Tumbling Tom - Ceilidh Band

Band Blog Archive - 2007

December - The band finished off 2007 in good style, apart from Fiona who managed to break her leg and miss the last two months of gigs. She is now well on her way to recovery. November saw us returning to Whittington for the third year running to play for the Kirby Show group for what always turns out to be a lively evening. We then moved up to Ambleside to play a ceilidh for Adventure Peaks and some of their clients. December was a varied and busy month. We shared an evening at the Low Wood Hotel with Crook Morris and the world champion 'girner' for some interesting corporate entertainment. .
We followed this with three members of the band singing and playing an acoustic set at the Furness Tradition Christmas party in Ulverston.
Following this, we had a good dance in Kendal Parish Church Hall, finishing off 2007 as we have for the past 2 years with a gig at Warton Village Hall and the wonderful Hawkshead beer. The band would like to thank all the people that have booked us in 2007, and we wish them all a happy new year. Here's to some more great music and dancing in 2008!
October - A reasonably busy month with three weddings. The first was for Jo and Keith at the Castle Green Hotel. It was all the more enjoyable for the demonstration by Jo's keep fit class, using the musical Cats as the vehicle for some very athletic dancing. Quote - We'd just like to send you a card to thank you for the great night you played for us for our wedding at Castle Green. Everyone enjoyed the evening and you were great. We will certainly be recomending you to our family and friends. It was a great way to end a very sepecial day. Jo and Keith Forster.
We then drove up to the Waterside Hotel in Grasmere for Robert and Rebecca's wedding, with the superb Martyn Harvey calling. A return visit to the Castle Green Hotel for the wedding of Keith and Liz completed the trio of weddings
September - We came home from festivals and holidays, and started off the autumn season with two gigs. The first was a civil wedding at Newby Bridge. A rather small venue, but good food and company. This was followed by a silver wedding in the new parish hall in Ambleside. A lovely venue, where Celia and her husband welcomed their family and friends, and danced the night away. Quote - Please pass on to Tumbling Tom members who played for our Silver Wedding party in Ambleside recently our warm thanks. we thoroughly enjoyed your playing, directions, and singing, and we felt the whole evening went with the kind of swing we were hoping for. We really enjoyed our own party, and that must be a good sign! Celia Beverley
The festivals visited by the band members this summer provided many interesting experiences. Steve survived the mud of WOMAD at its new location, and came home calling it WOMUD. He reports - The Imagined Village made their first official appearance at the Womad festival, a new take on English folk music by Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt fame. The band includes Martin and Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, The Young Coppers, Johnny Kalsi of the Dohl Foundation and Sheila Chandra plus many others. The most impressive piece was a re-telling of the traditional ballad, Tam Lyn by Benjamin Zephaniah. They weren’t to everybody’s taste but for me it was one of the highlights of Womad. Hugh traveled over the moors to Whitby, and met up with Fiona and husband Pete in Martyn Harvey's luxury rented house. He says - The Elsinore was mixed as usual but there were some good hosted sessions with Paul Scourcroft, Brian Peters, Anahata and Mary Humphries, and especially a session at the end of the week with Paul Burgess who focused on the new collection of English tunes published by the EFDSS called Hardcore English. The collection is expensive at £20, but worth the money for the references alone. Fiona called in at Sidmouth on her way through from Kingsbridge. The evening in the Radway playing English tunes was as good as ever, with a wide variety of instruments. At one time, there was a baritone sax, alto sax, soprano sax, and a Bb tuba, along with the usual mixture of fiddles, flutes, and melodeons. She also spent a week at Whitby, and was invited to call a ceilidh with 422. Les reports - I went to Solfest for the first time, returned to my hippy youth, and had a great weekend. The vibe was relaxed and mellow, not a splash of mud in sight, and there was some fine music. Highlights of the festival for me were Show of Hands, closely followed by Chumbawumba and The Undertones. But also of note were local South Cumbrian acts Tongue Tied and Mary Louise Martin both of whom are growing in stature and well worth going to see. There was also some fantastic, if a little esoteric, sitar and tabla from Guarav Mazunder. I'll be back next year
August - We usually keep our diaries clear of band bookings for the holiday and festival season, so the only band activity recently has been Hugh's excellent house and pottery workshop opening party, with music outside and in. This was followed by the band playing an acoustic song and music concert in the Rose and Crown pub in Ulverston to kick-off the Furness Tradition Festival. Festivals to be visited this summer include Brampton, Sidmouth, Whitby, Womad, and Solfest. See you there!
May - Another busy month, starting with a return visit to Hornby to help celebrate the Institute, a fine building that functions as the village hall. We followed that with a journey to Haverigg on the west coast to celebrate the retirement of a local headmaster. A wedding at Whassett near Milnthorpe rounded off a fine months playing.
April - 4 events made for a busy month for the band. We started with a twin-town social in Hornby Institute, where the town were entertaining their 'twins' from the Loire in France. Les expanded his french repertoire during the evening, and the enthusiasm showed by all made for an enjoyable event.
A joint birthday party followed this in Barrow, where they also managed to raise over £600 for the local Hospice. Quote - Everyone had a great time and especially enjoyed the dancing, wonderfully called by Les and Fiona. My sons and their friends said it was one of the best evenings they have ever had (and we're talking veteran bar proppers here) - Jane Duckworth
Les's son Peter and his friend are going to work in an orphanage in Uganda, and they organised a fund raising event at Bardsea where the band played. Over £600 was raised. As well as Peter playing a singing spot, we had Les's three daughters creating a horn frontline on tenor and alto sax, and trombone - a great sound!.
We then finished the month off with our yearly visit to Borrowdale with friends, staying in the best bunkhouse in the Lakes. Great music on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a variety of walks on Saturday and Sunday including Great Gable, Red Pike, and Castle Crag. The lovely weather also allowed playing around the new fire pit. A similar weekend has been booked in for next year

March - March was a quiet month with only one gig, but a good one at that. This was a wedding at Priest Hutton village hall, where a lively and enthusiastic crowd gathered to help Clare and Roger celebrate their wedding. The puddings were great! We are now looking forward to a busy April where we have a Hornby twinning social, a birthday party in Barrow, and a fund raising for Les's son Peter who is going to work in an orphanage in Uganda for a spell. At the end of the month we are all moving up to Seathwaite in Borrowdale with invited friends for a weekend of music, singing, and walking in the K Fellfarers bunkhouse,

February - Each year in August, Sidmouth in Devon hosts a week long folk festival. In February, Hugh returned to Sidmouth for his mid-festival get-together with fellow musicians in the Radway pub. Its a great opportunity to catch up with friends and learn some new tunes.
January - 2007 got off to a cracking start in January when we played for a wedding at the Linthwaite House Hotel in Windermere. Much enthusiasm was in evidence! This was followed by our annual visit to Priest Hutton for their Burns night dance. We've been playing this event since 1996, and the evening never fails to satisfy the band. This is one of our favourite evenings, with Keith Brady and his colleagues putting on a great evening, and we're looking forward to playing again in 2008. The band play regularly at the Netherwood Hotel in Grange. Its a lovely setting for a wedding reception, and the recent wedding of Clare and Chris from Flookburgh was a good event.
December - 2006 In December, we made a return visit to the delightful Warton village hall to play for their Christmas ceilidh. Thanks to Rod and Karen Carter for a great evening.

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