Concertina ceol - the difference this time is that they are actually getting rid of the staff. Previously, as far as I can tell, the Trustees have just moved staff around, prevented them from working and that's about it. This time they've just sacked over half of the people who keep things running.

You're right about the age of the membership, tho. I joined because I wanted to use the library. Great resource, helpful people - couldn't have been happier with it. The rest? I got the impression that the staff were wading through treacle to just try and operate. I think the fact that they couldn't keep a Chief Exec for more than a year at a stretch says something about how they treat people.

I let my membership lapse because what else was I getting for £35 a year? A rather parochial little magazine and err... That was it. Oh, and public liability insurance if you're a club. Which I'm not.

They seemed to have picked up in recent times with a few stonking publications - "Traveller's Joy" is great, particularly, and they've had some good occasional events - the Shirley Collins talk, Cyril Tawney's memorial and so forth. I wondered if they'd found the plot again.

I guess the Trustees must have decided that they looked a bit too much like a working folk organisation, so decided to sack some people and get the boot in.

Bloody shame. I'd hoped it was all a bad practical joke. All the Trustees should be ashamed of themselves.