There's a huge gap between The Transports and PB's untimely demise; indeed he had many triumphs thereafter, even on the back of it, with some great productions, including that from Portsmouth filmed by Doc Rowe currently in pre-post-possible DVD (?) production after all these years. Amongst a stellar cast that show featured Jim Eldon as The Ballad Singer, John Kirkpatrick as MD, and the whole shebang was directed and choreographed by Taffy and Chrissie Thomas. It was even broadcast by Jim Lloyd on Folk on Two...

Twenty years ago the Folk World was a very different place; Bellamism was a persecuted cult restricted to a few scattered souls - wild & raggy prophets, voices crying in the wilderness - whose enthusiasms were generally met with distain, spitting and mockery - and wry bewilderment by PB himself I might add. This was the era of the triumphal Songs and Rummy Conjurin Tricks which made one hell of a splash at the time. And believe you me when I say that as wonderful as that recording is, it's as nothing compared to the passion and the piety and prowess that PB was packing into his performances at the time. Near the end was his show at The Durham Folk Party on the last Saturday of July 1991. I had the honoured to be doing 'the sound' that night. As soon as he took the stage a good 50% of the Good North East Folkies (in what was already a pityful small audience) made a Big Show of standing up and walking out. Why? Who knows? No doubt in some sort of small-minded political protest (we've a long tradition of such empty gestures in the North East) but it necessitated that I then run out into the night among the pub sessions & singarounds to raise up an audience. My rallying cry? Come on you lot - there wouldn't even be a Folk Scene if it wasn't for Peter Bellamy!. Whatever the case he was not simply on top of his game that night, he trascended even that and reached heights us lesser mortals might only dream of - I have a tape to prove it! Blistering is not the word. He was firing mighty broadsides on all 98 canons and that One Voice seriously threatened the structral ingretity of Durham Town Hall.

Two months later we got the tragic news. We Bellamists withdrew in shock. Hell, I'm still in shock to be honest, even though twenty years on his name shines in the hearts of a new generation of Bellamists entirely unforeseen back in the dark days of 1991.

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Today in the Sunday Times, you can read a very nice review from Stewart Lee of our album Songs from the Barley Temple. You can hear tracks on the fRoots playlist, and read Ian Anderson's erudite assessment of our efforts the October edition of fRoots. I'm just mentioning this because SFTBT is by way of our more personal tribute to Peter Bellamy on various levels (someone on Mudcat recently thought our Porcupine song was genuine Kipling:Bellamy; as accolades go it doesn't get any higher than that!) right down to Barley Temple being an anagram of the great man's name. He is no longer with us, but in terms of Cultural Impact his light, beauty, example and inspiration live on undimmed.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - we will, quite simply, never see his likes again.