A musical weekend

A couple of weeks ago P and I set off in the freezing weather on the train, bound for the pretty village of Pewsey in Wiltshire. We couldn't trust that the car would get us there as it had been snowing all week and the forecast was for more.

Musical pub in Pewsey

The occasion was a party thrown by an old friend and his partner. With the weather looking dodgy we might have been tempted to cry off. However, we knew we could count on it being a great evening with fabulous live music, so off we went willy nilly. The five hour journey allowed me lots of uninterrupted knitting time - always a bonus - and we arrived feeling chilled and ready to party.

I've since finished my scarf and called it the Freedom Scarf,
after the Freedom Tower in New York where the wool was bought,
and the liberties I've taken with the pattern which was free
with the yarn

We were met on the station by the lovely Sylvie, who had offered to put us up in her home which was only a stone's throw from the village hall where the party was held.

Traditional architecture in Pewsey

Before the party, over bubbles in the kitchen, we chatted about life and friends in common and it turned out she was a singer in an acapella band. I was meaning to give you the name and a link to the band, but blame it on the bubbly, it's completely slipped my mind.

Although we'd never met before, Sylvie made us feel completely at home and time raced by, but eventually we managed to get ourselves off to the party and arrived to the strains of ceilidh music spilling out into the car park, with most people inside on their feet dancing a riotous Roger de Coverley - or similar, my knowledge of folk dance is sadly lacking, although I can do a pretty good Gay Gordons.

Paul and Jane must have been slaving over the stove all day as there was no shortage of the delish Chili sensa Carne washed down with liberal amounts of wine or beer. Later came The Dubious Brothers, Paul's rock n roll band, who played out the evening with a blinding set of rhythm and blues while everyone bopped till they dropped. A fantastic evening with lovely people- all in all a right good do as they say in my native Lancashire.

The gorgeous scarf that caught my eye

Next day, waiting for the train with Paul on the very quiet and empty local station, we were approached by a man with a guitar. I was immediately taken by his super fairisle scarf, but seems  Pewsey is absolutely bursting at the seams with musical folk, as he also had his own band, which is Peter & the Mountain. Peter had only arrived to meet his girlfriend from the train, so once on the train I quickly looked up the band on SoundCloud and was impressed - have a listen here.

Big thank you to Sylvie, who turned out to be the chief-cook-and-bottle-washer at the party as well as local landlady. So glad we  didn't let the weather bother us - as it turned out there was no snow in Pewsey anyway!.

PS Don't go away.  In a couple of days on the 12th I'll be interviewing Ann Kingstone and reviewing her latest hot-off-the-press new book, Born & Bred.  And... you guessed it, there'll be a giveaway!  This Yorkshire-inspired knitting book is well worth winning, so make sure you drop by. See you then...
Musical Links
The Yirdbards
The Dubious Brothers
Peter & the Mountain
Ceilidh Band, another name that escapes me, but they were tremendous