By "Doctor Paul", (Dr. Paul Morgan)

27th-29th June, 1997,
Steeple Morden,
Cambridgeshire.

It was with a heavy heart that I pulled into Steeple Morden on the Friday afternoon; the rain was coming down like stair rods, and with my being a ‘real’ camper of the hair-shirt variety this had all the makings of a soggy weekend.

Salvation arrived in the form of John Pearman, the festival’s organiser, who was kind enough to allocate me a room in the cricket pavilion. I was also sharing quarters with Dave Bresnen, Chris Wilson and their shop, which only added to the weekend’s entertainment.

This was my second trip to Steeple Morden. It is a small and friendly festival with a high proportion of pickers present. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Edale in the early days - the old hands will know what I mean. Regular faces included 15 year old banjo player Joanna and her parents Al and Rose who had again made the trip from Holland to be there,

The advertised weekend price of £12 included admission and camping only. Tickets for the three concerts (Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon) were available separately at £5.00 each. By purchasing all 3 tickets together there was a 50% discount on their face value, so the total cost was £19.50 to include all concerts. I felt this compared favourably with other festival prices, but I did hear one very disgruntled punter arguing loudly over the unexpected additional charge to see the bands.

In contrast to last year there was no Old Time concert on the Friday night; instead there was an open jam session in the village hall. In spite of the awful weather the place began to fill up encouragingly as the evening wore on.

The line-up of bands was essentially the same as last year, including both the Essex & East Coast Bluegrass bands, Them Harvey Boys, Missing Strings and The Bluegrass Gentlemen - with Kate Lissauer catering for the Old Time enthusiasts. I was faced with the usual dilemma of watching the concerts versus the (to me) better picking sessions around the campsite. In particular, Them Harvey Boys gave a great informal performance in the marquee after the Saturday evening concert.

The village community spirit was evident all weekend with the bar being provided by Mr. Dave Mumford, the landlord of the nearby pub. The local ladies pitching in to provide reasonably priced meals throughout the day in the pavilion cafeteria. My trusty old Labrador, Merlin, had a great time relishing the company and disappearing frequently to the barbecue tent; my thanks to the catering staff who flipped him the occasional hamburger.

The high spot of my weekend was the jam session outside the pavilion which started after midnight on Saturday. One number was instigated by master banjo-players Terry Holland and Howard Burton, who started trading licks. It developed into an impromptu instrumental which to the best of my knowledge none of’ us had ever heard before. Once the chord sequence was established others joined in and a roaring pick developed. The session was still really cooking at 2a.m., when I had to admit defeat and retire to bed.

Noteworthy was a masterly display of ‘classical’ banjo playing by a chap whose name I didn’t establish but whose virtuosity had to be seen to be believed. He soon gathered a large circle of appreciative musicians around him.

Sadly, the 300 mile journey home on Sunday meant an early departure and missing the afternoon concert.

Steeple Morden comes highly recommended. It’s extremely friendly, the music heard is almost all “pure” bluegrass and it’s a real picker’s weekend.

Paul Morgan