All members of Hexham Morrismen, and of our sister team The Hexhamshire Lasses, are deeply shaken by Angela's sudden death, and our hearts go out to Frank in his loss.   But after we have said farewell to Angela on Thursday, we will be celebrating her life and achievements in the way that she would have wanted – with music, dance and song, in conviviality and good fellowship.   Sue's tribute on this thread has already mentioned many of the things which made Angela such a memorable person, but I'd like to add one more – she was a great tourist.
   
Performing at an overseas folk festival is a marvellous experience, but it is sometimes very stressful.   Long journeys, lack of sleep, digestive upsets and unexpected changes to the schedule can all wear you down. Then there's the nerve-jangling wait backstage before you go out to do or die for five minutes in front of a live audience of hundreds - or sometimes a TV audience of thousands. The stress is enhanced by the knowledge that many other acts on the bill are not amateurs like you, but highly trained (and state funded) professionals. Understandably, some people find all this hard to deal with – but never Angela.

Angela was an absolute rock on all the Hexham tours.   When performing herself, when reassuring others who were about to perform, or when dealing calmly with all the minor problems that arose while we were on the road, she could always be relied upon to do or say the right thing at the right time, with the minimum amount of fuss. We will miss her terribly, but we will all carry fond memories of her forward with us, as we do our best to keep celebrating the music, dances and songs that she cared about so much.

Wassail!