I got this from Rob the other day. I spoke to him on the phone later an he said it was OK to publish -


Stumbled on this site by accident and picked up the messages about
Vern's sad departure. Vern had not been well for a period of time only
he could tell in that he kept it to himself until it became too obvious to hide. He started to show the real signs when it was too late but even then carried on doing bookings in the same old way. In October of last year he could barely manage to complete a set whilst sat down and even he had to admit there was something wrong . He had
the tests and was told the inevitable that he had cancer (kidneys) and
that there was nothing that could be done for him. From then on I
carried on with our bookings reporting back to him on how things
had gone. He finally left us in March after being cared for by Kath his girifriend of nearly 40 years (yes she was the wife he always talked about) We talked at length about the future of The Likes Of Us and he wanted me to carry on for as long as possible making my own
way in our world of folk. So its Rob Mason and The Likes of Us ie the
audience. lts not the same without him and I do miss his wit and
friendship after such a long partnership - it can be very lonely up
there at times. We started we think in 1971 as a group of six with a
cub campfire at Memorial Road Meths in Walkden and it moved on
from there. Vern coined the group name one night in the Ellesmere
pub when he declared ,who would pay to see the likes of us. As time
went by two members went to Australia and found practices hard to
get to. One decided he couldn't sing and one joined the police and
said he couldn't be seen with us. We were the quiet ones on each end
of the line up and when we met in the middle got to meet each other
and the rest is history. Very proud to have been associated with the
Swinton Club and always scared stiff of performing in the club
atmosphere having cut our teeth in front of the masses, doing
missionary work. It's been a long time doing the wider audience but
we have always felt that in a small way we were spreading the Folk
word to those who would not normally receive it. So for the time
being I am solo and seeing whether I can get gigs as me rather than
Rob and Vern The Likes Of Us. I'II give it a while to see if the bookings come in but will understand if they don't because you just can't replace such a person as Vern. Until then thanks for thinking of him and the kind thoughts you put down. Ironic that the first booking was for the scouts and that theme tasted right to the last one we did together at All Saints scouts in Farnworth. Such is life.

Best wishes

Rob


Rob attended Verns funeral of course and said while being a sad occasion it did have it's lighter moments. He was asked to 'do a bit' at the service and found himself stood next to the coffin in the place he always took when they were on stage. He commented how he didn't think he would ever have to do this gig but at least Vern could no longer answer back - he hoped!:-) As the curtain closed on Verns last gig it was to the strains of himself singing 'My brother Sylvest' - A fitting song and one that had become part of him over the years. We hope to book Rob at the club in the near future and I will keep you posted.

Cheers

Dave the Gnome