Despite some good recommendations, much of that Times article are garbage. Apart from anything else, in much of the UK the folk clubs are irrelelevant . . and too many of them are more likely to put people off the music. Granted there appear to be areas where this is not so (the North East in particular has been cited), and there remain good clubs in many areas, but (IMO) far more significant these days is the Arts Centres circuit.

And despite his hype, John Leonard's programme is generally dismal (his frontsperson, former folk humourist Mike Harding, doesn't help); its usual bland, easy-listening MOR content is quite untypical of the strength of Folk music in the UK; indeed the UK folk scene is gravely under-represented in the programme (although its not as uniformly dreadful as it was in its early days).

By contrast there is now an excellent late-night Radio 3 programme which covers folk/roots music from the UK and the rest of the world and does so very well - plus Ned Sherrin (Radio 4?) frequently features excellent Folk acts without the need to submerge them beneath his own patronising ego . .

So - the "scene" is in very good health . . just don't trust "mainstream" journalism.

G.