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Thursday 29 September 2011

The Tour begins...

Stonehenge through the windscreen
Friday 23rd September: Ilminster Arts Centre

I was particularly looking forward to our trip to Ilminster Arts Centre - I had been told great things about the venue, and I knew the journey there would take us past Stonehenge and through the lovely West Country.  The only downer was that it was a Friday, and traffic all around the country can be a nightmare!  So a few accidents, jams and rubber-necking drivers later, we glided into a peaceful Ilminster.  Thank goodness we had left London early - we arrived about 3 hours before the gig was due to start, but I would much rather have spent those 3 hours in Ilminster than on the M25.




What a lovely venue!  It's had its share of money troubles in the past, but things have improved over the last year, and we arrived with the Somerset Arts Week in full swing, showcasing the diverse range of arts that the centre presents.  We were greeted by Tony - the promoter and our host for the night - and we spent a relaxed our setting up the stage and wandering around town, picking up the local newspaper with a great big feature on tonight's gig.

The Meeting House Arts Centre has an interesting history - an 18th century Unitarian chapel, which was converted to a school in the early 1900s, then sat derelict for a few decades before it was taken over by the local council and converted into an Arts Centre.  It is currently up for being awarded £6000 for development, which it would very much benefit from.  If you would care to vote for the Arts Centre, please click here.  It's quite a long process, but very much worth it.

Sound-checking at the Meeting House.
The gig was great and we were properly looked-after - a superb supper before the show, and a lovely setting with a beautiful grand piano.  The band played great and, for the first gig of the tour, there were only a couple of hitches (how can someone forget the words to My Favourite Things?!)  It will only get better!







Playing with the dogs in the morning.


Our hosts - Tony and Christine - have a beautiful farmhouse in Ilminster, with enough beds to fit a travelling quartet.  It's an amazing house - it could be a museum, what with all the artefacts and brick-a-brack decorating the area.  The bathroom is full of original tins of nivea and other such ointments and the house comes complete with two old-style flush toilets.  Somehow, after having been in their amazing house for less than an hour, I had managed to break the chain pull off one of them!  You can't take me anywhere.



Rick enjoys the fruit machines.
Saturday 24th September: St Mary's Church, Aylesbury


We set off at a reasonable hour to head to our next destination: Aylesbury.  It wasn't an easy journey, as it is effectively a return to London and then back out again into Buckinghamshire, so it was a little frustrating doing the route that would have taken us home.  We forewent an expensive trip to Stonehenge for a delightful pub lunch in Berkshire, and arrived in Aylesbury 5 hours early.  How to entertain a group of travelling jazz musicians who are broke?!  Rick spent £10 and won six at the 'Cashino' and we won our money back on the quiz machine in a local pub.  Apart from that, it was a beautiful day weather-wise and we managed to make one cup of tea last over an hour.

Our quiz winnings.  Don't we look thrilled!


Our concert that evening was at St Mary's Church - a lovely picturesque building with delightful grounds and streets lining the church yard.  St Mary's is a popular venue for their classical concerts, but this was their first gamble at staging a jazz gig.  A gamble it was, for there was a disappointing 14 people there (15 by the end - my Dad had arrived half way through the second set.)  I hope they will persist with promoting jazz, as it would be dreadful if my gig were to be the first and last!  So if you're local to Aylesbury, keep an eye on what's going on at St Mary's Church.

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