As for the age 'problem' (many clubs being predominantly filled with middle-aged people and few youngsters), I like to think it will resolve itself over time. I do see young people in the clubs (although in a minority), who seem to enjoy what they see, and there are many great young performers coming through.

As the older people gradually disappear, the younger people will take their place - well, if they don't, the clubs will die out and as I won't be around to see that, I won't care. Perhaps if the clubs are seen to be dying out, there'll be another revival - again, if not, why should I care? I'd like to think folk clubs will go on forever, but it's someone else's problem if they don't. I'll be long gone.

Few teenagers are interested in folk music, and I didn't really get interested in it myself until I was in my late teens. Before that I was only interested in the pop or rock music of the day.

It was the likes of Lonnie Donegan and Bob Dylan who got me interested - by listening to them I was led to explore their influences (mostly from the USA) and that in turn led me back to British traditional music, and so on. I don't know if another Donegan or Dylan (i.e. a popular singer who adapts traditional music to their own ends) will ever appear, but these days there are a lot of young singer-songwriters who might lead young folk into visiting folk clubs and discovering other kinds of folk music there.

As far as the class issue is concerned, I agree that the old class system (with its stereotypes) no longer exists. Whether you are working class or middle class is much more blurred than it was, and probably comes down more to your attitude than your financial circumstances or your job. As others have said, many people who consider themselves working class live in their own houses, have cars, wide screen TVs with satellite/cable, etc., etc. and are no worse off financially than many people who consider themselves middle class. Often, being "working class" is a kind of inverted snobbery - being "middle class" doesn't have the same street cred as being working class. I'm not sure whether the 'class' of the attendees at folk clubs matters. The clubs I go to have a mix of people, some are professional white collar workers, some are factory workers, some are truck drivers, etc. Does it really matter who they are as long as they enjoy the music together?