Bishops Frome versus Trafalgar Square

For the last couple of years we have arranged a disco/party to celebrate the ‘Return of the Sun’ and to raise a few quid for some good causes. This spring it didn’t happen, a major reason being the clash of dates with the Anti-Trident demo in London. Leaping about in the village hall would have been much warmer than standing in an icy wind in Trafalgar Square but I’m glad we had been there to listen to some inspiring speeches about the insanity of spending a fortune on something that no sane person would ever envisage putting to use.

Alright Now

Doing my best to ignore the crazy world of politics, I actually enjoyed a very successful summer of courses in my new shelter at Greenwood Cottage. So to celebrate, I took it on myself to organize ‘Farewell to the Sun’, as one last fling before winter set in. Stevie and his young crew were happy to run the disco. I tracked down AleWrightNow (I only just got the play on words relating to Free’s big hit), who were happy to lay on a licenced bar with all the works plus 3 staff if we could reckon on about 80 adults. As the date grew near, I realized I had been a bit lazy with publicity and invitations, on top of which lots of people had planned trips and other events to coincide with the half-term hols.

Dashing away

The evening arrived and I turned up having collected a couple of friends, Emily & Paul from the train, to find the AleWright crew chomping at the bit, waiting for the previous kids Halloween party to vacate the kitchen. One benefit of this quick change-over was that we inherited a load of pumpkin and bat decorations to compliment the colourful bunting that Tamsin brought along – having dashed back from a day with her artist friends at the opening of the latest fabulous exhibition at Twenty Twenty gallery in Bridgenorth.

Our first guest was Felicity, the recently retired mayor of nearby Leominster with her husband Pete, after whom a steady trickle of both expected and unexpected friends and guests slowly dispelled my fear of the event being a damp squib. A selection of 70’s disco was followed by some electronic music and when the rock playlist kicked in, the place started buzzing. When the last few guests arrived, they were greeted by a sweaty, frenzied but very happy old greenwood chair-maker, of whom I’m sure Philip Clissett would have been proud. Enough friends stayed on to help clear up – many thanks to Lois & Ben and especially Jo & Colin. This just left Tamsin, Paul, Emily and myself to find/wind/wend our way through the broccili field back to Greenwood Cottage for the night.

A good old fry-up

After counting up the £300 takings to be shared between the two charities, Practical Action and Peace Direct, the following morning was spent enjoying a mild morning in the garden around our splendid fire pit (made for us by Andrew Findlay). A huge fry-up was donated and cooked by old friends David & Smiffy. This brought back fond memories of many such morning breakfasts in the woods, stretching back beyond Brookhouse Wood to the days of Clissett Wood.

Thus fortified, Paul leapt into action helping with my earthworks, extending the lawn below Tamsin’s ‘creative nest’ at the top of the garden, much to the delight of Tamsin’s ‘familiar’, ZaZa.

It’s now head down for me to get some chairs made for Hereford Contemporary in a couple of weeks, while Tamsin creativity is unleashed in fulfilling the many demands for her work in the run up to Christmas. – see Tamsin’s website for more details.