Paul's last email to me was on 20 April 2018 to report the death of Derek Sarjeant, formerly of the Surbiton Folk Club. Paul and I were well into our potted history of the Fo'c'sle Folk Club, and he had spent two long and exhausting days in Southampton's Records Office searching newspaper files and papers relating to the old venues once occupied by the Fo'c'sle.

We were scheduled, along with Brian hooper, to visit Trevor Gilson, a former organiser of the Club, on Thursday of this week, to examine surviving Fo'c'sle documents. That will not happen now, and the future of our project is now uncertain.

Paul was a huge and ferociously active figure on the southern folk scene and as well as Forest Tracks, the local but by no means provincial record label, he made contributions to other important labels, including Topic, for whom his technical gifts at digitising vintage recordings was an acknowledged asset.

His researches led him down many highways and byways, and he made important contributions to our knowledge of Gypsy lore and folk songs. He produced two highly entertaining and informative village history concerts, one at the village of Twford, just up the road from his own Brambridge, the other at Emery Down, in both of which he laid on complementary displays of old photographs and memorabilia, and filled both halls to capacity.

His passing is shockingly unexpected. His letters, emails, phone calls and personal visits were full of animated demonstrations of his discoveries from his folk music researches. The empty, silent space he leaves behind will be difficult to fill, as he will be greatly mourned.