Soon...

Hey all, just a quick reminder (not the last) that I'll be appearing on Millenniyule tomorrow, Thursday 12th at 10pm.

You should be able to watch it on Telegram, Twitter, and Odysee, amongst other platforms, with all links available through the hyperlink above.

As the audience will be from all over I won't restrict myself to talking only about my county. Instead I want to discuss folklore more broadly, in particular its importance to a community, and what folklore looks like in a world where communities are strained, or even destroyed.

Please come along and have a listen if you can spare the time, I'm sure it's going to be an excellent start to the season!

Also, some good news for a change:

The West Bromwich Oak House has been upgraded to Grade 1 Status!

It's been Grade 2 listed since 1949, but has finally been accepted as Grade 1 along with only 2.5% of buildings in the entire country.

Being Grade 1 further restricts the modifications that can be undertaken to the structure.

This is following a recent trend of negative news with Black Country historic buildings, including the loss of the Crooked House, the fire damage to the Greyhound and Punchbowl inn (formerly Stow Heath Manor), and the abandonment of Holbeche House.

I'd like to give a massive thank you to Millennial Woes for having me on Millenniyule last night, hopefully people found the topics covered enjoyable.

I'd like to say, people often struggle to appreciate the effort something like this entails, and Woes goes every last mile that he can with custom graphics, music and integrating the live chats across multiple platforms.

There's few people who could technically pull off something like Millenniyule year on year, and that's before you consider the stamina required to do 6-8 hours of streaming every night for the best part of a fortnight.

So if you have been enjoying it, consider supporting him at the links below and help keep this tradition going for years to come.

I know I've been gone from things for a while, but I'll be getting back into the swing of it with the new year. I have a few archive recordings releasing over the next few weeks, in the new year though I'll be releasing full length videos again and hopefully getting into a livestreaming more regularly.

Further to what I was saying last night as to the need for people to take an interest in traditional folk music, I thought I'd give a few suggestions for where to get started:

Nic Jones:- He has a very gentle and pleasant style that is probably in line with what people expect from folk music.
His earliest albums in particular are a treasure, and i predict the ladies might prefer to start here.

Harry Cox:- A Norfolk born farm labourer recorded towards the end of his life, a shining example of traditional folk singing and gives the impression of listening to a grandparent or village elder in a pub.

Jon Raven:- Welsh Born, Staffordshire raised, Jon started out as a teacher before making Folklore and Folk Song his life's passion, he's an excellent example of a revival era artist trying to stay true to the tradition.

Peter Bellamy:- Again a Norfolk man, Bellamy started out in the 60s with the 'Young Tradition' before his solo work, later he took an interest in the poems of Kipling and became convinced they had been written with folk song in mind. Peter worked extensively to put these to music and one such, Oak, Ash & Thorn has become legendary in recent years.

Ewan Mcoll:- Ewan was a major driving force behind the revival with his rendition of many old (and some new) folk songs on the radio, many people who entered the scene in the 70s and 80s learned from listening to him, with 'Dirty old town' seemingly being a favourite.

Jake Thackery:- Thackey, from Leeds, took a slightly different approach with writing many new bawdy and humourous songs sung in a simple folkish style. I think his insights on the nature of women and relationships will still ring true to many men today.

This is a real scattershot of names, there are far more of all styles than I can list here. So if you're unfamiliar with any of them, why not click the name and have a listen? If you know of these, but have another favourite, please put a link to them in the comments below and share what is it about their work you connect with!

Cannock Museum and Theatre to close

In a sad but not unexpected decision Cannock Chase council, having completed the 'consultation period' have decided to proceed with the closure of the local theatre and museum.

This was despite massive local resistance, and in the face of the proposed savings being realistically negligible.

To anyone paying attention this outcome was a foregone conclusion, the consultation period lasted a short time over the Christmas/ Yuletide period when everyone is thinking about personal matters.

The survey they sent out also focused heavily on what should be done regarding heritage once these assets were gone.

This decision degrades the area and robs it of access to importance heritage assets.

My advice is: Take an instrest in your local heritage now, learn and save what you can, before they try to bury even more of it.

Museum Closure: The good ending

Elsewhere in my county I'm pleased to report that a very similar story has ended in a shocking outcome.

The Walsall Leather museum (current custodian of the Caldmore Hand of Glory, among other things), which was also under threat of council closure has today been saved after a surprise U-turn.

Recognising the importance of the museum in maintaining the stories of the towns Leather working past, the council have opted to keep it open despite financial difficulties; citing public sentiment.

This is despite similar backlash failing to convince Cannock Chase Council of the importance of their own museum.

One you'll definitely want to watch!

There's a YouTube channel that predates my own that also does interesting videos on Staffordshire history and Folklore. Recently they've had a bit of a content renaissance and I'm very much enjoying it.

If you like what I've put out in the past, you should certainly appreciate this!

https://youtu.be/t5k77xTb9to?si=KBg7sd-Eo84XXZBg

A documentary that has has immense love, attention and research go into it.

I can't reccomend watching this enough.

You might even hear a voice you recognise 🤫

https://youtu.be/ukwZtIYGMGU