla. The flotilla is organised through a Facebook Group and this year was the second to Tarbert and saw some 60 to 70 boats there on the Saturday.

 I arrived in Largs on Thursday and Alan joined me later in the afternoon. We had decided to make for Tarbert on Friday and glad we did as we managed a great sail having to only rely on motoring for an hour or so. .

 After getting the boat ready and packing our stuff away we spent the day in Largs 

We set off for Tarbert at around 11am arrived just before four and waited for our other crew member, Gary to arrive on the bus from Glasgow before going to Starfish for dinner.

On Saturday morning Gary and I took a short walk up to Tarbert Castle once occupied by Robert The Bruce who enlarged and reinforced it. We spent much of second day in the The Islay Frigate playing pool. In the evening we went to the BBQ and marquee tent on the harbour wall where the really good None The Wiser Argyll were playing, 

We left fairly early on Sunday morning and again this turned out to be a great idea as this was another great sail back to Largs.