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As if there wasn’t enough excitement over Christmas, then we have New Year’s Day as well.
As ever, there was competition for Tinners’ Morris, with the ladies (hah!) of Sticklepath’s Cogs and Wheels Morris side taking to the taverns and dancing. Shortly after them came the mummers, the actors of the medieval plays who still embarrass audiences in northern Dartmoor. Oh, and finally there was a little session in the King’s Arms for the musicians and singers who wanted to hang around a little.
The two in this photo are Jackie Oates, a truly wonderful singer and fiddle player. If you haven’t heard of her, you should go to Amazon now and buy her debut album. She has a wonderful voice and the choice of songs and tunes is just great.
The slightly more haggard person is the great Nick Groom. A keen devotee of the strange, he took up the hurdy-gurdy some six or so years ago. Now he’s incredibly proficient . . . and on his third set of neighbours.
Joking apart, he is a skilled and enthusiastic player. He supports braslers (pronounced “brawlers”, which, if you see their medieval dancing, you can quite understand the term!), regularly joins in sessions in pubs, and in the few spare moments he can gather, he is the Chair of English at Exeter University.
We all had a great New Year’s Eve. Let’s hope it’s an enjoyable, profitable one for all of us!
Best wishes to all my readers!