Hi Topsie,

I didn't mean to suggest that people can, or should only socialise with people their own age. I regularly attend (and in fact help organise) events where there is a wide range of ages.

However, I think it's worth noting that many current folkies are from the generation who were young in the late 60s and 70s heyday of the folk revival when many more people their own age were into the music, and perhaps they felt it somehow belonged to them. They were around more people at around the same stage of life, discovering the music together and I think perhaps this gave the scene a sense of excitement that is now lacking. Would they have been happy going to clubs where people of their parents, or grandparents generation were greatly in the majority, or were "gatekeepers" to the music?

I am aware that older traditional singers and people of an older generation like AL Lloyd and McColl were always part of the scene, but I think the point still stands.

I value friendships and conversations with people from all ages, but there is something to be said for giving youth its own space to breath, and there's no point pretending that a relationship with someone of a completely different age and at a different stage in their life is going have the same dynamic as it would with your peers.