Saturday 13th November
Today we have only a short journey to Wimbourne and as it is a crisp and sunny morning, Alasdair and I decide to have a short stroll around the picturesque town of Bradford before stepping into the local tea house to sample their wares. We had no choice but to opt for the full banana – Devon cream tea with scones, jam, butter and clotted cream. This was all expertly prepared and served with lashings of harp music piped through the sound system – whizzo! This was all going so well and after a week myself and Alasdair were getting right into the English swing of things; All we needed now was a roast and a few pints at the Conservative club.

As it happens, The Allendale Centre in Wimbourne sits right next to Wimbourne Conservative Club and though we never made it in, I am reliably informed that they do a spiffing spotted dick. Rose and Adrian Harman do a great job putting on concerts down here and of course this was no exception. After the show they even organised a reception at our hotel repleat with wine, pizza, wine, cakes, and tea. This whole week is turning into a fine run of luck.

Wednesday 15th November
After a couple of days recording we make the long journey back down to Salisbury to play the City Hall. En Route Pat and I stop in Burford, Oxfordshire for a cup of tea with Pat’s Sister before continuing down the long country road. This is the possibly the biggest crowd of our sojourn in England so it is a nice gig on which to finish. It is also the last concert for the organiser, Ian MacLennan who has organised many large events such as this down in these parts so we obviously wish him well in his retirement from this venture.

After our respective epic journeys home, we get a week off before recording and a short set at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards in Edinburgh. This is a great opportunity to see friends and colleagues and the 3:00 a.m. license not only serves to augment a fine end to a month’s work but also a reminder that we are back home. “E’ll tell yez toto, There’s nae place like hame. ”