Category Archives: Cambridge

Cambridge Folk Festival – Sunday

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Last day at the Folk Festival. I was on my own most of Sunday. Richard and Andrea appeared after visiting Simon’s brother’s garden. Though we did separate again as my musical taste was different from their’s. Was a good day with a couple of bands I really enjoyed, Imarhan from Algeria playing some Desert Rock, and Jimmy Reed playing the blues.

“Roo Panes “has been described by Uncut as a ‘Britfolk pin-up’”. A bit too folky for me.

Roo Panes

“Folk music’s legendary triumvirate of musical magpies Mike McGoldrick, John Doyle and John McCusker are out on the road again in 2019. As winter turns to spring Mike, John & John will wrap up their stint on Transatlantic Sessions for another year and bring you their own blend of top-class folk songs, tunes and charming bonhomie.”  Again, a bit on the folky side for me.

Cambridge Folk Festival 2019 McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle

Imarhan is an Algerian Tuareg desert rock quintet formed in 2006, in Tamanrasset, Algeria. Their first and eponymous album was released on German record label City Slang in 2016. I loved their music, they were on a tour of the world.

Imarhan

“Storytelling is something of a Texas tradition. Tall hats and even taller tales are woven into the fabric of The Lone Star State, and singer-songwriter, Jarrod Dickenson can spin a yarn with the best of them. Hailing from Waco, now based in Nashville via Brooklyn, Dickenson spends most of his time on the road bringing his own particular brand of soulful Americana to a wide variety of music-loving audiences around the globe.”

Jarrod Dickenson

Next on was Lil’ Jimmy Reed, playing the blues. One of the original Louisiana bluesmen. At 80 years old he navigated the steps on and off stage with dexterity. He was accompanied by Bob Hall and Bob’s wife Hilary Blythe playing bass. Excellent!!

Lil Jimmy Reed

“Bound together by lifelong friendship and shared experience for more than 25 years, The Fisherman’s Friends met on the Platt (harbour) in their native Port Isaac to raise money for charity, singing the traditional songs of the sea handed down to them by their forefathers.”

Fisherman’s Friends

Cambridge Folk Festival – Saturday

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Today was the main get together of the Sadgits at the Folk Festival. Mike, Reiko & Simon added to our numbers today. We got two tables together where we camped out for most of the afternoon, drinking beer and Pimms and eating curry.

First I watched Nancy and James who are apparently among the best-known British acts working today. Voted “Best Duo” twice at the BBC Folk Awards, “Nancy and James brought their captivating live sound, along with their first-ever live album, recorded over two nights in the winter of 2018”.

Nancy Kerr, James Fagan and Friends

Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle, voice, Cormac Byrne on percussion, Joe Truswell on drums, Kate Young on fiddle, voice, Amy Thatcher on accordion, synths, voice, clog dancing, Kieran Szifris on octave mandolin, musicians from Northumberland, Scotland, Ireland and England “invoke the dark, powerful, sounds of Ancient Northumbria and broadcast them to the modern world”. 

Kathryn Tickell Cambridge Folk Festival 2019

“Mad Dog Mcrea blends a unique mixture of folk-rock, pop, gypsy jazz, bluegrass and ‘shake your ass’ music. From self-penned songs of adventure, drinking, love and life, to traditional songs of gypsies, fairies, legless pirates and black flies – Mad Dog never fail to capture their audience with their infectious songs. In constant demand and having played just about every festival and two-bit, jibe-arsed dive in Christendom, Mad Dog Mcrea are, in every sense of the word, a live, band. “

Mad Dog Mcrae Cambridge Folk Festival 2019

Finally ended up eating a late-night meal before heading back to the campsite.

Cambridge Folk Festival – Friday

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The first day set the trend for the rest of the week. Up fairly early for a shower, to try and miss the queues, then breakfast. Then the bus ride to the festival. The heading off never quite occurred on time, always ended up chatting with my neighbours from London. I thought they were late risers, but no, they were up early as well but went swimming in the nearby pool.

Typically I would arrive at the festival at midday and have my second breakfast, bacon and egg breakfast, with a beer to wash the food down, sitting at the main bar, waiting for Sadgits to arrive. Then I would wait for Ravi, Jo, Callum, Andrea and Richard to arrive. Today was a lovely warm sunny day, and much of the time was spent drinking, eating and chatting with a few musical interludes.

My quotes are from the website to act as a prompt to me about the various acts

RURA, “one of the most exciting bands on the Scottish folk scene”, had already played on Thursday, but were also playing today. RURA “are a multi-award-winning act, and one of Scotland’s most sought-after folk-based bands, with three heralded albums – most recently In Praise of Home.”

RURA

Not sure Ben Caplan chose the best shirt to perform in, not loose so by the end of the gig you could see it was dripping wet from perspiration. Ben Caplan “explores themes of immigration, loss, darkness, love, sex, and God”. I absolutely loved his song, Plough the Shit.

Ben Caplan

The final band for the night was Graham Nash. Unfortunately, I was way back from the stage. Each song was proceeded by a story which explained the time and events that helped in the creation of the song. Some very interesting stories.

I read the news today, Marrakesh Express, Love the one you’re with, Cathedral, Our House
Chicago, Teach your Children

Cambridge Folk Festival – Thursday

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Months ago I purchased tickets for Rosemary and I to attend the Cambridge Folk Festival. Not my type of festival, but persuaded by Ravi. The Sadgits were going to be attending!

I arrived at the Cambridge Folk Festival in Morrison sans Rosemary. Rosemary had been festivalled out (and the builders were in)! The campsite was at Coldhams Common located on some playing fields. The site was well marked out with whitewash lines indicating roads, parking and camping. I was shown a lovely spot to park Morrison, right on the edge of the site. Met my neighbours who were a friendly bunch. They immediately showed me their van. They lived in Richmond and were becoming concerned about the Ultra Low Emissions Zone and their diesel campervan. The neighbour on the other side was a single male, a little older than me, who apparently spent a large proportion of his life in his campervan. Loos and showers available, although there were often 10-15 minute queues for the showers.

I made my way to the festival site by bus. There was an excellent shuttle service between the campsite and the festival site. On Thursday I walked back from the festival site because of the queue for the bus. I soon realised empty buses were passing me by. I never made that mistake again and always rode the bus.

At the festival site, I had a quick explore. There was the main arena with several stages, outside of the arena there are were a few other stages and event spaces. During the whole weekend, I saw only one event outside and that was a talk by Extinction Rebellion.

In the main site, there were several food outlets, including one I had seen at Latitude. The main beer sold was Otter with a few guest beers, and there was Pims on tap. Standard recycled plastic beakers for a £2 deposit were in use. Should have taken up the offer of a limited edition Cambridge Folk Festival beer tankard.

Didn’t see too much today, not much was on, as it didn’t really start until the evening. Watched Ben Caplan. Looking forward to seeing him again on Friday (I have a video of him from then). Met up with some of the SadGits, Ravi and Jo (honorary SadGit), Richard and Andrea and consumed a few beers before watching the highlight of the evening, Ralph McTell.

Listening to Ralph McTell singing Streets of London.

Dr Peter Wothers’ lecture at the Chemistry Open Day

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We visited Cambridge, specifically to attend a lecture to celebrate 150 Years of Periodic Table given by Dr Wothers, as part of Cambridge Science Week. This was aimed at children (but I fancied the explosions as well) and the intention was to generate interest in science, so we took Julian, Phil and Selina.

Stopped by Caius College to show Julian where I had spent three years. Showed him the stone commemorating the life of Stephen Hawking place outside Professor Hawking’s college room, we also saw the double helix floor engraving celebrating Francis Crick and James Watson.

Lunch at The Copper Kettle and then we walked onto the the Chemistry Laboratory to attend the lecture.

Birthday weekend in Cambridge

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To celebrate my birthday, we decided to spend a couple of nights in our Campervan in Cambridge. Our first stop was in St Neots, parking on the Bedfordshire side of the river Ouse where we had a coffee at the Ambience Café. Rather an insipid Cappuccino.  On then to Cambridge where we were camping at Cambridge Camping and Caravan Club Site in Trumpington. It is well served by buses running during the day every 15 minutes, and in the evening, one an hour until quite late.

We were soon into Cambridge and visited the Fitzwilliam Museum. Rosemary wanted to see a Virginia Woolf exhibition. Unfortunately, the exhibition was not what she wanted. R had failed to read the small print, “An exhibition inspired by her writings” Next, a stop at the Eagle for a beer. We drank in the bar at the back, which is very much themed on American airmen. The walls are covered with signatures and dedications. Next stop was dinner. We chose the Cambridge Chop House and had a good meal. The Chop House is mainly underground. Its basement extends under several of its neighbouring businesses.

Back then to Emmanuel Street to catch the bus back to the campsite.

On Wednesday, after an al fresco breakfast, we again caught the bus into Cambridge, admiring the new Medical research building around Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and the new student flats near the rail hub. Once in Cambridge we had a walk around Caius College, and even visited the LNB (Late Night Bar). No longer the LNB, now a bike shed. The porter knew it had been the LNB.

We then walked on to Kettles Yard which reopened this year after some modifications. An exhibition of Richard Pousette-Dart work was on show. He was a key figure of Abstract Expressionism. Jim Ede, creator of Kettle’s Yard, first met Pousette-Dart in New York in 1940. Of course, we visited the house of Jim Ede, which continues to surprise & delight.

We now walked along side Jesus Green, Midsummer Common and the river, looking at the canal boats and Cambridge Boat Houses. The canal boats appeared to be stocked up with coal for the winter. Spotted the new Gonville and Cauis Boat House, well Google maps did.  Back across Midsummer Common and down King Street. I was telling Rosemary about the King Street Run, and oddly we met a Cambridge graduate several days later wearing a King Street Run tie. The basic objective drinking a pint of ale in seven of the street’s pubs before returning for an eighth in the pub you started. One of the club rules state a penalty pint is awarded for the commission of either of the two Ps, “peeing or puking”. Successful members of the club wore a special navy blue tie decorated with the image of a tankard surmounted by a crown. This tie is also decorated with a ‘P’ for each penalty pint drunk. The tie soon became a highly sought-after item of apparel.

Finally, a pint at the Anchor, overlooking the mill pond, then the University Museum of Zoology where we had a few minutes before chucking out time. Ah well on to the Eagle for another drink before going for my Birthday treat at  the Loch Fyne Restaurant. Yes Rosemary embarrassed my by having a candle placed in my dessert. Then it was back on the bus to the campsite.

Our final day, Thursday, started with a lovely bright morning with a slight frost, but we’d been snug. We visited Grantchester and the Orchard Tea Garden. Another bright and sunny day encouraged us to walk down to the river and admire a couple of punts moored up. You can see where Roger Waters from Pink Floyd found their inspiration for the song ‘Granchester Meadows’.

 

Visit to Eaton Socon, Grimes Graves & Norwich

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We visited Ann, Liz & Bob in Norwich and stayed a couple of nights.  On the drive over we stopped at Eaton Socon and had a coffee in a pub called The Rivermill.  This was a converted mill building on The Great Ouze. They were quite happy to serve coffee, In fact they seemed to have a morning coffee and-cake special running.  Rosemary was quite taken with some flats overlooking the river. Nothing was as we remembered it. We then drove past are old house, 183 Great North Road, which was still standing as was the Leylandii Hedge that I planted in the front in the late ’70s.

We stopped in the park by the river in St Neots and ate our picnic lunch before heading on to Norwich.  As we had plenty of time we stopped off at Grimes Graves.  These are prehistoric flint mines in the Brecklands.  I last visited then in the ’60s and Rosemary had never seen them.  You can still go down one of the mines.  There are a couple of others which have been excavated.  The landscape outside is Breckland grass, but here there are lots of round dips caused by the pits.  There are many pits which all apparently inter-join below ground. 

On to Norwich where we all went to the theatre to watch The Play that Goes Wrong.  A comedy about a play that goes wrong from beginning to end.  This had been recommended to us. Amazing timing by the actors as scenery fell down around them. An audience member got to the stage of laughing where they just squeaked intermittently. 

The next day, we raced off to my favourite online camera shop. I’d never seen the bricks & mortar shop. Later, we accompanied Bob on a walk to the local Waitrose via the club where he plays golf. Lovely scenery and very edible wild cherries. Expanding our local geography even further, In the afternoon, we took a walk in Eaton Park, where Liz jogs.  A huge park in Norwich which was created after the First World war.  It has a large boating pond, and tracks for miniature railways. Despite going to school in Norwich, I had never been to either place.

On the Saturday we returned via Cambridge for the Caius benefactors May week garden party where we met up with Richard and Andrea. (And yes, it was June, but that’s Cambridge for you.)

Clare College

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Rosemary and I were invited by Ravi for a meal at Clare College, Cambridge University, where Ravi is a Fellow. On the way to Ely we stopped of at the Emmaus shop which solid “preloved” furniture and goods, where we ate a quick snack lunch.  We checked into the hotel in Ely and walked around the city.  It was Ely Eel festival.  I managed to grab a couple of pints, avoided the eels and listened to a band which was playing outside the Poets House Hotel. Quick change of clothes before meeting up with Ravi to catch the train into Cambridge where we had a preprandial drink at The Eagle.  Quick walk to Clare College where we were to eat at 19.30 in the dining room.  

Today there were no senior fellows in attendance, so Ravi had to host the three MCR members who were also eating at the top table.  The three post graduates were from Germany, Holland and Sheffield.  We chatted over sherry before being summoned to dinner.  We walked through the dining room past the undergraduates and positioned ourselves at the head table.   Ravi read grace, and then we sat and were served dinner.  After dinner was complete, the waitress (college servant) brought a small gong for Ravi to sound.  He duly sounded the gong, dinner was now over and we and the undergraduates could now leave.

After dinner we retired to the SCR and drank some postprandial drinks.  After everyone left we posed for some photographs and left for Ely by taxi.  As we walked to the taxi, we saw the three post graduates  outside in the Clare College court chatting amongst themselves.   Wonder what they were talking about.

The next day we ate breakfast at Poets House Hotel with Ravi who came to join us.  We had a small wander around Ely, visiting the antique centre by the river, before picking up the car and driving back home. 

Caius College Garden Party and Illuminated Caius Choirbook

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Rosemary and I visited Cambridge for the Gonville and Caius Alumni garden party.  This is a thankyou event to those alumni who donate to the college.  Despite high fees paid by undergraduates, their payments only cover half the costs.  When I was a student at Cambridge, tuition costs were fully paid, and I also received a grant for living expenses.  I feel a debt of gratitude which I now repay by donations to Caius college.  This is big business to the college, who have a set of rewards depending on the value of gifts made.

The day was a sunny day, and the city was lively with the Brexit campaign in full swing.  The city was full of those supporting the Remain campaign.  Of course the majority  of those we spoke to at the alumni party were in support of Remain.  Education and research is so bound up with freedom of movement and research grants from the EU. It is no surprise that Cambridge voted to remain. 

The food at the party was as usual excellent.  I have never seen so many prepared Cromer grabs.  Wine and fizz was available in good quantities.  After the congratulatory speeches we hastened to the Cockerell building where the Illuminated Caius Choirbook was on display.  We were also entertained to some singing from the Caius Choirbook and came away with a CD.

Cambridge weekend – Sunday

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Sunday started off cloudy.  Drove to the Botanic Garden and had a 90 minute guided tour.  The area around the pond had changed since we had last visited.  During the walk, the weather improved.

After the walk, we walked on down to the Cambridge Arts Picture House to see a 1938 Hitchcock film called the “Lady Vanishes” starring Michael Redgrave.  The file was introduced by his son Corin.  Rosemary and I had not seen the film before and very much enjoyed the humour.

Afterwards she went to Fitzwilliam to see a performance by Corin Redgrave of  “De Profundis by Oscar Wilde“.  I went to the Cavendish Laboratory for a presentation of the proposed changes to the Physics department, and then a tour of the Physics departments. I saw some high vacuum experiments, high energy impact work, low temperature experiments with super conductors, and an explanation of fundamental particles and an experiment where they neutrino is being weighed.

It was then on home, with a stop at St Neots for a quick meal by the River.  On the drive towards Milton Keynes we saw a very spectacular sunset.