25/11/2025

Martin took charge of another singaround, but we also had a few performances from Richard, Roger, Paul, Sue, Alan, Steve, Stuart & Carrie, Valerie and Suzanne.

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11/11/2025

FAF fell on Armistice Day this year, and we also took time to reflect on the life of our good friend Roger Clements, himself once a member of the Welsh Guards. The door, bar takings and donations of £150 will be donated to the Royal British Legion. Pete was our MC and he and Stuart began with Jez Lowe's If I Could Buy A Blighty and If You Want To Find The Sergeant, our first John sang Castleford Ladies Magic Circle (Jake Thackray), Mike Scott's Two Silly Old Men and Jobsworth and Paul read The Sunday Boys, He Was Stopped Dead In His Tracks, The Willow and The Diver with Anne adding another short poem by Paul. Sue gave us We Can Work It Out and Love And War, Terry sang John Condon and The Telegram and Stuart did Lancashire Lads and He Was A Friend Of Mine. Carrie was next with  a song by Camel, Drafted and Buttermilk Hill and with Stuart they sang Bonnie Light Horseman. Martin did On The Road To Passchendaele, Will Ye Go To Flanders and Time Passages, our second John gave us an anecdote about Roger and his tea chest bass and was joined by Sue for Higher Ground and by Keith for Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning and Stuart lead us on There's No Business Like Show Business, the favourite song of Roger and Christine. We had poems from Valerie with Walk With Me For A Perch And A Rood (Pam Ayres) and Suzanne with Deep In Our Refrigerator (Kack Prelutsky) and she also surprised us with a song, Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream. Keith sang World War Blues and Sunny Afternoon and Colin did Maria Diaz and The Crow On The Cradle.

 

28/10/2025

Martin was our MC for a Halloween themed evening, with plenty of songs and poems involving ghosts and spooky goings on. Stuart & Carrie began with Ghost (Kate Rusby), Long Black Veil, The Dimming Of The Day and Hills Of Shiloh, Alan sang You Belong To Me, A Fragment Of Your Time and Songbird On Your Shoulder and Steve did Springsteen's The Ghost Of Tom Joad, his perennial favourite October Song, Dylan's Where Are You Tonight? and Salty And Sweet (John Smith). Paul read a selection of his short poems, The Tank, Mr Newell Eats Blood Sandwiches, There Was A Moment, The Missing Boy, Beneath The Black Arch, The Fist That Holds The Flowers and The Soft Anvil and Sue sang songs done by Diane Keaton, Seems Like Old Times and The Shadow Of Your Smile. Stuart & Pete had some fun with Being A Pirate, Ghost Riders In The Sky, Love Potion No.9 and How Come and Martin sang Hallow's Eve, The Unquiet Grave, Lamkin and Ghosts (Lau). More poems from Suzanne with Be Merry My Friends Be Merry and Valerie with Halloween Witch and Heather also had a poem, The Night Of Halloween before singing Waltzing Matilda, The Banana Boat Song and Snowbird.

 

14/10/2025

We had our second singaround session, with Stuart taking the reins. With some adjustments from what we learned the first time, things went a little more smoothly and we cracked through quite a few songs. We also had a couple of performances from Paul, who sang rather than doing his usual poetry, Sue, with a couple of Neil Young songs and David, an occasional visitor to the club, who entertained us with some superb guitar playing and singing.

 

23/9/2025

It was back to the old format tonight, with Stuart as our MC and plenty of songs to celebrate 200 years of the railway. Richard was dressed appropriately in his dungarees and cap and sang This Train and My Bonnie, then Stuart & Pete did A Pub With No Beer and Folsom Prison Blues. Other Stuart was next with Ruben's Train and How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone, Carrie sang Ventura Highway and Fool On The Hill and together they did A Horse With No Name. Martin gave us Land Of Hope And Dreams (Springsteen), They All Sang Bread And Roses and Homeward Bound, Sue did City Of New Orleans, The Blackpool Belle and Freight Train and Bob sang The Golden Rocket (Hank Snow) and Orange Blossom Special. Poems next from Suzanne, reading Thunderstorm (Amos Wells) and Valerie with The Wasp He Is A Nasty One (Pam Ayres) and Sandie played Navvy On The Line and The Railway. Sean read his own poem (which he found he couldn't set to music, but it made a great poem), Standard Guage and sang The Oxford And Hampton Railway and John did God Is God (Steve Earl) and (assisted by Stuart) It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry.

 

9/11/2025

We held our first FAF singaround this week, with Pete as our MC. Stuart, Sean, Martin and Pete had prepared a few songs to get us started and we launched in with great gusto on some old favourites. There was a good collection of instruments playing along too. Colin and Keith lead us for some songs, we had time for some poems from Paul, Valerie, Anne and Christine, and we finished with the club song Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning. It was all a bit chaotic, but everyone seemed to enjoy it so, with a few tweaks, we’ll try it all again in October!

 

26/8/2025

Martin was our MC and we began with Stuart & Pete doing Roots and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion then Roger sang As Time Goes By and Streets Of London and Christine sang The Great Silkie Of Sule Skerry and was joined by John for Ain't Misbehaving. Paul read his own Base Trees and Keats' La Belle Dame Sans Merci before handing over to Anne, making her debut reading another of Paul's poems. Sue sang We Can Work It Out and Four Strong Winds, Mike did his own songs The Greatest (about Muhammad Ali) and An Immigrant's Song and John had some Jake Thackray, Nurse and Tom Leher's The Masochism Tango. Harry was next with Bonnie Mary Of Argyle, Martin did Portrait Of My Wife and Caledonia and another new face, Keith told a short story (with a twist) about a Canadian trapper. Stuart sang Running From Home and Katie Cruel, Bob did Same Thing Happened To Me (John Prine) and Keep My Grave Clean (Blind Lemon Jefferson) and Sue sang I Have A Dream and Beautiful Sunday. Heather was next with The Carnival Is Over and Secret Love, followed by poems from Valerie, Puppy Problems (Pam Ayres) and What Is Pink? (Christina Rosetti) and Suzanne, The Moon's Whisper and a Roger Mcgough poem about making mistakes. Alan sang a couple of his own songs including Fellside Shepherd, Steve did Leaping Out (Caitlin Canty) and Burn (Ray Lamontagne) and it was lovely to see Neil, with a couple of cool bosa novas for a summer's evening, Deixa by the unlikely named Baden Powell and Felicidade.

 

12/8/2025

We took advantage of a warm summer evening and held the first half in the lovely Nissen Hut garden. Stuart was MC and he and Pete began with Hole In The Ground, Hotel California and New York Girls then Christine sang The Lark In The Clear Air and Sunrise, Sunset and Paul read two Burns poems A Red Red Rose and A Man's A Man For A'That. Sue sang Birds (Neil Young) and Quicksand (Bowie), Roger did My Old Man Said Follow The Van and I'll See You Again and Martin sang The Captain's Apprentice, The King's Shilling, Blood On The Hillside and Midnight Feast. Poems next from Valerie, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester (Rupert Brooke) and from Suzanne, The Lion Tamer (Roger Mcgough). Bob gave us Fireball Mail (Hank Snow), Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams) and John Prine's The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness, Sue sang Puff The Magic Dragon, Picture Of You and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion and Gavin sang 1995, Summer Holiday, The Quintessential British Holiday and Wonderful World.

 

22/7/2025

Pete was our MC tonight and Steve started us off with Jeffrey Foucault’s Walking At Dusk, Amelia (Joni Mitchell) and Jolene (Ray LaMontagne) then Alan played Eleanor Rigby and played an instrumental. Roger led us for Green Grow The Rushes, O, Christine sang Banks And Braes and we welcomed Guy and Andy, Guy (accompanied by Alan on fiddle) sang The Water Is Wide and The Hedgerow Song then Andy (accompanied by Guy) played a selection of tunes including South Wind and Goodbye Girls. Paul read Brother Of Grace, Romance, Ascension, The Silver Balcony and The Glyphs, Sue sang two Neil Young songs My Heart and Love And War and Stuart did Let’s Walk Round The Harbour Again, We’re Not Going On A Summer Holiday and Ben Kenobi Nobi. Sean sang Be Nice To Me, Once I Had A Sweetheart and Two Minute Love Song, Louise & Pete paid tribute to Dave Cousins with Lay Down and Carrie & Stuart sang Genesis Hall, Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning and I’ll Fly Away. Bob did New Train (John Prine) and Little Lou, Sue sang Love Of The Common People and Ugly Bug Ball, Suzanne amused us with a Roger McGough poem about everyone having sex because they thought the world was ending and Martin sang The Rose And The Lily and Meg’s Market.

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8/7/2025

Martin was our MC this evening and Richard got us underway as usual, joined by Roger for Sloop John B and adding Sue on Drunken Sailor. Stuart & Pete were next with Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West), Stuart's version of Go Lassie Go and I Wanna Be Like You, Sandie played Summervase, Mrs Sykes and a couple of waltzes and Sean sang two Michael McConnell songs, Only Our Rivers Run Free and The Ballad Of Lidl And Aldi as well as Tom Paine's Bones. Gavin sang his own songs Music With My Friends, Bristolian Idiot and Summer Daze, Martin did Nostradamus, Two Magicians and Sally Gardens Bob sang Call Me The Breeze and Eddie Cochrain's Little Lou. Roger sang I Won't Send Roses and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Christine did Try To Remember and Harry gave us The Old House. Sue was next with Messing About On The River and Tickle My Heart, Gary made a welcome visit with The Singer And The Song, Child Of The Library and A Man Of British Weather and Andy brought in Gordon's restored guitar and sang John Prine's Sam Stone.

 

24/6/2025

Stuart was our MC on this midsummer evening and we began with Richard with Sweets For My Sweet and Ellen Vallen then John sang Jake Thackray's Worried Brown Eyes, The Wine Song and Jobsworth. Paul read In The Beginning (Dylan Thomas) and his own The Source, Sue sang She Loves You and It's Not Unusual and Carrie & Stuart gave us Nine Hundred Miles, Wayfairing Stranger and Spancil Hill. Stuart & Pete changed the tone with Hunting Tigers Out In India, Right Said Fred and The Urban Spaceman, Heather sang D. I. V. O. R. C. E, The Working Man and Catch A Falling Star and we had a poem from Suzanne about a juggler and one from Valerie, The Voice At The Foot Of The Stairs (Pam Ayres). Alan sang two of his own songs and Steve did a couple of Dylan songs Only A Hobo and Restless Farewell. Sean sang Beeswing, Romeo And Juliet and Shimmy Like My Sister Kate and Martin did the Al Stewart epic Roads To Moscow, Seth Lakeman's King And Country and How Long Will I Love You?

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10/6/2025

We celebrated an upcoming special occasion - our good friend Roger approaching his 90th birthday! Pete was our MC and we began with Richard doing This Train and Pick A Bale Of Cotton, then the man of the moment, Roger sang My Dearest Dear, You Are My Heart's Delight and There's No Business Like Show Business. Carrie & Stuart gave us Three Little Birds, Long Black Veil and Rain And Snow, Martin sang Blow The Windy Morning, The Bergen (Jez Lowe) and The Rigs Of Time then Poetry from Suzanne with The King Came Up To Liverpool and Valerie with a selection of pieces from The Wit And Wisdom Of Gardening. Our younger Roger was next with Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream, Everyday (Buddy Holly) and Leaving On A Jet Plane, Bob did Nine Hundred Miles and They Call Me The Breeze (JJ Cale), Sue sang Freight Train and The Deadwood Stage and together they did Sea Of Heartbreak. Keith sang Route 66, Nowhere Man and the club anthem Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning, Stuart had another Jez Lowe song  Morpeth Olympics and Tom Leher's The Irish Ballad, Mike did Dylan's I Want You, his own Crossville and One More Dollar (Gillian Welch) and Colin sang about hitching up the M1, The Owl And The Pussycat and The Song Goes On.

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20/5/2025

Martin was our MC tonight and we started with Sean with The World Turned Upside Down and his own instrumental Pachelbel's Revolver then Sandie played Rue de Pres/Canal en Octobre and two mazurks, Mazurka de Barbary/Toadflax. Valerie read Wordsworth's Daffodils, Suzanne did I Am Going To Kill My Husband (Pam Ayres) then Carrie & Stuart sang Hills Of Shiloh and Bonny Light Horseman. A trio of FAF returnees followed, Gavin with The Demon Barber Of Bedminster (about Charlie Stephens, who met his end in a barrel going over Niagara Falls), Cheese Rolling and If Music Can Do Anything It Can Bring Us All Together, Jon singing Why Should I Cry? (Hank Williams) and Dear Someone (Gillian Welch) and Geoff tried to summon up the summer on a wet and windy evening with Oak And Ash And Thorn, Hal-An-Tow and Jack In The Green. Stuart was next with The Outdoor Type and Do Re Mi, Sue sang Recycled Teenager and She Was 73 (to the tune of Only 16) and Bob a pair of blues included Porn Shop Blues. Another returnee was Heather, who sang The Working Man, Seasons In The Sun and Let No Man Steal Your Thyme. Our other Sue sang Angie Baby and we were treated to a singing debut from Paul with Wild Mountain Thyme (preceded by a short poem Draw Down The Sun) and Donald Where's Your Trousers? Alan sang a couple of songs including Fellside Shepherd, Steve sang Mesa, Arizona and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go and Martin did Banks Of The Bann and Willie Taylor.

 

13/5/2025

As we entered the merry, merry month of May, Stuart took charge and we began with Richard doing Folsom Prison Blues and The Leaving Of Liverpool then Roger sang Just A Little Rain, Island Of Dreams and There But For Fortune. Stuart & Pete marked the upcoming Eurovision song contest with Fred Wedlock's Song For Europe and a medley of all five UK winners, plus King Of The Road, our other Stuart sang the beautiful From Sandwood To Kyle and The Cuckoo and Carrie gave us Daylight Katy (Gordon Lightfoot) and Fleetwood Mac's Dreams. Bob was next with Luxury Liner and Lost Highway, then two Sues, the first singing Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head and Whistling Gypsy and our second Sue doing Love Song and Both Sides Now. Paul read his poems On The Steps and Partita (about a painting by Sue) and the George Harrison lyric from Isn't It A Pity?, Martin sang The Palace Of Versailles and The Harvest Gypsies and we had poems from Suzanne, Ode To The Mini Metro (Roger McGough) and Valerie, Do You Think Bruce Springsteen Would Fancy Me? (Pam Ayres). Sandie played us May Reel, Zodiac and Coquelet and Sean sang Dimming Of The Day and Night Ferry for the recent passing of Wiz Jones.

 

22/4/2025

Pete was our MC and on the day before St George's Day, we had a few English themed songs. Richard was first on his banjolele with Worried Man Blues and Sloop John B (with a chorus of harmonicas from the audience), our first John sang I Wish I Was Back On The Farm (George Formby) and Mike Scott's Men Bugger Off and Alan did a couple of songs helped by Steve including Songbird On My Shoulder. Steve had Jesse, his 89 year old guitar and sang Never Wrote A Letter To My Home, Blackwaterside and Buckets Of Rain. Carrie & Stuart did Hills Of Shiloh and Who Knows Where The Time Goes? and Roger was aided by John for May To December, John McLean's 1967 and a rousing Jerusalem! Stuart & Pete were next with Half English and Country Life, Bob was in romantic mood with Sweet Little Lisa and Tina Louise and Sue gave us Messing About On The River and Ukulele (to the tune of Hallelujah). Martin sang Ralph McTell's England and London Town Suzanne read Roger Mcgough's Ten Milk Bottles and Valerie did the classic Kipling poem If. Sean sang Rosemary Lane and Wake Up America (his own words to the tune of City Of New Orleans) and our other John did I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and Belfast Child.

 

8/4/2025

Martin took MC duties and we began with Stuart doing The Cat Came Back, Durham Jail (Jez Lowe) and How Come. Sue sang Don't Worry, Be Happy, Making Love Ukulele Style and Fields of Gold (Sting), Bob did Empty Bed Blues and John Prine's New Train and Carrie & Stuart gave us Oak And Ash And Thorn, Norwegian Wood (on uke and banjolele) and Golden Brown. Our other Sue was next with a couple of Lennon songs, Saltwater (Julian) and Love (John), Paul read his poems Love Song, The Lighthouse and The Diver and there were more poems from Suzanne, Uncle Noah (Roger McGough) and Valerie, Jubilee and Baffled In The Bike Shop (Pam Ayres). We had a couple of songs from Terry then John sang May The Circle Be Unbroken and Freedom Town (Delia Paz). Martin was next with Lord Franklin and The Bright Side Of The Road (Van Morrison), Dominic sang Dublin In The Rare Old Times and The Curlew and Roger's songs included Ukrainian Lament (a self-penned song about the war in Ukraine). Colin sang Little Johnnie England and  Sweet Jenny Jones and was joined by Sue for Heart Of Gold.

 

25/3/2025

Stuart was our MC tonight and we began with Keith, doing I Heard The Angels Singing and Return To Sender followed by our first Sue with Puff The Magic Dragon and Blackpool Belle then our second Sue, singing John Lennon's Oh My Love and I've Just Seen A Face. Paul was next with his own poem The Sound Of Om and one from Oscar Wilde Madonna Mia then our first John sang Spider In The Bath and Mike Scott's Nostalgia and Mike gave us Wayfairing Stranger and You Ain't Going Nowhere. Dominic sang McAlpine's Fusiliers and Curlew, Stuart & Carrie did Wildwood Flower and Dink's Tale and Martin sang Liberty's Sweet Shore and May You Never. We had David next, making his singing debut with Plainsong's In Search Of Amelia Earhart, Alan (assisted by Steve) sang I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off Her plus a short instrumental then Steve sang Springsteen's The Ghost Of Tom Joad and Al Stewart's Gethsemane, Again. Sean was next with his own Kindred Spirits and Blackwaterside and Sandie was in great form with some tunes including Josephine's Waltz. It was back to poetry with Valerie reading Spring and The Animal Shelter At Gardners Lane, Valerie revived the poem about mistakes then our second John sang Belfast Child and enlisted Sue with backing vocals on When Love Comes To Town.

 

11/3/2025

We were nearing St. Patrick's Day, so there were a few Irish songs to be heard as Martin took on MC duties. We began with our first Roger, who sang Five Hundred Miles and Morning Train, and read the lyrics to his own unfinished song They Say Tomorrow We're Gonna Break Through. Dominic was next with All I Remember (Christy Moore), The Lakes Of Pontchartrain and Fields Of Athenry, Sue sang two Neil Young songs, After The Goldrush and Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Paul read his poems I Sprang Blind From The Rock, It Tasted Of Happy and The Serenity Horizon plus Yeats' The Lake Isle Of Innisfree. Mike C sang Phil Coulter's The Town I Love So Well, From Clare To Here and Drag Queen Blues (Richard Digance), Valerie read The Owl And The Pussycat and From A Railway Carriage (RL Stevenson) and Suzanne did Deep In Our Refrigerator. Martin had The False Lady, Hard Up and Factory Girl, Nina was joined by Stuart & Pete for The Galtee Farmer and The Cuckoo and Terry sang Danny Boy, When You Were Sweet Sixteen and Trouble In Mind. Christine sang The Three Ravens and Our second Roger gave us Vitai Lampada and I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen. Stuart & Pete did Texas Love Song then Stu sang Shame And Scandal In The Family, our second Mike did Working Man, Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot) and If You Could Read My Mind Love and Colin sang The Galway Farmer, The Ancient Irish French Letter and The Old Turf Fire. We ended with Andy remembering Gordon Perrett and singing Tom Petty's Wildflowers, accompanying himself on Gordon's guitar - beautiful and poignant.

 

25/2/2005

Pete was our MC, and being close to St. David's Day, there were a few Welsh themed songs. Richard got us underway, with a Welsh flag and a daffodil hat (it could only be Richard!) and singing Swansea Farewell and Drink Up Thee Cider, then our first John had a brace of Jake Thackray songs My Roly Poly Girl and Jumble Sale. Our first Sue was next with two very different versions of It's Not Unusual, our resident Welsh poet Paul read two Dylan Thomas poems Fern Hill and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night plus his own Caerau about his home town and Mike sang Suze Rotolo and Patsy. Roger was next, joined by Christine for a dance as they sang Tea For Two, then Christine sang Idle Days In Summer Time and was joined by John for Cheek To Cheek. More poems next from Suzanne, The Lion Tamer (Roger Mcgough) and from Valerie, The Trinket Box and The Golfer the Bob did John D Loudermilk's Angela Jones and Orange Blossom Special and our second Sue sang Killing Me Softly (for Roberta Flack) and El Condor Pasa. Geoff sang Don't Think Twice, It's All Right and Elusive Butterfly and Martin did I Never Let You Know and Who Knows Where The Time Goes? Sean played the old right-of-passage tune Anji, then was joined by Sandie (on mandola!) for The Night Visiting Song and Sandie return to her normal squeeze box for The Walled Garden/The Bay Tree. Stuart & Pete gave us Cigarettes And Whisky And Wild Wild Women the Stuart sang Catherine Shaw, Alan (with Steve) did Songbird On My Shoulder and A Fragment Of Your Time and  Steve sang Pancho and Lefty and Joanna (John Smith). Our second John did Lord Protect My Child and (with Mick on guitar) and Blind Willie McTell before Mick himself sang an unaccompanied version of Patience Kershaw.

 

11/2/2025

It was time for a bit of romance with Valentine's Day just around the corner. Martin was our MC this evening and we began with our first Sue, doing Tickle My Heart, Dream A Little Dream and Something. Richard gave us Tom Dooley and I Saw Her Standing There, our second Sue sang Love Song (The Cure) and Isn't It A Pity? (George Harrison) and Paul was the first of our poets, reading The Gates Of Purgatory (inspired by Dante), Piazza Veccia, An Unfathomable Love, She Whispered and L'oisseau de Feu. Dominic sang The Coast Of Malabar, In The Town Of Ballybay and The Night Visiting Song, Roger did a song about a fateful Tinder experience, Leaving On A Jet Plane and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head and Stuart sang KC Moan (KC being Kansas City), You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley and Willie Moore. Our other Stuart was with Pete for The Snake (to mark the Chinese New Year) and Marie's Wedding and Stuart went solo for Poor Jenny (Everly Brothers) then Martin sang Nellie o' Bob's o't' Crowtrees, High Part Of The Town and Banks Of Sweet Primroses. It was great to see Jo after a long absence and she sang Farewell Angelina, Band Of Brothers and The Edge Of The World, Suzanne read Crazy Fool and Valerie Don't Ask Me To The Wedding. John did Freedom Town, Shelter From The Storm and House Of The Rising Sun, Colin sang Pete Seeger's Martian Love Song and Andy gave us a lovely version of Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie.

 

28/1/2025

To get ourselves through and dark winter and the recent Blue Monday, we had an evening with a good selection of humorous songs, also raising £200 for mental health charity Mind. Stuart was our MC and we kicked off with Richard in usual jocular mood and a blow up saxophone doing Football Crazy and My Last Cigarette (Sidney Carter). Martin was next with Jez Lowe's The Wrong Bus and the old FAF favourite Brighouse On A Saturday Night, Gary sang It's Going To Be One Of Those Days and You Can't Eat Bang (about a cheap Suffolk cheese given to sailors) and the first of two Sues sang Ugly Bug Ball and Only 73 (her take on Only 16). Our next Sue sang a lovely version of Vincent, Roger did You Are My Sunshine and his own Is This The Start Of Global Meltdown? (about the LA fires) and Dominic gave us a witty little story, a poem by Yeates The Song Of The Wandering Aengus and sang Burns' Ae Fond Kiss. Pondlife came with props for The Ballad Of Barry And Freda and These Boots Were Made For Walking, Sandie played The Black Joak/The White Joak (a joak being an 18th century dance) and The Moon And Seven Stars and Sean sang Hugh Laurie's Mystery and his own I've Got A Whatnot. John was next with a little known Dylan song Lord Protect My Child and was joined by Mick for It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry, Suzanne read Cling To Me Nigel and Valerie read pieces from The Wit And Wisdom Of Gardening. Alan (assisted by Steve) sang Lay Your Head Upon My Pillow and Hold On To Me Babe, Steve himself did The Hedgehog's Song (ISB) and Tangled Up In Blue and Mick sang his own Someone Tell Me Is It Really Folk? and She Loved A Portuguese. Rob was next with The Crafty Maid's Policy and The Ballad Of Robert de Middlecote, Monk and Bob finished with Rhubarb Pie (a sad tale of addiction!) and We Love To Boogie.

 

14/1/2025

We welcomed the New Year with Pete as our MC and an evening dedicated to Gordon Perret, who was an occasional visitor to FAF (he sang at our Christmas special) and who we recently lost. Richard got the year going with The Bristol Song and This Land Is Your Land, Roger sang Drink Up Thee Cider and If I Loved You and Christine was accompanied by John for It Had To Be You. John himself sang The Twelve Days After Christmas, Jake Thackray's The Brigadier and Joyce The Librarian, Paul read his poems Deity and Piazza Vecchio and Sue sang the Cure song Pictures Of You. Stuart & Pete were next with The Foggy Dew and The Napoli, then more poetry from Suzanne with Swans and Ode To Robbie Burns and Valerie reading Barking (Pam Ayres). Bob did Empty Bed Blues, Tina Louise and Mystery Train, Sue sang Dream Little Dream, Islands In The Stream and City Of New Orleans and Carrie & Stuart did delightful versions of The Urge For Going, Nowhere Man and Why Worry? (Dire Straits). Our second Roger sang his own Expectations and Dylan's It Hurts Me Too, Dominic gave us The Ferryman and another Dylan song Lay Down Your Weary Tune and Martin sang Drink Old England Dry and Al Stewart's Palace Of Versaille. Stuart sang Alcohol (Ray Davies), Sandie & Sean did Liberty's Sweet Shore, Sandie played a German tune and Sean sang Once I Had A Sweetheart.

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