Frank....come over here and sit down and I'll tell you a story.

This is the story of a folk week, one that many people never wanted to happen and one that many people did. And so.....they went into battle. Sidmouth was verbally kicked, stabbed, bruised, spat on and poisoned, as were the people who stood up for it.

However, the people who wanted the folk week, because they saw through all the hurt, the anger and realised that something so very precious was at stake, chose to ride through all that hatred.

Now, at times it has been hellish for many of us. I'm sure that more than one person who has been so 'verbally abused' has thought "I've had enough....no more!"...but Frank....they stayed. They did! And I have nothing but the utmost respect for them all.

Do not ask me to have respect for the people who have tried so hard to undermine Sidmouth. They have twisted and confused, they have tried to wipe out people, they have tried to wipe out Sidmouth!

If you read Robbie Wilson's summing up of 'The McBrides' post and take a step back you may see that Robbie has hit it right on the head, he can see exactly what I see and what Lynne sees. We have been dealing with the 'Moaning Minnies' and the 'Sidmouth Stirrers' for neary a whole year now! We can smell them out Frank.

First of all, very few people book themselves into Mudcat as Mr. and Mrs. anything! Well....apart from the infamous 'Mr. and Mrs. Gigg' who appeared in the 'Who is not going to Sidmouth' thread...I packed them off too! ;0)

I am done with people coming on here and putting down foul words about Sidmouth, Frank. If you care deeply enough you will see through it all as well. I tell you what...if The McBrides would like to tell me where they were booked in for their alleged visit to Sidmouth, I'll see if I can find them somewhere better value, it may be hard, because the town and campsite are both getting booked up fast now, but if they REALLY want to come to Sidmouth, I'm sure they'd do anything NOT to miss it!!

And don't have a go at Lynne, obviously you know her, but Lynne has been an absolute Sidmouth Guardian Angel. She too has been spat upon by Diane, she too has fended off some pretty unpleasant words. I have a deep respect for Lynne and many others who have done the same.

Diane loathes me from the Radio 2 board, pure and simple. She loathes Show of Hands, she loathes the fact that I have put many, many positive words down on the Radio 2 board about them. She has done everything she can possibly think of to get rid of me, even down to calling me a racist, a facist, insulting my children, calling me thick, dull, stupid and pornographic! (amongst other things!) And all on a BBC board! Hey, that's nice isn't it? However, if you choose to see Diane's view of me, so be it Frank...it is entirely your choice. I will not lose sleep over it, for long ago I put on my Eleanor Roosevelt knickers, which have Eleanor's wonderful words on them...."No-one has the right to make you feel inferior without your consent!" Diane does not and never will have my consent, neither does Fiona and neither do you or anyone else.

And so....today as I write this there is, once again, a group of brilliant people in my town Frank. The Sidmouth Folk Week Committee are right at this minute, as I type, meeting, yet again, down in The Arts Centre in Sidmouth. They have, once more, given up their week-end to plan Sidmouth Folk Week, so that everyone will have the best time possible and it will all go as smoothly as possible. Some of them have come twice the distance that you were planning to come to Sidmouth, hundreds and hundreds of miles, over and over again...for one reason...Sidmouth Folk Week and keeping Sidmouth alive!

But, unlike other festival organisers, they have had to this under a huge torrent of verbal abuse on messageboards, they have put in their time, their own money, their love, for something they believe in deeply! They long ago turned away from Mudcat, as it was causing them distress, quite understandably! They have put their heads down and just 'got on with the job' and they have moved this festival forwards to a place where no-one dreamed it would be. Other people would have walked away from all this hatred and criticism, but they didn't, they stayed and so Frank I have the deepest admiration for them...the very deepest!! And THEY and THAT is why I stay on here and take the verbal abuse....because I believe in them and I believe in Sidmouth.

Now for my children! Of course you must have realised that I'm not 19! My two children are 10 and 18. They came out of school about 3 years back now. Between the bullying and the craziness of the National Curriculum, which is putting unheard of pressures on teachers, who are passing that on to our children, they basically began to fall apart. My daughter, in particular, couldn't see a way out! This beautiful spirit that I had made stay on in school, because I thought there was no option, lost her will to live basically! Her soul was crushed by it all, as are many other young peoples. It has taken me three long years to resurrect her spirit and it now shines bright and clear. She has no GCSE's....she has turned her back upon all exams, she wants no part of them. She is one of the most intelligent people I know, I am extremely, heart-breakingly proud of her in every single way it is possible to be. A colleague of hers from Tavistock College, a young girl called Stephanie, has recently committed suicide. There but for the grace of God.......

My son is dyslexic, he was already being shouted at for gettting 2 out of 10 in his spellings....he was SIX years old at the time. He was kicked, half-strangled, teased, bullied beyond comprehension! He is a kind, quiet lad who also now has a spirit that shines out! He will probably not take exams either, unless he so chooses. Again, an intelligent, lively, loving young lad with a passion for life and a warm view of all people.

And Frank, when I look around me and see so many broken spirits, so many young people on our streets vomiting up not only alcohol, but their very souls at times, I see a society that is no longer working. A society that seems to have abandoned its' young people for profit! Read John Gatto's 'Dumbing Us Down' about the American Education system and how EVERYTHING that is happening over here happened over there, (and sadly is still happening now) about five, ten years ago. It is all there in a short, concise book, written by a man who was a teacher for 30 years!

BUT, when I go to Folk Festivals I see society at its very best, as it once used to be, old teaching young, young teaching old, all dancing, singing, enjoying TOGETHER. I see people who can be free to be themselves, who have found a joy in life and life SHOULD be joyful! And THAT is another reason why I have chosen to fight for Sidmouth and if anyone out there doesn't like it or is prepared to undermine what Sidmouth is about.....then just now and again Frank I will damn well pack them off with a flea in their ear!!

I've read through all your Sidmouth posts and you have always gone on about people having a sense of humour, well look at the way I normally try to fight off the moaning minnies, with humour, but just occasionally, and I was expecting it over the tickets, things go a little too far and I react accordingly.

So to all those who choose to say unpleasant things about Sidmouth or about me and others on here...well I always did fancy the cotton socks of that Rhett Butler, so I'll leave you with his words:

"Frankly my dear....I don't give a damn!" ;0)

Lizzie :0)

PS...I hope we can still be 'friends' after all this mix-up Frank, for I realise that this sort of 'mix-up' is exactly what the moaning minnies want to happen.