One of the biggest problems of the folk scene is that a lot of younger people (and older ones including me) are fed up with the pedantry, intolerance, arrogance and huge egos of many of the older generation who run much of the scene. You just have to read a few Mudcat threads to see what I mean.

I can contrast this with my experiences over that last three years as a volunteer with The Woodland Trust on the nationwide Observatree Project. Charity volunteers tend to be predominantly over the age of 50 but, on this project, at least half of those I have met have been under 50, with a fair few in their 20s and 30s. The atmosphere, camaraderie and co-operation have been fantastic - from novices through to professional experts who have gone out of their way to spread their knowledge and experience of tree health and threats and give help and encouragement whenever it's needed. Nationwide, Observatree has been a huge success and is set to continue for the next few years at least. If the attitudes that are prevalent here were to be mirrored in the folk scene, there would be no need for threads like this.