yes i came into folk music around 1960 - when i heard where have all the flowers gone on the radio, and we were liv[ng in Lincolnshire where you could walk past thor rockets armed with nuclear warheads and vulcan bombers carrying h bombs on the way to school.

we came at folk music from different angles Jim - to you it has to be about industrial diseases and working mens experiences - usually in long finished industries, well i sympathise with that. my mum and her sister grew up breathing in the polluted air of St Helens - where the rain contained sulphurous and sulphuric acid in their time. and as a result they suffered.

i think my testimony and the folksong i have created is as valuable as anyone else, and a damn sight more entertaining than most.

I've also helped more than a few artists with their work over the years. but without the English folksong and dance society patting me on the back - and frankly it would have been appreciated.