I had never been to Cleckheaton before this weekend.  I have passed it a thousand times on my way up and down the M62 and knew only that it was located in the Spen Valley, made famous by Charlotte Bronte.

What an eye opener!  It’s a lovely town and this weekend it played host to the 27^th Cleckheaton Folk Festival which was my real reason for visiting.  I wanted to flood the area with flyers for our two overseas Folk Festivals in 2015.   The weather was particularly kind and the street entertainment added an extra splash of colour to the whole affair as I parked my car near the centre.  My first port of call was to the Town Hall to get my day pass.   I needed to meet Janice Minich one of the main organisers from whom I requested permission to leave some of our flyers around.   Not only did she give me permission, she made me feel really welcome and she was particularly helpful in advising me regarding visiting a certain selection of the many venues where top class entertainment were performing.   Her advice and guidance proved enormously helpful and I headed immediately for the COMMERCIAL PUB which was playing host to some fantastic music sessions over the weekend.

Imagine my surprise on settling down with a pint of real ale to notice that a couple of the musicians were already known to me through their frequent trips on our other music and dance events overseas.  Shortly after arrival, Dennis Walsh a renowned local fiddler broke off from the session to come and welcome me.  I felt at home instantly and he very kindly took some brochures to distribute among the group.  This is the heartbeat of every festival!  The sessions and the sing around and for those that are good enough there is always an opportunity to join in.  For those that consider themselves not good enough, well the same opportunity exists.  In fact everyone makes everyone else welcome at Folk festivals whether they are a novice or an experienced performer.

Much as I would have loved to have stayed here, I had work to do so, I headed off in the direction of the WICKHAM ARMS!  Work?  This isn’t work.  This is fun!  This is what life is all about.  I found myself surrounded by Morris Dancers and as I watched and listened to the music  I  recognised again the symmetry between folk dancing, Morris Dancing, Irish set dancing and clog dancing.  The same roots no doubt.

Then, the discovery of the weekend for me!  THE MUSIC ROOM!    A treasure trove of musical instruments.  As soon as I walked through the door I was surrounded by accordions, melodeons, concertinas, banjos, acoustic guitars, violins, mandolins etc.   I met John Turner, an amiable Yorkshire man who told me that they sell used instruments as well as new ones, provide different levels of tuition for people depending on the individual’s skill level.   Age is no barrier and the company runs regular workshops on all kinds of instruments and has a specialist dedicated team of tutors to help you no matter how good or bad you think you are!  If you get a chance, visit their website on www.themusicroom-online.co.uk  I plan to go back again soon!

At 4pm I made my way back to the Town Hall to where the ceilidh was scheduled.  After putting out brochures on all the tables I took a seat in anticipation of a good afternoon.  I was not disappointed.  Within a short while the room was full, the floor was full and the music was being delivered very professionally by CUPOLA.  There were six on stage, including an excellent caller.  The music was a mixture of traditional ceili tunes and a selection of self-composed dance melodies.  Cupola are now on our radar for a future gig!

The excellent John Watterson (aka Fake Thackray) was also there.  The last time I met him was in March at the Costa del Folk festival in Spain, on the Costa del Sol.  John is one of those great guitarists and vocalists with an engaging quality that makes you want to sit and listen.

Others appearing over the weekend were  Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, both of whom are with us in Spain next March, Dougie MacLean, Martha Tilston, Lady Maisery, Jez Lowe & the Bad Pennies.  Gavin Davenport, James Findlay and Greg Russlee and Ciaran Algar- BBC2 Horizon Award Winners 2014.  There were many others too numerous to mention here but they all made an enormous contribution to the overall success of this the 27^th Cleckheaton Folk festival.

Finally, I had the pleasure of also meeting Dave Minich, Janice’s husband who has been festival director for several years.  He is also an entertainer in his own right and plays in a duo with Alan Gill called Gillich.  And in between acts as MC, so an all-round good egg!  Well done on a well organised 27^th festival.  The future of the event is in safe hands!

Gerry Flynn Enjoy Travel