Have been associated with folk music and clubs for a big whack o' my life, but [at risk of miffing fellow-Scots!] the club at Hexham, Northumberland in the 1960s and 70s stands well above any other of personal experience.
Much that was good, and some that was exceptional, in across-the-board music and song [and mime, and recitation] was in regular supply there. There was, as you'd expect,many a [mild] dispute as to the merits or demerits of trad, country, blues, contemporary folk etc., but a full house week after week was evidence enough that very few had a complete antipathy for what they were hearing. Tony McMaughan, lead singer of our resident "Marras" , when asked by one wag just what constituted folk music, replied "What folk like to sing!" The perfect answer, I'd say.
So we could present performers like Vin Garbutt [who cracked me up just tuning his guitar}, Jim Sharp, Benny "the Whale"
Graham, the High Level Ranters [who were there anyway if the night was gig-free], Pete Coe, Battlefield Band, Barbara Dickson, Danny Kyle, ALL of the Fisher family[plus Artie Tresize, minus the lassie in Oz], the "Frisco Fire Band" with Faith Pretic [sp?],"Magic Lantern", "Five Hand Reel" Bob Fox & Stu Luckley, our own "Marras, and resident singers Terry Conway, Caroline Robson, Brian Taylor and---and--I'd better stop, cuz there's not enough time and space!
Everything from the ten-miles-long Battle of Otterburn through the repertoire of Rab Noakes and James Taylor to the ever popular Beatles.
   Sadly, Hexham folk club has slipped down the years to a monthly meet in the Royal Hotel. But if there's another region on Earth with a greater density of "folkies" to this day, then I'd like to have a spell there!