On Wednesday evenings Cecil Sharp House is a hive of activity. Trefusis Hall hosts a programme of folk concerts and Storrow Hall hosts Pete Cooper’s London Fiddle School. The largest space, Kennedy Hall, familiar to Strictly Come Dancing fans, hosts the Cecil Sharp House Choir, not the only but the largest folk choir in London. It was already a few weeks into the autumn term when I joined the choir. There are more than 60 members so walking into a hall where three rows of chairs were set in a semicircle facing the stage was a little daunting. People were beginning to gather, finding their seat ..read more

The singer, guitarist and club organiser Bob Wakeling, who has died aged 84, was a key player in the formation of both Herga and Watford folk clubs during the folk revival of the 1960s and 70s. He was well known for his passionate renditions of Woody Guthrie songs and traditional English folk ballads. Bob’s interest in folk music stemmed from his childhood, when he joined the Woodcraft Folk. For the first time Bob discovered the joy of community singing and dancing. Group leaders Peggy and Pete Colbert took Bob under their wing and encouraged him to play the guitar. It was here that he also be ..read more

Ivan North, who has died aged 78, was one of Folk London’s CD reviewers for more than 20 years and a familiar face at sessions and morris events. Born in Loughborough general hospital to Frank and Florence North, he attended the local grammar school and had piano lessons. Ivan was a very intelligent man. He did a degree in chemistry at Loughborough College of Advanced Technology (later Loughborough University) followed by a postgraduate course at Brunel University. In 1974 he was elected and admitted as an associate of the Royal Institute of Chemistry. He taught chemistry for his whole working ..read more

The end of August 2023 saw a wave of grief and fond memories at the passing of one of the great legends of the folk revival, affectionately known as Tom Brown. Together with his wife, Barbara, Tom was well known for his singing at folk clubs and festivals throughout the UK. More than 200 people attended his funeral and wake in September and many more all over the world joined online to celebrate a life well-lived and full of achievement. Throughout his life, whatever he did, he did well. And this included his ability to forge strong relationships with his family, friends and admirers. Like so ..read more

A dance event in Amersham in January celebrated the life and music of Maggie Fletcher, the late musician and co-founder of the Blue Mountain Band, one of the leading country dance bands of their generation. Dancing and playing music were part of Maggie’s life for almost 80 years. She and her sister were taught to play piano by their mother and they also sang duets together. She and her future husband, Bob, met on Church Youth Club rambles when they were based in Portsmouth. Maggie was already dancing with the local folk dance group and continued while she studied at Exeter University. “The men ..read more

This May Day, like almost every May Day since 1963, Doc Rowe will be off down to Cornwall for the Padstow ’Obby ’Oss – perhaps the strangest and wildest of the scores of strange and wild rituals that take place every year up and down Britain, unknown to most outside their home villages and towns. Unknown to most, but not to Doc. For the ’Obby ’Oss, a primal-seeming rite in which dancers in sinister “horse” costumes parade through the packed streets of the small fishing town, accompanied by crowds of singers, musicians and gawkers, is just one date on his packed calendar as he roves Britain fil ..read more

Bowes Park Folk Club turns 10 this May. It may not sound much – with some venerable London clubs clocking up half-centuries and more – but we at BPFC are most definitely partying. So what’s the BPFC story? In 2013 we set up a brand-new monthly folk club – three decades or so after such a thing was widely fashionable. We constituted ourselves as a community organisation, set up a Co-op bank account and we were in business. Our main home became Mum’s Bistro, a superb Greek restaurant in Bowes Park, north London. Like many clubs, we presented acts from the national scene, subsidised by singers’ n ..read more

Dancing in pubs is great fun and Thrales Rapper were born of necessity to do just that. We started 29 years ago when a disparate bunch of folkies wanting to form a new sword team met in a Southwark pub one wet November night. Since 1994 we’ve been dancing the length and width of London, bringing culture and enlightenment to the congestion charge zone and beyond. The team was forged in the Anchor pub, formerly part of the long-gone Thrale’s Brewery on the Thames Bankside. The “First Nine” practised in a backroom named after Hester Thrale, the lady of the brewery. While it cost nothing for us to ..read more

In early October 2023 Dartford’s cradle of folk music, started by Pam and Alan Colls, reached the milestone of 50 years continuous running. Even the challenge of Covid was overcome by keeping in touch with and rolling over all the booked artists for 2020-2021 until we were able to meet up again. Additionally, with the aid of Zoom, marshalled by one of the Dartford regulars, the club was able to continue its August singarounds. The club has lived through much of the folk world’s ups and downs and is among a reducing number of clubs now able to host a professional main guest act every week for 4 ..read more

Here’s To The Grimsby Lads. Sailortown. Time Ashore Is Over. Men Of The Sea. Just a few of the many songs written by Bill Meek, either solo or in collaboration with me, which have brought so much pleasure to lovers of sea songs the world over. Followers of Bill’s music will be saddened to hear of his death at the age of 86, after a period of illness following a stroke. A celebration of his life was held at Grimsby Crematorium on 11 July 2023, and he is survived by his loving wife, Pat, his two sons, Will and Steve, and his much-loved grandson, Charlie. Bill and I were brought up in the 19 ..read more