pfr - I was very lucky to be introduced to folk through the Nursery Folk Club in Hartlepool which, as well as an eclectic booking policy, also had one of the best crowds of people you could hope to meet as the organisers and audience. I was really disappointed when I moved away that not all clubs were like that......

I attended the Topic off and on for many years once I moved to Bradford only finally becoming a weekly attendee when the club moved to a pub I had a direct bus connection to. Instead of only going to see people I had heard of I started going to see everyone and made some great discoveries. Later I got involved with the Committee and as mentioned above was the booking sec for just over a year - this was after I had spent a similar period booking artists for pub gigs and helping in the organisation of a few festivals. So it looks like there is no hope for me :-)

Since moving to York there are so many opportunities for listening to music of all genres I don't go to a club as often and a lot of time is spent promoting my own roots and Americana gigs.