Steps back in Time

Sunday at The Queens on Scotland Street, Monday at The King George in Barnsley, Tuesday the University Club .. or was it? .. can't quite remember that one but Wednesday was Stocksbridge and Thursday the Travellers Rest, Rotherham, where I met my husband, Malcolm Fox. Derbyshire on a Friday evening might see us at Tideswell Folk Club but there were also clubs at Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield. Of course, Saturday we'd always be at the Barley Mow Folk Club at The Three Cranes in Sheffield. At that time there was an abundance of great clubs around the area and more often than not there'd be around two or three to choose from each night - these were just a few.

You could walk into any one of them and immediately feel a lively and welcoming atmosphere, noisy, friendly, bustling and heaving with folk of all ages who'd gone there to listen to and join in with the music and the repartee. It didn't seem to matter in those days who was on, whether it was the newly-formed duo Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, or an evening with local resident singers like Pete Garrett, Tony Capstick 'Bean' and Terry (The Louisville Burglars). The clubs were always bursting at the seams by around 7.45 pm, with people spilling their beer and tripping over each other trying to find somewhere to sit, even if it was on top of the piano! The singing would start at 8.00 pm prompt, and such singing you never heard anywhere else. The sound of Dave Burland singing 'Pleasant and Delightful' with the audience participating in full harmony was quite unforgettable, as was Bob Davenport's powerful rendition of 'Durham Lockout' and Capstick and Malc singing "When This Bloody War is Over" (see photo).

. A particularly memorable Barley Mow Christmas Party saw a line-up which included Pete Wood, The Songwainers from Cheltenham and The Mexborough Concertina Working Man's Club Band. Two of The Dubliners, Barney McKenna and Luke Kelly, who were playing that evening at the night club across the road, popped in for a drink and a couple of songs too - what a superb night that was. At a spin-off evening held at The Marples Hotel in Sheffield, the Barley Mow presented an equally unforgettable evening with Dominic Behan, Nigel Denver and Dave Burland. I could go on and on about all the good nights but can't recall a really bad one.

Everyone who was around at that time will have their own special memories of the Folk Scene in the 60s. My own are mostly of the Barley Mow which at the time I met him was organised by Malc, along with Gerry and Paul Bates and Peter Civico. In addition to the clubs themselves there was a strong social life associated with them where romances blossomed and lifelong friendships grew. Food was a very important factor too; hardly surprising as the chaps in the 'Alehouse Three', Gerry, Paul and Malc, needed much sustenance in the form of food and drink to be able to do all that singing! After the Barley Mow club on a Saturday night, groups of us would invariably descend on one of the Indian restaurants, the Roman Room, the Rickshaw or the Press Club. Or we'd maybe end up at someone's house for an allnight party, where we'd eat, drink and sing along to the strains of someone strumming a guitar with our host's parents waking up the following morning to find bodies strewn all over their living room floor!

The ciub also organised trips to Sidmouth, Cleethorpes and Whitby folk festivals as well as outings to Scarborough, Ironbridge and other places of interest. One year at Sidmouth Festival there was a 'Sheffield Night' when members of the Barley Mow and the Queens Club provided the whole evening's entertainment which included a specially written mumming play. There must still be people around who remember that evening. Was the play documented? I don't know, but it would be interesting if someone did and could write about it. Incidentally, how many folk out there can remember going to Whitby Festival one year in Malc's tater wagon? There were about forty of us with tents, fishing tackle etc. so some of you must have a tale or two to tell about that (the van broke down halfway up Sutton Bank and that was just the start).

Folk music wasn't just a hobby with us, it was a way of life and after we were married occupied almost all of our spare time after work. The kitchen walls in our small flat would be covered with lists of tours for singers and groups such as The Yetties, Dave and Toni Arthur, Christy Moore, Martin Wyndham-Reed, Tony Capstick and a few others as well. I remember one week I typed around forty letters to club organisers, singers and groups on a cranky old typewriter that we had! Along with others we would regularly 'put up' singers and musicians overnight after the club and I remember with fondness The Yetties, who were regular guests at the Barley Mow. They would often stay with us, sometimes for up to two weeks at a time when they were on tour - four big chaps as well as us all in our tiny flat! They were smashing lads, full of fun, we had some great times and we still keep in touch.

I have a multitude of wonderful memories of the Barley Mow and the folk scene in those early days and I can say that folk music certainly changed my life in a lot of ways. Having been brought up mainly on church and classical music, meeting Malc and discovering the world of folk music with all its diversity widened my musical horizons and gave me a greater appreciation of many other types of music and through this grew my own love of folk music.