"Preserving" is an entirely inappropriate word, Faye.

"Sustaining" would have been more apposite and likely to have brought about a more constructive debate.

There are problems though and certain things could do with a little tinkering. The biggest one in my opinion is touched on above by Anahata. Namely the "anything goes" culture which may have been fine for the burgeoning 1960's folk scene and a generation of young folks seduced into the folk scene by hearing the Radio Ballads or watching the Spinners on BBC1.

There'll always be people who deny there's anything wrong because their club is still pulling in the crowds. Have they evolved in any way though and has the average age of the members lowered at any point in the last thirty years? These are the most important considerations that need to be addressed....before it's too late.

I haven't got any answers. I rather fear the youngsters today haven't got the attention span to sit and listen to anything for any length of time without fidgeting or reaching to text on their mobiles. They can't even sit down and listen to an album in it's entirety from beginning to end without flicking across tracks. The clubs that reach out for (and attract) younger people (like The Magpie's Nest in London) have got problems with noise during performances. The discipline of polite silence is missing as much at gigs as it is (apparently) in the classroom and lecture theatre.