Hi Judy

    Yes I totally agree with you, Ihave been on the scene for40 years and have met some great friends during this time at various clubs and festivals, some of them still around since the beginning of my foray into the world of folk music. The amazing thing is that even after all this time I am still meeting and making some cracking new friends.

The great thing about folky friends is that unlike most large groups,the majority of them are really genuine people and become lasting friends even though you may only see them perhaps once or twice a year at a particular festival it is amazing how they turn up trumps when you really need them.

About 15 months ago I became quite severely disabled through arthritus and it is absolutely mind blowing the number of folkies that have turned up out of the blue to see if they can be of help in any way, in fact on the day that we moved house about 8 months ago so many turned up that we had to have them in shifts ;cos there wasn't room for them all in our now rather small bungalow, so we had one shift helping for a while and the rest down the pub and this went on all day until we all went to the pub together in the evening. How fortunate we are to be part of this great Folk Family.

How ever going back to your feeling Judy about old established clubs, I also get a nice feeling whenever I find a new club opening because it means that this huge warm arm of real frienship is being extended once again.

In conclusion, a very big thank you to all the folkies who have made my life so much richer all these years and I hope will continue to do so for many years yet I just hope that I deserve it.

Bye now Barrie