Drum Machine party

I've featured Drum Machine on my blog before. They are an exciting drum collective, based in Hebden Bridge. I didn't expect to see them at the Piece Hall but they were there to give a party atmosphere to the opening of the new sculpture exhibition, 'People Play' (see yesterday).

Listen to them HERE.

I think I like their performances so much for two main reasons: firstly, being deaf, deep sounds are much easier for me to hear. Drumming resonates within your body in an rather engaging way. Secondly, it reminds me of my childhood, when we used to watch the Miners' Parades through my home town. Each coal pit had its own brass band and I loved to feel the bass of the drums vibrating in my tummy as they passed by.

 I recently had chance to join a short workshop on African drumming (not with Drum Machine) and that was fun too. I've not much sense of rhythm to be honest - but I didn't let that stop me!

Concert for Palestine

I went with friends to enjoy a wonderful concert at my church. It was organised by a couple in our congregation, as a 50th birthday celebration and to raise money for the Amos Trust. The Amos Trust is 'a small, creative human rights organisation, committed to challenging injustice, building hope and creating positive change'. In particular, they are working for justice in Palestine, in the West Bank and Gaza, calling for peace, reconciliation and equal rights for all Palestinians and Israelis.

The music was provided by singer-songwriters Yvonne and David Lyon. My ability to appreciate music is greatly impaired because of my hearing loss, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. We were also treated to a tasty Middle-Eastern inspired meal, prepared and cooked by members of the church. It was a lovely way to spend an evening, with chance to catch up with folk from church that I don't always see, since we have a number of different Sunday services. I gather that upwards of £1200 was raised for the Amos Trust.

The Early Music Shop

Perhaps only the real aficionados know it is there but tucked away at the back of Salts Mill in what used to be the wool shed is The Early Music Shop, the world's largest early music instrument specialist and supplier of sheet music, CDs and accessories. I've passed many times and never dared to go in but one day I was feeling bold. It was peaceful inside, just a couple of other people browsing and the sales staff kept a discreet watch from the back of the store. It really is a treasure trove, full of exquisite and unusual instruments, most of which I would hesitate to put a name to. I'm afraid I can't tell a crumhorn from a shawm from a dulcimer. I did recognise the harps, lots of them in different sizes and with varying degrees of decoration. They are so beautiful.

There were some lovely percussion instruments too: drums and bodhrans, as in the picture below and several elegant harpsichords and spinets. There was even a 'build your own' harpsichord from a flatpack kit - quite an undertaking, I imagine.

Most of the instruments appeared to be new, though there was a beautiful Pillement Violone (see below), a Double Bass handmade in France in 1781 and rescued in the French Revolution, as it was part of a collection in the Royal Court of France. The information said it has an extraordinarily beautiful sound, which I could well imagine just from looking at the patina on the wood. It could be yours... for a mere £45,000.

Some of the detail in the instruments was gorgeous, especially the elaborate fretwork on the stringed lutes and fiddles.

I'm so glad I went in to have a look round, as it was a fascinating store.

They offer tuition on harp, viol, lute, recorder and other instruments, run workshops and often perform early music concerts locally.

In addition there is the Yorkshire Music School in the same building, teaching piano, rock guitar, vocals and drums to aspiring young musicians.











Saltaire is often a surprising place!

Christmas Bandstand Concert

There was Christmas entertainment in Roberts Park last weekend. The Hall Royd Brass Band were playing Christmas songs and carols from the bandstand. There was also a stall selling food and drink; the mulled wine and festive cupcakes looked appetising. Last year at the same event, I seem to remember I was given a free cup of mulled fruit juice but that wasn't on offer this year. Never mind, it was a good atmosphere and it's always nice to bump into friends there. 

I wonder whether Sir Titus Salt himself, surveying the scene from the top of his plinth, approves of such revelries or not. He used to enjoy giving his mill workers treats like an annual trip to the seaside, so he probably looks on benignly.

I almost considered asking him... but then I wasn't quite sure whether the chap with the long white beard was Sir Titus with a Santa hat on or Santa Claus himself, having a day off before all the hard work and sleigh-riding begins. Perhaps he was trying to mingle with the locals... though it's hard to blend into the crowd with a bushy white beard as lush as that one.

Festival Weekend 2

Saltaire Festival 2019
Amazingly, the second Saturday of Saltaire Festival was a very warm and sunny day too, rare for this time of year. (Though the Sunday was more traditionally seasonal again, with dull skies and drizzle!) The crowds flocked to the village to enjoy the various markets, a vintage fair in the Victoria Hall and the live music in the park. Personally, I prefer the first weekend, which has much more of a community feel to it, but you couldn't help getting caught up in the lively atmosphere and it was lovely to see folks enjoying themselves. Exhibition Road is pedestrianised for the Continental Market, with street food and gifts for sale.

Victoria Road (seen here from one of the upper windows in Salts Mill) was partially pedestrianised and was thus a lot safer than in previous years. It doesn't look too crowded here but there was a huge jam of people further down, trying to cross the narrow footbridge into the park. Check out the hordes of people getting off the train in the station, too! When it's busy like this, it always reminds me of the old film clips I've seen of Saltaire in the early 20th century, when people came here at weekends to enjoy the pleasure grounds up in Shipley Glen. Many things don't really change, do they?

It was very crowded in Roberts Park and I didn't stay long. There was another market and many food and drink outlets, all around the main stage where they have live music all afternoon. The act I caught was a band called Majesty, a reggae soul band, with singer Hayley Gaftarnick.

Yardfest

 Saltaire Festival 2019
As well as a series of Open Gardens around the village, the Saltaire Festival encourages 'pop-up' events, where people can provide refreshments, sell their wares or explore and educate visitors about a hobby or interest. This year there were Mexican breakfasts, the history of gin, poetry, letterpress printing and specimens of 150m-year-old fossils from the Yorkshire coast, among the varied offerings. For several years, some neighbours on George Street have hosted 'Yardfest'. They close the road and provide live music, food from Edward Street Bakery and drinks from the Cap and Collar, a local bar. There's stuff for the kids to do and it usually ends up with people dancing in the street. All good fun.

Festival Sunday

Saltaire Festival 2019
In contrast to the sunny Saturday, the first Sunday of Saltaire Festival was dull, overcast and rather chilly. I was free to wander and take photos though, as I'd delivered my grandchildren safely back to their parents, so I explored quite a few of the Open Gardens. I was also able to see some of the choirs taking part in Saltaire Sings. Community choirs seem to be a growing trend and we now have the Great Yorkshire Chorus, launched about a year ago in Saltaire. They are fairly easy to spot in their colourful bright purple and orange tops. Being so deaf, I can't really tell good music from bad but they had drawn a good crowd outside the Victoria Hall. It's a large choir too, obviously attracting people to join, so I presume they are pretty good at what they do.

Sunshine (metaphorical) and pancakes (real) in the park

In a brief break in the storm clouds on Saturday (before my camera was damaged) I went for a quick walk around Roberts Park, just for the sake of some exercise.

The Friends of Roberts Park were holding a Christmas Bandstand concert, though they'd relocated from the actual bandstand to one of the shelters on the promenade, due to the wind and rain.

It turned out to be my friend and local legend, John Froud, performing some songs. So I stopped to listen and had a warming cup of mulled juice whilst I enjoyed the music. I could have had a pancake too (they had some gluten-free buckwheat ones) but I refrained for the sake of my waist-line.

John Froud is the founder of a great little Christian charity, The Zephaniah Trust, who have been working with local schools for almost 25 years, using music and the arts to 'take light into dark corners'. They do assemblies, workshops, events and holiday clubs, and work with churches, community groups and refugee organisations too, as part of Bradford's City of Sanctuary initiative.

Such a pity the stormy weather meant few people were out and about to enjoy the music. I had to hurry home myself when it began raining again but the encounter certainly brought some sunshine into my day.

The 309s

Saltaire Festival 2018 - This band, The 309s, seemed popular and had the audience bopping and jiving in front of the stage. They're a West Yorkshire-based five piece band, playing a repertoire of swing/country/jive music. From left to right, the line-up is: Ian Tothill, Tim Spencer on drums (barely seen in my pic), Rod Boyes, Nancy Varo and John Murphy.

Festival 2018 crowds

I was away for most of Saltaire Festival's second weekend. To be honest, I have become somewhat disillusioned by the commercialisation and the lack of variety of the weekend. There's not much of a local 'village' feel to it, unlike the first weekend. There are always several markets, lots of food and drink stalls and several stages with music of a type that rarely appeals to me. Add to that the crowds and the difficulty in parking anywhere near my house if I dare to move my car from its 'spot' and it seemed better to absent myself. I did, however, have an hour or so walking around as the crowds were thinning a little late on the Sunday afternoon.

The main photo is a view across Roberts Park, where the main stage and lots of food/drink stalls are sited. 

The photo on the left is a view up Exhibition Road, where the 'Continental Market' is sited. Here you can buy a wide range of street food from curry to paella, crepes to baklava. There are also some stalls selling trinkets and this year you could buy plants too. 

'I laugh in the face of drizzle'

'I laugh in the face of drizzle. I put on a cagoule, have a beer, check the electrics are working and dance to the music' was written on the Facebook page for 'Yardfest', the mini music festival in someone's back yard in Saltaire as part of Saltaire Festival. Well, they did need a jacket and a smile, as the drizzle was fairly relentless for much of the weekend. But it didn't stop people having fun. There was food from Edward Street Bakery, beer from the Cap and Collar and good music from a line-up of local bands and DJs. I caught a set from a duo I think were called 'Gurgles'. 

To be honest, the jazzier style of the buskers in the Wash House garden was more my cup of tea. 

As always, there was dancing too, from the local clog team 'Rainbow Morris', the belly/morris fusion dancers '400 Roses' and another side from Sheffield called Lizzie Dripping.

Handmade Parade - a family affair

My daughter and granddaughters were involved in the Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade at the end of June this year, the 11th annual parade. They've been working to make and decorate their own costumes and help construct the flags, banners and large-scale pieces, assisted by professional artists. It's a wonderful community effort. Everyone joins in collaboratively in a large studio workshop in the town, in the weeks leading up to the parade.

The theme of the parade this year was 'Roll Up, Roll Up!' - a travelling circus comes to town, with crazy rides, huge animal puppets, weird and wonderful sideshows and lots more. In the glorious sunshine, it was an absolute riot: wacky, noisy and very good-humoured. I really enjoyed it.

The girls were in a team called Dodgem Dogs. Their costumes were meant to look like they were dogs driving in dodgem cars. It was quite hard to spot them in such camouflage and I nearly missed seeing them! Just managed a couple of photos. The one below was taken by their mum after the parade ended.

Drum Machine

There was a varied programme of music laid on in Roberts Park and up at Shipley Glen for the event commemorating the 1908 Rally for Suffrage. I was delighted to get another chance to enjoy Drum Machine, a 30 piece drum collective founded by Aid Todd, who are based in Hebden Bridge but take their thrilling beat music all over Yorkshire. You can hear their drumming over on their webpage HERE.

May Day in Otley part 2

For dancing, you need music and the Otley May Day maypole dancers (see yesterday's post) were accompanied by the musicians that play for the Buttercross Belles and the Wharfedale Wayzgoose morris side.

The Wayzgoose are a border morris side and have very ornate and traditional costumes, with lots of bells, ribbons and feathers.

The Otley Bellman (Terry Ford) also had a hand in the proceedings. He is Otley's Town Crier, an ancient role that involves delivering messages and proclamations to the townspeople.

World Heritage Day 2018

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny, Spring day. There were masses of people enjoying Saltaire's Roberts Park. Check out, too, the four gorgeous magnolia trees on the Promenade, blooming late this year but happily (so far) unblemished by frost. Even someone official with a chain was there... though I'm not sure who he was! (I thought it would be the Lord Mayor of Bradford but it isn't.) (PS: Might be Baildon's mayor?)

In the bandstand, Hall Royd Brass Band were playing. I always love listening to a brass band in the bandstand. It is really the only music that can be heard without amplification. It just sounds so right and fitting.

The occasion was, of course, a celebration of Saltaire's UNESCO World Heritage Site status, to mark World Heritage Day 2018.

Puppets on the Edge

The children were enthralled by these large-scale puppets, who were entertaining, as part of The Big Picnic, with a variety of musical numbers. I particularly liked the purple one. (My online photo club theme for this month is 'purple' so she may feature as my entry for that!) 

Buskers

Saltaire Festival 2016 -  A trio of buskers were serenading the crowds on the way down Victoria Road. I couldn't see anything that told you who they were, unfortunately. They played nice, folk-based music though.

Stomping in Leeds

I had to venture into the big city (Leeds) to do some shopping. It will be good, in retirement, to be able to avoid Saturdays, when the city centre is packed and the queues for the changing rooms are endless... Saturdays do have the advantage, however, that there are lots of buskers around, so that walking through the streets is very much enlivened by a variety of genres of music, from rock and pop through classical to 'world' music.

This trio, the Leeds City Stompers, were terrific and drew a huge crowd. Christopher Fox, Martyn Roper and Jack Amblin sing and play guitar, drums, double bass and washboard between them. Their style draws on vintage blues, ragtime, swing and folk music, harking back to 1920s Prohibition-era America and up to the 1950s. They sounded great and encouraged lots of folk to dance. Some fantastic dancing too! It was hard to stand still! Good to see people enjoying themselves - dancers, musicians and watching crowd alike.