Chris Butler

The Tallington Ashes 2003

This, the third year of the Tallington Ashes in July 2003. A music, cricket, trains, real ale and 'weekend away from it all' festival organised by the band Blyth Power. It's not exactly how Joseph Porter of Blyth Power put it on the opening night when he said something along the lines of: A festival for all those not invited to play at Glastonbury or Cropredy Festivals! I think it's much nicer than going somewhere like those places… and it's free! (Just a few pounds to pitch your tent on the campsite.) It was my third year in succession in harrassing Blyth Power into letting me play and I was most grateful and yet again, I can't thank them enough for having me aboard.

My weekend started on the Friday afternoon when we packed up the car and started the 2 ½ hours drive (70 Miles) from Derbyshire over to the Lincolnshire village of Tallington between Stamford and Market Deeping. We'd booked some time off work to give us enough time to drive down without too much worry and I'm glad we did. The drive got worse the further we travelled. It rained so much as we drove through places like Kegworth and Oakham in Leicestershire and Melton Mowbray and Stamford in Lincolnshire. I was so glad when we arrived. It was horrible driving in those conditions but worse still to think that was going to be the weather for the whole weekend. We hoped not. We arrived at The Whistle Stop at around 4pm. It's a great pub with a campsite and beer garden attached. A nice food menu and a fine selection of ales also. We parked up the car and went into the pub and tried a couple of pints of Tiger while waiting for the rain to stop so we could put up our tent. The pub is just the other side of the level crossing if coming from Stamford and ideal for rail enthusiasts. Likewise, the campsite has great views of trains rushing past on the East Coast Mainline. The rain passed over and so we put down our crossword and went out to put the tent up. We got ourselves organised and went back inside and had some food as we were starving by now. I recommend the veggie option with rice. Very filling and just what was needed after a long drive and some tent erecting. It was now time for the music to start on the Friday evening. This was the acoustic session when I would be getting my chance to play. We were using the 'Outback Bar' for the stage as used during previous years for the entertainment. It's an outside bar in the beer garden with a stage area and great views of all around the beer garden aswell as the traffic going past the pub!

Kicking off the Tallington Ashes 2003 Festival needed someone enthusiastic, confident and professional. That counts me out then, so up stepped Joseph Porter. He launched this year's music programme with his acoustic guitar entertaining all those who had travelled down or up on the Friday evening. He checked the sound, the amplifiers and tested the PA system before playing around half a hour's worth of songs and stories ranging from 'After the horse has bolted' to his song a lot of us can identify with,'Valley of kings'. His stories told with great passion and a sense of fun as children heckled him throughout! I then stepped up to do my bit. I hadn't played for a while but I was eager to play despite being nervous about my rusty guitar playing and unrehearsed vocal skills. I needn't have worried. The sound was excellent and probably the best I've heard when playing outdoors. Thanks to Joseph, Wob and Joseph's brother for adjusting my sound and getting me nice and loud! The crowd at Tallington are always sympathetic too. There's always a great spirit including an audience willingness to tolerate each performer whether it be their preferred kind of music style or not. I performed for about 30 minutes and included a new song in the set: Football 1, Fascism 0. It's a song about football and anti-fascism not surprisingly, and the racism and hooliganism that follows the national side. I had the words written on a piece of paper and stuck to the guitar to help remember them but by this time it was getting dark and was pretty difficult to see the guitar never mind my song words! Not to worry though, it was nice to try a new song and I was especially pleased to remember the verse sung in Portugese in the middle of the song! My full set was: Wish You Were Here, Football 1 Fascism 0, Paranoia?, Just Do It!, Wordplay, The Blackleg Miner, For Fox Sake, The Ballad Of Dylan And Jack. After my set, we were treated to 30 minutes of Wob solo. I'd supported Blyth Power a couple of times in Derby in both 1992 and 1994 when Wob was their guitarist and I had played with Wob solo too along with Dick Lucas (of Citizen Fish etc) and Mark Astronaut (of.. er … The Astronauts!) in April 1992 at London Finsbury Park The Robey and was really chuffed that our paths had crossed again over ten years later. He has got better and better and I havn't improved at all really! I'm just glad I wasn't performing the same songs… Wob closed the evening with a really loud (for an acoustic performer!) and energetic set. It was then off to our tent to unwind and get some sleep as the trains rolled on in the background and into the night… 

We awoke to glorious sunshine on the Saturday morning. After freshening up, we decided to drive into Stamford for a while. It was a lovely hot and sunny day. We stopped off at a large supermarket for a cooked breakfast and then continued into Stamford town centre. We wandered the shops and the narrow streets stopping off at a tea room for a pot of tea and a slice of cake. (Why isn't attending music festivals always like this I found myself thinking!) We then headed for the park armed with some crusty rolls to feed the ducks and swan we'd seen earlier when crossing the park. We arrived back at The Whistle Stop just in time for the lunchtime music session to start. The music was now being played under a gazebo on the grass in the beer garden so that the 'Outback Bar' could also be used to help people quench their thirst quicker! Kicking off was Blyth Power. They opened with 'It's probably going to rain' and ran through a lovely set of upbeat songs as you'd imagine at 12.30pm on a sunny Summer's afternoon in a pub's beer garden. 'Blow the man down' and 'On the Viking station' were amongst other songs as they rocked for an hour or so. Next were Eastfield. Again an energetic lunchtime set by them. 'Drive on Henry', 'Fare dodging' and 'Cancer of the Universe' along with other tuneful punk rock songs. Giga-O then ended the lunchtime music programme before the cricket match was due to begin. The cricket match between Joseph Porter's team and Chris from Bishop's Stortford's team playing for the Tallington Ashes. (A plastic model of a steam engine full of cigarette ends.) It's the first year I havn't played in the cricket match deciding instead to chill out on the grass and watch. In between having a nap, having a drink and attempting a crossword I watched the match unfold. I'd like to think my non-appearance on the cricket field contributed to the demise of Joseph's hopes to retain the ashes but past experience tells me that isn't the case at all. It's usually a case of blink and you'll miss me when I'm out on the field so I don't believe I was missed at all! There were more people at the festival this year and certainly more people camping so it must have been a smaller cricket field this year with less space on the campsite to play cricket. That's got to be great news for the pub and surely good enough reason to hold the festival at The Whistle Stop again next year?

Saturday evening and the first band was General Winter. With a set including 'Shopping', The Mob's 'Another day, Another Death', 'Mungo's muse' and 'Listen' amongst others, they were my highlight of the evening's music. It was then Rome Burns, a poetry set from Rachel Pantechnicon, Daddy Those Men Scare Me and (Wob's electric band) Silverleaf. Again it was a varied line-up of styles and performers with something for everyone. I had some more lovely hot food in the pub before plucking up the courage to visit Joseph's side stalls. Not just the usual band merchandise stalls, oh no. This year a totally addictive card game where you could win (at just 10p a go!) a model stealth bomber, your money back or a free go! Oh yes. All you had to do was cut the two decks of cards, one deck full of U.S military leaders and big guns, the other deck being the infamous Iraqi most wanted list. Never has the purchase and playing for military arms been so much fun! Joseph's patter on the stall was a real joy to hear. "Roll up! Roll up! Find Saddam Hussein and win yourself a stealth bomber!" I was much luckier at the bottle raffle. Pick a raffle ticket and win a bottle (sauce, vinegar, wine, pop etc!) I won a bottle of pop and a bottle of beer and two Blyth Power singles!

It started to rain a bit during the evening and got worse while Silverleaf were playing. By the time Blyth Power's turn to hit the stage, it was just far too wet. Rain was lashing down and it was too dangerous to attempt to play under the gazebo with all that electrical equipment. It was such a shame. The band everyone had come to see being unable to perform. We'd rode our luck all weekend with the weather and from our drive to Lincolnshire on the afternoon before, we knew it could have been much worse all weekend. It just seemed really cruel when Blyth Power were the highlight of the weekend for most people. I'm so glad that we had got the chance to see them during the Saturday lunchtime set. Joseph was so apologetic even though it was out of his control and to show his commitment and professionalism, he and guitarist Steven played acoustically in the pub. The pub was packed solid and the guitars unamplified and from where I was standing I couldn't hear that much. I squeezed closer and heard the song 'Ixion' before finding a seat at the back of the room to enjoy the atmosphere. The 'show must go on' spirit was clear for all to see with Joseph's act of defiance against the weather.

We had to leave early the next day and so I didn't get a chance to see Blyth Power's lunchtime set on the Sunday. I do hope they got a chance to play again for everyone. Thanks to Blyth Power for having me along yet again, thanks for an excellent weekend and thanks for all the hard work that went into organising and making the whole festival happen. It's much appreciated and despite the wet weather, it was a wonderful success. Here's to next year…

Tallington 2001    Tallington 2002    

The Tallington Ashes

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As you can see, after appearing at The Tallington Ashes each year, I’ve written some sort of diary or review of the event. It’s just a bit of fun and it’s good to put my thoughts onto the website for anyone who didn’t get the chance to get to those festivals. But I was thinking, really, I’m just this writer of songs. I’m no Patrick McCabe or Iain Aitch and I didn’t take any photographs to accompany the write up for the 2003 article so I thought I’d put the Tallington experience into song!

Written in 2003 © Chris Butler. Recorded live at Terry’s, Belper, Derbyshire on 20/01/2004. Thanks to Terry and Allan for making it possible and to Blyth Power for having me along from time to time.

The Tallington Ashes
It’s always nice to get away
A break from work, some rest and play
So with my clothes and my tent in the car
And not forgetting my acoustic guitar
I head for Tallington

I like to set off around mid-day
I like to take my time and find my way
Arriving sometime in the afternoon
It’s always over all to soon
In Tallington

Out on the campsite pitching my tent
There’s pieces missing and the pegs are bent
With our home fixed up we’re high and dry
It’s now that we’ve finally arrived
In Tallington

Meeting friends not seen all year
Laughing and talking over a beer
Sharing a joke or sharing some food
It puts us in a real good mood
For Tallington

I tune my guitar for my Friday night spot
And I think of all the songs that I’ve not forgot
Joseph’s on form and he’s sounding fine
With his tale of poor old Rubenstein
In Tallington

At the end of the night it’s back to the tent
It doesn’t really matter how my playing went
It feels so good when I play my songs
I’m on top of the world all night long
In Tallington

Saturday comes and no sign of rain
It’s time to start the cricket game
I’m soon bowled out, so much for winning
“ And with grace I retired from my innings”
In Tallington

Soon it’s time for the bands to play
And we sing and dance the night away
I love live music in the open air
But the trains roaring by don’t seem to care 
Much for Tallington

As the sun goes down more bands do play
And beer and food is tucked away
Eastfield are playing faster and louder
With a grin and a guitar it’s Jessi’s hour
In Tallington

Now it’s the time we’ve been waiting for
Blyth Power playing for a hour or more
Alnwick and Tyne- It sounds just right
Marius Moves and Signalman White
Are in Tallington

It’s off to our tents for the final night
With our sleeping bags all zipped up tight
With a smile on my face and a buzz in my ears
We’ll do it all again- Next year
In Tallington.

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