Hi, yeah s’me, keeping up the Song of the Day feature like dedication was as word I know the definition of!
No excuses not to, I mean I am of the generation when Roy Castle clasped his trumpet weekly, ready for the signing off of “Record Breakers.” No, it’s not a euthanasim, Google it whippersnappers.
Might also explain my fondness for brass. Brass is class, and a vital element of ska. Yep, four tunes in and I couldn’t resist sharing some ska with you.
It’s a commonly misguided notion that ska is a retrospective cult here in England. It tends to convey a bygone era of Two-Tone records, boots and braces.
Yet today, while said stereotype has a grounding, ska is an international phenomenon, particularly in South America. I did write a piece about this region’s love for ska, and how it’s roots out of Jamaica bare a different tale from our own.
To show you how fresh it can be elsewhere in the world, and it’s not a reminiscence for a
load of overweight balding pensioners as perceived in the UK, here’s all-female bar one Mexican band, Girls Go Ska, who I’m secretly in love with, (so secret they don’t even know themselves….until they use Google translate!) doing an instrumental jam.
Girls and ska; what’s not to like? Have a lovely rest of your day. Very good. Carry on….
- Bradford on Avon Live Music Festival’s Full Line Up
Bradford on Avon’s Live Music Festival returns from Friday 29th May to Sunday 31st May; three days of live music from outstanding bands and artists happening across the town…..
BOA Live has grown year on year, offering everything from indie and rock to pop, jazz and blues kickstarting the summer for music lovers in the town.
They’re kicking things off on Friday night with a launch party at the Wiltshire Music Centre, featuring DJ sets, local musical talent, food trucks, cocktails and plenty of good conversation.
On Friday there will also be music at The Castle Inn – headlined by local favourites, The Karport Collective.
On Saturday, head over to Westbury Garden where Bruce Juice will be bringing the best of The Boss to life with a set packed full of Springsteen and the E Street Band favourites.
The band’s passion for Springsteen has even received recognised by E Street guitarist and Sopranos star Steve van Zandt, who said: “Congratulations on all the early 70s stuff – it is fun. You’ve got that stuff down!”
On top of that, there will be incredible performances from local acts in Westbury Garden, Lamb Yard, The Castle Inn and the acoustic stage at Timbrell’s Yard.
The stage at Westbury Garden will come alive again on Sunday 31st May for a special set of Open Mic performances.
They’re currently booking local acts to perform on the stage from 12 noon to 4pm. If you’re interested in performing on the stage, please head over to the website to complete the form.
Then to round the festival off in style, the Britpop Boys will take to the stage with the biggest hits and fan favourites from the bands that defined the 90s and that unmistakable Cool Britannia sound. There’s a limited number of tickets available at the early bird price of £12 (usual price £15.)
Below is the full line up for the BOA Live Music Festival:
Friday
- Van De Graaf Generator singer-songwriter and Peter Hamill, live in conversation with Daniel Clark, Wiltshire Music Centre’s Artistic Director
- Guitar duo Stuart Ryan and Australia’s Adam Miller in a rare one off UK date
- Sunny indie pop 6 piece from Bath-based Reuben’s Daughters
The Castle Inn 6.30pm Jazz Factory 7.30pm Jess Chivers 9pm The Karport Collective Saturday
Lamb Yard Westbury Garden Timbrell’s Yard The Castle Inn 1pm x x x The Mimi Project 2pm x x x Westward 3pm Doctor Doctor Free Spirits Adrian Long TBC 4pm Sian & Rob Colquhoun Lawton & Mack Band Jess Chivers TBC 5pm Westward Jo Johnson JP Oldfield Adrian Long 6pm My Unicorn Dream Bluebeard & the Desparate Hours Ruby Darbyshire Mark Green’s Blues Band 7pm JP Oldfield The Juice Sian & Rob Colquhoun x 7.30pm x x x Funky Monkey Bubble Club 8pm The Strays Talk in Code Phil Cooper x 9pm Karolina Griskute Bruce Juice x x 9.30pm x x x Rebel Heroes (Bowie Tribute) Sunday
Westbury Garden St Margaret’s Hall 12 noon to 4pm TBC x 7.30pm x The Britpop Boys
- “Devizes & Beyond” – Poetry & Photography by Gail Foster at St. Mary’s Church, Devizes April 18th – 26th 2026
by Ian Diddams
images by Gail Foster
‘Devizes & Beyond’ is a collection of original poems in traditional forms and digital photography, inspired by life in Devizes and the occasional foray into the world outside. The exhibition covers eight areas of life from shopping to spirituality and is a colourful and poignant snapshot of what it is to be human in this beautiful place and brief moment of time, and the physical and metaphysical journeys we take on different forms of transport and through life itself.
(Gail Foster)Those are Gail’s own words in her description of her exhibition this week at St. Mary’s; she has become a well known poet and photographic artist in our town, and it is a joy to behold this body of work on public display. There are various sections to peruse and ponder over, smile, weep and reflect upon, from “Shopping” and “Spirituality”, as Gail mentions already, to “Community”, “People”, “Transport”, “Creatures” and “Landscapes”. And the eponymous section “Devizes & Beyond”.
Some areas unsurprisingly cross over … “Community” and “People”, “Devizes & Beyond” and “Landscapes”, but that is no criticism… such is the breadth of Gail’s work and interests this is probably to be expected. What is presented is certainly worthy of at least thirty minutes of anybody’s time, and the calm, serene surroundings of St. Mary’s permits us all to take a while to sit and reflect on what we are witnessing and cerebrally imbibing.
We are treated to some two hundred and eighty two photographs, and eight poems within those eight sections. In the vein of the crossovers mentioned above, some poems lend themselves to being a sisterhood together : The beautiful, heart rendingly poignant “Children of the Avenues” reflecting upon the lives past and future of the offspring of The Avenues, especially the September 2019, immediately pre-Covid, schools’ intakes holds the same gentle and reflective space as “Blink ~ Seven Stanzas for the Seven Ages of Man” harnessing the concepts within Shakespeare’s monologue in “As You Like It”. Similarly “Singing River” and “This Barrow Strewn Land“ share a love for the Wiltshire great outdoors and its magical and wistfully timeless beauty.
Treat yourself to an indulgence with the exhibition of photographs of all sections and you’ll undoubtedly spot someone you know, a beloved place, something or somewhere to make you laugh, smile, weep – or even halt you with a jolt. Gail is not shy to show warts and all either… we live in such a beautiful part of the world and her wonderful photographic eye captures so many shots that are truly stunning, worthy of any great exhibition… but she also grabs the mundane parts of everyday life that are the reality of living in a small town. For every framed shot of a church yard entrance, a shaft of light in the Ginnel, there’s the kebab shop building site, a hearse, a crowded bus.
All of these display Gail’s wonderful eye, and patience, and her lifetime of living in, and love of, Devizes, but if there is one section that truly encapsulates the author and artist that is Gail Foster it is that of spirituality… her inner peace and connections with an ancient land, and organised religion, of ancient chalk-lands, stones and timeless vistas, and pagan and church ceremonies.
This exhibition covers so much, it is impossible to encapsulate it all in mere words. One will still be taking it all in for some while afterwards – I’ve been mulling over this piece for almost two days and I should probably take longer but I am mindful that we need to all experience this display so its imperative I publish this as soon as possible. To paraphrase Peter Quince, a Shakespearean character from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”….
I entreat you, desire you, and require you to visit Gail’s exhibition this week. Entry is free, open daily 10.00am to 3 p.m. until Sunday 26th April, plus an evening opening opn Friday 24th April from 6pm to 8pm.
And finally… to enjoy Gail’s eight poems from this exhibition in perpetuity, they are included in her next book, “”Singing River – a book of poetry”, which can be bought from Devizes Books from Friday 24th. Get it early on Friday and you may be able to meet the author over the weekend to have it signed!
- What Billionaire are you Feeding Drinking in a Pub?
A sad state of affairs and reflection on the era, to see village pubs dilapidated and closed, once thriving hubs of a community. I thought this as I drove past Bottlesford’s Seven Stars just the other day, for it was the last pub standing within the Woodborough area, aside from a hike into Pewsey or Honeystreet. Fear not helpless peasant drinkers, as the Gazelle & Herod reports, the billionaires fly in to save us!
Is it a bird? No. Is it a plane? No. Gawd bless yer Lady Loretta Rothschild, trouble n strife of financier Lord Nathaniel Rothschild, for according to the rag, she’s only dun gone brought the gaff, n saved a community from remaining sober!
A spokesperson for Lord Rothschild told the Financial Times, “the pub is a critical part of the local community, and it was on Lady Rothschild’s initiative that the decision was taken to save it.”
Interestingly, the article points out only a fraction of rural pubs are being brought out by “Wiltshire’s ultra-wealthy,” but points to Ramsbury’s Bell, owned now by H&M shareholder Stefan Persson, with a $25 billion fortune and American Center Parks VP Chad Pike, who bagged the The Lamb at Edington, and turned it into the Three Daggers.
The fate of other failing pubs may not be so secure. Ours is now a shop, welcomed by villagers despite the fact we already had a community shop which failed, attached to the once pub, which also failed. I figured it was a shame, though I might poke my snozzle in, might not, but upon a Facebook post stating it had a “beer cave” I was there in 30 seconds; at least I can drink at home. One nil to affordability over social interaction.
Some pubs remain lost causes, empty shells of what they once were, some converted to flats, many ironically turned into antique shops. They can often start bringing in antiques before you’ve had time to finish up your pint! What a shabby state of affairs and I suppose I should welcome “the Clarkson syndrome” of billionaire buyouts, but do we know whose mouths are we feeding when we buy a drink in our local pub? Ones whose plates are already stacked?
Oh no, herein strides another socialist wordsmith in his work boots, dribbling a peasant’s revolt rant; more Snot Tyler than Wat.
Us hoi polloi must accept we’re nourishing the already bulging wallet of a nationalist tyrant when we drink at ‘Spoons, but do it anyway to save ourselves a penny. Are these billionaire buyouts going to likewise offer cheap booze, when they’re located in affluent areas and alone in the market? Doubtful, even though they could potentially afford to. And if they don’t, is it fair to question their real motives for buying the places?
Are they really the heroes here? Or are they merely profiteering, extending their already plentiful wealth? Spreading their assets for tax purposes, perhaps? Don’t ask me, do I look like Mr Monopoly? I can barely afford half a soda water in these places, let alone buy the gaff!
But souls will be watered, I guess. It’s good news pubs return and that’s all we need to know. Billionaire’s would buy their way into heaven, if Mark hadn’t said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” stop on, Mark, just because it’s your round!!
- Lavington Electronica Composer Moray MacDonald Releases a Wharf Theatre Production’s Soundtrack
Some four years since his last release under his own name, Lavington’s electronica composer Moray McDonald presents a soundtrack; the music he wrote and produced for Devizes’ Wharf Theatre’s production of Kit Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, which was performed back in January…..
It was one of those rare occasions I stepped in to cover the dress rehearsal as our regular theatre critic Ian, was busy, stuffing a bucketload of Rice Krispies in the play! And I’m glad I did. I was uncertain if I’d take to director Liz Seabourne’s recreation of this Elizabethan gothic black comedy, but came out of there thoroughly enthralled. The composition of the play’s many components made it one of the best plays I’ve seen; the script, acting and production, yet it wouldn’t have been half as spookily ambient if it wasn’t for Moray’s soundtrack.
Image:@jenimeadephotography They may only be nine snippets of sound, but with the music on Bandcamp at name your price, listening to it took me back to the play, and reminiscing at just how brilliantly sinister it was. Acts of Black Magic starts us off, an eerie soundscape, with harpsichord strings and jingling fool’s caps, Somewhat to Delight has an unnerving medieval court jester feel to it, grinning devilishly, and then we’re back on soundscapes, and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March gets a spooky underscore.
We swap from a soundscape to orchestral with each brief track, The Seven Deadly Sins nods playfully to Celtic folk dance, whereas the following Devil’s Attack lends more to Burana’s O Fortuna, but all are equally unsettlingly devilish or scary faerie. If anything it displays the diversity at Moray’s skilled hands, being his concentration has recently been on his Cephid project, a ground-breaking album of electronica, Sparks in the Darkness, which we fondly reviewed in 2023, and enjoyed a rare and intimate live performance of at Bath’s Rondo Theatre.
- Pewsey Moonrakers St George’s Cross Façade Stays
Can we please draw a red line under Pewsey’s Moonrakers St George’s Cross facade fiasco now Wiltshire Council has u-turned on a proposal forcing landlord Jerry Kunkler to paint over it? Providing we don’t draw a vertical red line at its centre-point, yes!!
Locally It’s created divided opinion, but reaching national media has wonked the entire narrative, in which many passing causal comments are either sadly misinformed, triggered, or both. For what it’s worth, far from being a patriotic flagshagger, I support Jerry, the “Moonies,” and their flag motif, but to understand why is to understand Pewsey, its manner, and the pub’s reasoning for doing it in the first place. Unfortunately nationwide few do, or even care to. All they see is their polarised falsehood that someone somewhere is attempting to take away their national pride; it’s pretty pathetic when you stop to think about it.
I profess this storm in a teacup really projects an equally bad look for leftwingers as well as the far right, and that’s what troubles me most. Understanding the difference between patriotism and nationalism is crucial. Holding a love and pride in one’s country is fair game, shared values, and the desire to improve it is never an issue. Nationalism, however, is a fervent, often exclusionary devotion to the nation, frequently asserting its superiority over others. To make this pride into aggression against others is the drive to xenophobia. But the bottom line is, that’s not what’s happened here and if you think it is, you’ve been hoodwinked by propaganda. I’m not even here to patronise you if you have, a lot of money has been put into it to make it powerfully persuasive.
The only defence you can reasonably put up, in my opinion, is that the pub is a listed building, and Jerry didn’t have permission to make such an alteration, for this is the only reason why it became an issue with Wiltshire Council. I get this, and sympathise, it was a bit naughty, but this is Pewsey, in the nicest of ways it’s a law unto itself, and that’s part of its charm! I really don’t differentiate between this and when Just Stop Oil harmlessly threw some red powder at Stonehenge; no permanent damage done, just paint, it’s reversible.
Justifiable I say, considering our loss of so many village pubs in this current financial hole, a landlord must do whatever they can to stay afloat, and Jerry’s had some publicity over this, hopefully The Moonrakers will prevail because of it. It has always been dubbed “the Moonies fun pub,” by locals, and the boot fits. It is, as Pewsey resident lefty vegan Pants’ guitarist Fal Carmicheal suggested in probably the most surprisingly supportive and informative Facebook comment on the matter, “it’s just a pub in a village where people go to watch sports on a big TV. He may be a Tory Councillor (has been for years) but he’s not a fascist, his pub isn’t a hive of NF goons.”
Providing some history and a few expletives to enhance his anger, Fal expressed Jerry’s family are firmly rooted in Pewsey, that “his father flew Spitfires during the siege of Malta.” And continued to explain the façade was painted a decade ago, in support of Pewsey’s Shelley Rudman in the 2013 Winter Olympics. “It was done purely as a mark of support for various sporting events, all of which he plays on his big TV in the bar. Nobody here fucking cares that his pub has a poorly-painted red cross on it. It’s just Jerry’s pub.” And that, my friends, is the Pewsey spirit in a nutshell!!
Wiltshire Council announced, “The Eastern Area Planning Committee has granted listed building consent for the retention of painted England flag decoration on the front of The Moonrakers Inn in Pewsey.
The decision was made despite the planning officer’s report, which recommended the committee refuse the application on the grounds that the painting of the front of the pub fails to preserve its special interest as a Grade II listed building and its setting in the Pewsey Conservation Area.
However, after considering the officer report, planning policy, and all material considerations, the committee resolved to grant consent.”
Landlord Jerry Kunkler thanked all for “the support you have given me relating to the painted George Cross on the front of the Moonrakers. Permission was granted this afternoon to allow it to stay.”
Context is everything. This was never an intended affiliation with the far right, and after all, how is the decoration any different from a mainstream shop altering a building to advertise itself? I say common sense prevailed and wish Jerry and all at The Moonrakers the very best.
- Experiencing Devizes Ways on Market Days; a Special Case for a Town of Culture 2028
Sketches and Written by Brian Edwards
If not too distracted when bumping into townsfolk and village friends, you might remember to get more of a cheese you liked or that essential part for the vacuum cleaner…..
As regular readers of Devizine will know, one of the understated pleasures of Devizes is having a wander around on market days. From the listed buildings to the independent shops, our market day wanderings are significantly enhanced by the character of the town’s historic environment, and an enduring community spirit enriches the charming thoroughfares and myriad of routeways to and from the Market Place.
Farmers & Artisan Market In 1724 the famous antiquary William Stukeley believed Devizes hosted ‘one of the best weekly markets in England’. In the previous century the Wiltshire born antiquary John Aubrey thought Devizes hosted the best fish market in Wiltshire, and in the early 16th century that father of English history, John Leland, stated the ‘market is very celebrate’. The town’s Thursday market dates to at least 1609, a regular potter around market stalls in Devizes dates to at least 1228 and around the stalls at fairs even earlier that century.
Hence, those visiting the Thursday market in the present are directly linking with a tradition that has periodically been celebrated as noteworthy and has survived hundreds of years of change. And because of this, your present day experience of the cultural footprint could prove influential.
The Brittox: Devizes Jubilee Morris celebrate 2021’s ‘Devizes is Open’ event following the Covid restrictions, and Daddy Longlegs entertain on Easter Monday 2026. A Town of Culture?
Having been ranked third among the country’s most quintessential market towns in 2025, Devizes is now bidding to become the U.K. Town of Culture 2028, which offers a top prize of £3 million as just one of a rollout of substantial financial awards. Towns must at this stage hope to have matched the relevant competition criteria to make the shortlist, which would elicit a £60,000 grant to support the development of a full application.
In addition to a famous flight of Georgian canal locks and a globally important collection in the Wiltshire Museum on Long Street, Devizes also has a reputation for a busy seasonal programme of festivals, markets and other social and educational events in addition to many places of worship, cultural hubs and active clubs. The lengthy list of cultural happenings covers anything from wildlife to nightlife and every experience from a punishing Westminster canoe race to tinsel tractor runs. The flip side is potentially overlooking something each of us does with regularity without ever thinking how rich and diverse it is in terms of a cultural experience.
Stalls in The Shambles What might a Town of Culture look, sound and smell like?
If you are familiar with the sights, sounds and smells of a market day mooch, then you may no longer notice the familiar market day hubbub: a soundtrack punctuated by the calls, banter and chats with market traders. You may not give a second thought to the welcome and directions you offered a newbie visitor. You will though notice the music, dance and drama brought by street entertainers, and the art that may be encountered in many forms from the stalls to the windows and interiors of independent shops.
The Ginnel ‘Tell us about the unique story and culture of your town.’
Few will have heard of the once legally renowned court case ‘The Mayor and Burgesses of Devizes v. Clark,’ that established the right of a jury to find a general verdict. The unique precedent from 1835 is possibly overlooked now and the butcher Jacob Clark of Maryport Street is entirely forgotten.
The gist of this court case was that Clark sold meat from his home on two successive Thursdays in 1833, when the Corporation held the right to charge butchers to sell to the public from their market stalls.
What interests us with the Town of Culture bid in mind, is not only that the Corporation established in law that their market and right to charge for stalls was ancient, but the arguments that were detailed about the civil authority customarily maintaining a safe adequate ‘known’ environment, where ‘large assemblages’ of the public can bear witness to transactions and events without travelling any great distance. It could have been written with the criteria set by the Town of Culture in mind.
The official Town of Culture requirements include a safe, supportive, non‑discriminatory environment accessible to all ages – a programme that reaches multiple audiences and offers opportunities for creative content – evidence of capacity, capability, and effective processes to deliver the programme successfully – strengthening or rejuvenating cultural and heritage infrastructure with realistic expectations. The history and modern day experience of the market in Devizes delivers all this and more.
Lilly waits in anticipation outside the bakery. ‘Culture is for Everyone’
We may never stop to think about it, but a magnificent cross section of local, regional and distant communities are represented on market days. From villagers to townsfolk and tourists threading their way around, to street performers, grassroots artists and other creatively active innovators; market days welcomes them all.
Every decade within living memory is represented on the town’s pavements, and anyone and everyone that isn’t housebound is unconsciously participating in a market day pageant. From prams and pushchairs to rollator walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters; these enabling wheeled wonders of our age are everywhere to be witnessed, as are many a responsible human with their pet dog on a lead.
Just sit on any bench in the Brittox and witness how many times you are lapped by elderly phone scrollers, middle age headphone wearers and teenage skateboarders. They are not all in their own world of course: a street performer recently remarked how young people engage with the informal music in the Brittox, stopping to listen and throwing coins into a hat or guitar case.
As outlandish as it may seem then, your wanderings on a Thursday could bear witness to an experience that ticks all the criteria boxes to underpin a bid to become the U.K. Town of Culture 2028. There is surely nothing that is more inclusive, culturally rich and diverse in our lives than a weekly market day dawdle in Devizes. This cultural experience is for everyone from their pram to their very last leg and it is entirely free at the point of delivery.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to our friends ‘shop indie InDevizes’ for both the excellent map and much encouragement https://www.indevizes.org.uk/
Many thanks also to David Dawson, Devizes Jubilee Morris and Daddy Longlegs for their assistance. Many thanks also to all the wonderful dogs and humans that featured in doodles which were redrawn and moved around to work up the final sketches.
Brian Edwards is a Visiting Research Fellow at The Regional History Centre, UWE Bristol.
- The Voice of Hind Rajab; Film Screening in Swindon
The award-winning film, ‘The voice of Hind Rajab’ will be shown for one night only on Monday 18th May at 7pm at Swindon Arts Centre…..
In January 2024, 6 year old Hind was killed along with her cousins, aunt, uncle and two paramedics from The Palestinian Red Crescent who came to their aid after their car was fired on by Israeli forces in Gaza City. Hosted by the Arts Centre and Create Studios, this is your chance to bear witness to the
events depicted in this heartbreaking film.This film, which uses the actual voice of Hind from recordings made of her phone calls, received a 23 minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.
Ticket prices have been kept low at £3 to encourage people to come along. It’s
important that the voice of Hind is heard. There will be an opportunity on the night to make a donation to support the people living in Gaza via the British Red Cross Gaza appeal.There will be an introduction before the film by a Swindon based British Red Cross employee, followed by an opportunity to ask questions and share your thoughts after the screening.
Tickets are available from – The Arts Centre Box Office – 01793 535534
- Tastebud Heaven on the Canal; Sunday Lunch at The Water Gypsy
If options for urbanites seeking experiential or themed dining experiences are boundless, they’re lesser so in our rural backwaters. Yet, we’ve returned from a delicious and most memorable Sunday lunch at The Water Gypsy, a working longboat pop-up licensed restaurant cruising the Kennet & Avon Canal; it’s the unique and enjoyable experience you really need to sample for yourself…..
In order to do so you can either check their website or social media for availability and mooring in your area, as they stop at various locations throughout the summer, autumn and Christmas season…. but chase them up and book you must! This spring season has started their third year, and its popularity is such it gets booked quickly. Until your lucky occasion, I can only try to express in words just how scrumptious and wonderful our experience of it was, and boy, it was!
Drawn to The Shed at Dulwich social experiment, where pranksters tricked TripAdvisor into ranking their shed #1 restaurant in London, to the “middle age” scene in Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, where Idle and Jones play an American couple dining in a torture chamber, some quirky dining enterprises can be unnecessarily extreme, some exploit desire to discover unique dining experiences rather than conform to parochial restaurant culture. Howbeit, if seeking such experiences you must, The Water Gypsy presents a most honourable, comforting and hospitable repast; Polly and Hank run the show, balance cooking with being perfect hosts, and stop at nothing to ensure you’re fed in finest fettle.
Being they’re currently moored in Devizes, it was a short appetite-boosting walk along the towpath and we boarded this beautifully decorated and pristine boat, warmed by a log burner, welcomed affectionately and seated on the only communal table set for twelve guests. You could liken the reception, and the whole occasion, more to a dinner party than sitting alone in a restaurant.
Life on the canal may not always be the romantic setting of freedom preconceived, but The Water Gypsy hones on that idyllic image, glimpses into the fantastical.
Drinks are served, and you are not rushed here. It’s all finest ingredients, homemade and using local produce, which they proudly transform into tapas-style plates that celebrate sharing and connection. A grazing board, chockfull of dips and tapenade arrived, with pesto topped crostini, charcuterie skewers antipastisti with melon, avocado & prawns, Moroccan carrot puff pastry with orange and thyme syrup, and harissa tahini yoghurt, and, and, oh, look I’m no Jay Rayner, don’t even sport a goatee, I’m only now aware how my tastebuds will love me forevermore!
Pescatarian and vegan are catered for, but our main courses were beef estofado, a scrummy slow-cooked Peruvian stew, and delicately sliced hasselback potatoes, sticky pork glazed in garlic and ginger, with spicy Asian broccoli, and chicken tikka skewers with tomato salad….need I say more for clues to the way to my heart? Food heaven in gypsy ornamentation charm, canalside!
A perfectly baked brownie with strawberries and ice cream polished me off, though the other choice was a rather smashing looking cheese board, which Newsquest reporter Jamie opted for, and while tempted to nick his grapes, such was the hospitable atmosphere and such was the gorgeous food so beautifully presented, I thought I’d best behave!
Herein arrives the time when, in a typical restaurant, you’re encouraged to get your coat, but I’ve already observed a washtub and broomhandle propped up in the corner, and identified their owners; we’re in for some entertainment, and I couldn’t think of anyone more apt for the occasion.
Polly wants Sunday afternoons to have an additional live music finale, and while we’ve pondered some alternatives, boaters themselves, Nipper and Jellylegs Johnson drop in to tantalise us audibly the same way and with the same proficiency Polly has done with our palate. It’s a show you could never tire from, nor find fault with. The Devil’s Doorbell, cheeky, quirky duo passionately recreating jazz and blues roots with homemade instruments, skiffle, bucketloads of charisma and more double entendres than Finbar Saunders remaking the entire backlog of Carry-On films.
There was an encore singalong, and with conversation and wine flowing, the atmosphere was unlike anything you’d find at a restaurant. The Water Gypsy is, by very definition, the most pleasant and divine, not to mention scrummy, dining experience this side of Milliways, Douglas Adams’ Restaurant at the End of the Universe, only this one is a bit closer, just along the towpath!
- Seren’s New Single; Worm
There’s a cold remote ambience of burrowing doubt in the opening of Westbury’s singer-songwriter Seren’s debut song, in which, as the title suggests, she uses a worm analogy to convey shadows of diffidence. Yet, it is a breath of fresh air of resilience, and an exhaustive equilibrium in which to express sorrow and build from a simple honest riff to a sublime and encapsulating stentorian…..
Worm, released today, is impressive. It’s a richly layered spring-like emerge, a hedgehog poking his nose out of his winter nest. If isolation is a trap, Seren’s uplifting vocals are the escape route, and in this it’s a message to herself which will profoundly convex to others through association; the key to good folk music. Though, it is an urban myth that you can cut an earthworm into two and both parts will live, Seren uses the comparison to the numbness of her mood, not for dividing or multiplying herself, rather to “see if I feel a thing.”
A reflection on a burrowing exercise from emotional blunting, then, hiding, and waiting for a storm to emerge; this song should be that onset squall, for whilst it uses classic singer-songwriter folk hinting towards Sandy Denny or Maddy Prior influences, the beauty of Seren’s vocal range melancholically penetrates through the numbness of its subject; the formula of an experienced artist, of how Tammy Wynette could woo an audience. Though Worms equally captures, it depends more on mood observation than the literal narrative of the likes of Wynette.
“I wrote the song when I was sixteen, in October, a few months into starting my first year at college,” Seren explained, “the song was linked to struggles with mental health that I have had around that time and before, and how it was making me feel. It’s a song that was very personal and something that will forever hold meaning for me.”
So, I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting Seren yet, nor seen her perform. I booked her for our double-bill with M3G for our first evening at the newly opened Fold in The Lamb, Devizes based on the strength of the few social media videos she has posted and M3G’s recommendation; they’ve worked together before. This song strengthens my faith that this will be an amazing night, for, like M3G, Seren holds a rare skill to encapsulate through honesty and fidelity to her music. You need to listen to Worm, and if you do, I’ll see you on Friday 24th April; yeah you got me, it’s a gig plug, but even if it wasn’t, in writing and acoustic combo, Worm is this prodigious and breathtaking!
- The date is set for Imberbus 2026 !
We are pleased to start 2026 by announcing that this year, we are planning to run the Imberbus service on Saturday 15th August 2026 when several vintage former London Transport Routemaster double deckers (plus a few newer ones) along with some visiting buses from other areas, will again provide a bus service from Warminster Station […]
The date is set for Imberbus 2026 !
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