Spare a thought for Dave and Sheila Grindrod from Horncastle in Lincolnshire who set out, complete with caravan, to come to our Millennium party in Sherborne, a journey of approximately 300 miles. They had just got over half way when the exhaust went on the car and it began to sound like a Fordson-Major tractor and fill up with rather nasty fumes. There was no way they could get it mended so they had to turn around and head on homewards with the windows wide open in the freezing cold. On top of this Dave was already suffering from a chest infection. When the medals are handed out I'm sure you will get yours. Dave and Sheila aren't alone in their dedication. I reckon some of our friends travel as many miles as we do to come to our performances. Bless yer cotton socks and thank you very much.
The Musical Heritage of Thomas Hardy
For some while now we have had no copies of the Hardy double CD but we have fortunately been able to acquire some more and we have also been booked for 4 more Hardy concerts early this year. 3 of them are for Arts Reach in the village halls of Dorset. They are at Cranborne on January 21st; Halstock on January 28th and Drimpton on January 29th. The other show is in Southbourne Methodist Church on the 25th of March.
Halsway Manor Weekend
The residential places for this weekend have been sold out for some time but you can come and join in the fun and games on the Saturday when the evening concert is open to all comers. That's the 26th of February. [contact details removed] for tickets.
Projects in Hand (As opposed to Out of Hand which they have been of late)
1. Folk 'N' Brass. We did release this CD at the concert in Salisbury City Hall as intended and I happily set about selling them. Unfortunately they were actually delivered to the hall on the night of the show so there was no chance to listen to the finished product beforehand. Well, we had spent a lot of time and trouble with the mixing and thought we were on to a safe thing. However, when I got the CDs home I was appalled at what I heard. Something had gone drastically wrong in the factory. We have since re-mixed and even re-recorded one track to put things right. We should have CDs by the end of January and cassettes soon afterwards. Meanwhile suggestions as to what to do with 500 duff CDs would be appreciated. I suppose strung together they might frighten the birds off the garden.
2. It's A Fine Thing To Sing Video. The film of the recording of the concert in the Digby Hall, Sherborne, March, 1999. This will get done soon but before Christmas we were going round in every decreasing circles and Phil and Jenny at Classic Video were editing 8 television programmes for Meridian and were on a very tight schedule.
3. Along The River Stour (part 2). I'm delighted to say that the first part of the Stour journey has been very well received and I look forward to filming part 2 but this is a long job and it has to be done properly or not at all. Before Christmas I was cheerfully saying it would be ready by the middle of the year but I think there was a little wishful thinking involved and, being realistic, it will probably be the autumn before we have finished editing.
Yetties Internet & E-mail
Web address: http://www.shogun.co.uk/yetties/ [contact details removed] Appologies to one and all for the addition of an extra dot in the web site address last time round. We all know that no harm was meant but computers don't take kindly to such little errors. Julian Mullins, who looks after our more intricate computer matters, has been expanding and developing our web site and linking it up with other Dorset organisations so there is a proper little mine of information at your finger tips once you get on line. The e-mails come directly to me.
Bonny