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Annual Weekend Report - Last updated 14 March 2003 |
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Launde Abbey, October 2001 - The experiences of a neophyte
Steve Matthews
Only a few days after leaving Launde Abbey, I found it disconcertingly easy to slip back into familiar routines; getting up, going to work, coming home, dealing with paperwork, bills, and binning mountains of junk mail. It’s difficult to believe that just a few days previously I had been engrossed in one of the most enjoyable weekends I have had for a long time. About sixth months ago, when John Crocker first mentioned Launde Abbey to me, my first thought was: “Where’s that? Sounds like somewhere in France”. Even after checking the Launde web site, I didn’t really know what to expect.
I spent a fairly hectic week before going to Launde. After some valuable tuition from John Crocker, I managed to knock together two instrument cases, one for my mountain dulcimer, and one for a mandolin borrowed from my partner Kate. Those of you who know John Crocker won’t be surprised at his reaction on seeing my finished cases: “You can’t take those to Launde: people might think you’re an expert.”
It was a very wet drive to Market Harborough. On the way through appalling rain, I asked John Crocker if Launde was prone to flooding, to which his rather disconcerting reply was, “Well, it’s quite close to a river …”. However, we made the final few miles under clearing skies, finally arriving at Launde Abbey at 5pm in glorious sunshine. It was quite a sight, with endless rolling wooded hills dotted with moist sheep. One of the first tasks was to find out where I was sleeping, and I soon discovered that I was sharing a room with a certain David White Esq. After asking a couple of people if they knew of him, I concluded that he too must be new to Launde. We finally met at about 1pm on Friday night: it was the first, and probably last time, that I would spend two nights with a longbow man from Mytholroyd with an uncanny ability to spot yew trees from several miles away.
The first official gathering of the weekend was the AGM. I found it useful for putting faces to names, and to pick up some of the politics of Nonsuch. It was also good to see so much commitment from so many people: there seemed to be no shortage of concerns and ideas regarding the expansion of the club’s profile and membership. After dinner, and a glass of wine or three, the rest of the evening was devoted to exploring the various impromptu jam sessions that seemed to spring up in various places.
I’ve known John Shaw for about a year now, and his sessions on Saturday did not disappoint: his Hungarian tunes were certainly good for “brooding” to. Liz and Terry’s session on “Pepping up a Ballad” was also highly enjoyable. Having met neither Liz nor Terry before, my first impressions were that Terry had a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a fabulous accent which would suit songs from the humorous to the downright bawdy; and Liz’s dulcimer playing reminded me of Joni Mitchell. Having not mastered the skill yet, it was useful to find out how other people manage to sing and play at the same time! Later, at dinner, our motley crew were still heading for the “Most Wine Bottles on Table” award.
The Saturday night concert was the highlight of the weekend. There were so many
great performances of playing, poetry, reading, dancing, and singing that there
isn’t space to list them all. Hannah’s “plucky” performance was good to hear,
and I’d still like to know what that chord change was between the verses of Kath
and Neil’s ballad. I was rather shocked to find myself involved with three
concert performances, even if they were only supporting roles. After the
concert, I sat in on the sing-around session, which was highly enjoyable, except
when it was my turn to think of something to play.
On Sunday, I amazed myself by getting up in time for the morning service after far too little sleep. At some point during the day, I noticed that some wag had erased a few letters from the notice outside the front door, which now read “Nonsuch ulc er Club”: I hope it wasn’t Jill or Alyn (or the warden of Launde!). I spent the first two Sunday sessions with Maddie McNeil, who surprised everyone by managing to get a room full of blokes to take it in turns to sing a verse of Scarborough Fair (not the Simon & Garfunkel version). It soon became clear that Maddie is not only a very talented singer, but a very subtle and economical accompanist: there were several simple but effective ideas that I took away from her sessions. After a hearty lunch, I decided to get to John Letcher’s session, and I’m very glad that I did. Even for a non-hammer dulcimer player, the comparisons he made between the various different versions of the hammer dulcimer where interesting, but it was his calm courage and his tales of the people that he met encountered in Hungary, Iran and China that made his talk so moving.
After tea and the group photo, it was time for packing up and saying farewells. I took back to Bristol: two new CDs, two new dulcimer books, several postcards, less cash in my wallet and more tunes in my head than I went up with, and a lot of wonderful memories. With an event like Launde, its success is measured by how you feel when you leave: and I could have happily stayed for the rest of the week. Thanks to everyone who made it such a joyous weekend, especially Jill Nicholas and Alyn Iorwerth for their organisation. And many thanks to John Henry for the dulcimer that got me started on all of this!
Steve Matthews
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Annual Weekend Report - Last updated 14 March 2003 |
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