Along the road we have visited the Lakeside Theatre in Nottingham, the Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury (with a wee stop for a few ales at our favorite Shrewsbury pub - the Armoury), the Celtic Footprint Festival in Chichester - which also allowed us a few hours walking round the beautiful snowy Kingley Vale. Here is a poem which Calum wrote about it (followed by a bonnie picture) -
The Yews of Kingley Vale
Early rose the sun of morn
a blue and yellow day was born
The air felt cool and crisp to breathe
"a nature trail!" cried the young laddie
So off we popped in the rental van
to embark on james' enchanting plan
we parked the beast and tied our boots
and began our march through the muddy woods
we climbed and jumped and slipped and fell
then puffed and panted UP the hill
Our legs were sore but no-one keeled
then all at once the view revealed
Fields of green and forests of pine
a fine meeting place for earth and sky
we made our way down filled with cheer, joy and jest
and then on to perform at the Cheltenham folk fest
Following on from this we headed to the Cheltenham folk festival for our gig in the playhouse which sits atop an old (haunted) swimming baths. Spooky.
"your such a rubbish driver" - anonymous man @ Cheltenham
Onto Colchester with a wee stop at Beaconsfield services. Obviously a hot spot for the travelling musos, as we bump into Eliza Carthy and the Floating Palace crew. Colchester Arts centre is a fantastic venue offering great three bean chilli and is also the original home of Humpty Dumpty, he's not an egg folks, answers on a postcard (or a comment below). While we are on the subject of Eggs, the two James's have become a bit partial to a cream egg on the tour (Breabach is in no way affiliated with cream eggs (it's up for discussion though if Cadbury's are interested in affiliating with the band, don't hesitate to get in touch))
"hmm, yes, I am getting oak and sherry"
Next stop Nettlebed folk club, a lovely hall which was commissioned by James Bond's grandfather (Robert Fleming) in 1912 and still thrives as a hub of the community. Then, we have a lovely day off in Leamington Spa, where much perusing of Vintage shops takes place. Our resident style expert James Duncan Mackenzie demonstrates two garments below (Woolen Nordic and a classic Wool/Suede design).
Then we are onto Birmingham to play at the Red Lion Folk Club. This is our first time playing in Birmingham, so there is an air of apprehension in the group. However, once we realize that Ewan Robertson is actually THE Red Lion we have nothing to worry about. The gig went, thanks to those who came along and we hope to be back in Brum soon!!
"Rar"
Then we headed to London for more fun. You'll need to wait until the next blog to hear about that. However, a little bit of what we got up to is on the iPlayer - head here to check it out - BBC Radio 3 intune
Thanks for reading! Please share this around your friends and keep your eyes peeled for more exciting stuff to come from Breabachie.
Cheers
Breablog
