Forty tons of lard steal the show

19:09

The M40 had been closed since 4:30 that morning because a lorry had spilled forty tons of lard across the carriageways. The whole area was in traffic chaos. Not surprisingly, we had a low turnout, with only Dick, Dave and Norma, Roger Rowe and Rosie and me there.

We hadn't seen Roger since before his 'Tall Ships' trip from the Azores. We were all interested to hear of his exploits, especially Norma who inquired whether Roger 'had a lot of women come' on the trip. She was almost able to take of one of her several fleeces with the warmth from the blush. The evening was also notable for Norma's singing debut on Dave's new song Tolpuddle Men.

With all the talk of his trip, it was natural for Roger to sing 'Land Lubber Lying Down Below'. He also sang the Song of the Ninth Roman Legion, written by Tim Brooks. Talking of people we haven't seen for a while, 'Towersey' John Wilson came up in a conversation about pubs in Marlow. Dick was prompted to dig out Good Ale from his little notebook to remind us what we've been missing since John's move to Winchester.

John Crosby had omitted to sing the Bantam Emperor near Trafalgar Day, so made up for it. He also sang All Things Dull and Ugly. Thinking I knew all the Monty Python songs, I'd doubted that this was one of theirs. I was wrong - it is on Monty Python Sings album. My investigations haven't uncovered which episode it's from. However, there is a brief (but different) snippet to the 'Bright and Beautiful' tune in the Dead Bishops sketch

I got to use the dusty end of the guitar fretboard while Rosie gave a first outing to You go To My Head, popularised by Billy Holiday.

We'll be at The Belle Vue in High Wycombe next week. The pub was full and very noisy last time we were there - I suspect there were some refugees from the being-refurbished Nags Head. Even though the Nags Head has now re-opened, next week may not be very different, so I'll be setting up the amplifier and a couple of microphones so we'll at least be able to hear ourselves.

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2 comments

  1. 'Towersey' John's surname is actually Wilson. The confusion may have come about because he's been a dancer with Towersey Morris.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indeed - my head thought Wilson and my fingers typed Morris. Duly corrected.

    ReplyDelete

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