Chippenham Folk Festival passed very pleasantly, apart from the weather, which was warm and sunny, which meant that the streets were wall-to-wall with Morris Dancers. (Those of a nervous disposition should look away now). And apart from the weird The Pines hotel, run by some well meaning but clearly out of their depth young Greek Cypriot lads. The place is apparently known locally by an anagram. It was however very close to the centre of town.

Anyway, we’re always giving Morris Dancers some stick, so to redress the balance…

First up, instead of Cotswold, Clog, Border or Molly dancing we have Churchwarden Morris (dunno which church they borrowed the sticks from), and Twizzle Stick Morris. The former made us wonder whether we should form a Boathook Morris side – there’s bound to be a tradition somewhere.

And then there’s Simon Pipe doing very odd things with a broom stick.

To echo Banbury Folk Festival last year, here’s a pic of our old friend Hector Gilchrist, and one of Louise Jordan, who was kind enough to lend the navigator a thumb-pick when Hector dragged him up to sing and play.

The final weird experience of the weekend – on being asked to stand in and MC a concert instead of Keith Donnelly because he was double-booked – was finding Keith in the audience, heckling as ever. Ah well…