What’s on at the Cutty Wren Every Tuesday at The Redcar Borough Park Bowling Club

Saltburn Folk Festival Line Up Announced

Hi,all! We’ve got some very fine performers coming up in March –one of our own regulars doing a Hot Spot, and a duo who will be visiting as guest artists.

But we start March on the 7th with one of our regular “Singers and Musicians” Nights, sometimes called “Singarounds” for short. Basically it will be mostly locals performing a variety of folk based songs and music, and now and then some poetry. This covers a very wide field from old British ballads, real American songs, Irish and modern stuff with folk influences. What attracts us is a good tune and words that mean something. We like a bit of humour as well! So come along and try us if you haven’t before. All are welcome, audience as well as performers.

Our regular Chris Downs has his Hot Spot on March 14th. This gives a performer half an hour “on stage” to put an act across, and it’s good practice for relatively new hands as well as the more experienced ones. Like a few of our members, Chris has been learning the trade in recent years, and is a capable singer and player with an unusual repertoire and an inventive sense of humour. Come and see!

March 21st will be Singers and Musicians again, and then we welcome as guests Fil

Campbell and Tom McFarland on March 28th. Both live in Rostrevor, Co. Down and have been on the scene a long time. Fil has several CD’s to her credit, and she has been a broadcaster as well. Tom is a highly regarded percussionist and has backed more than a few Irish bands. They’re a lively entertaining duo, and I know we’ll have a great time.

It’s “Singers and Musicians” on April 4th and do make a note that we have another highly-regarded duo, “Winter Wilson”, on April 11thfollowed by a Hot Spot with Di Henderson on the 18th. More on them next time.

Looking back, we had the expected lovely evening with our long-time friend Marie Little on January 10th, and a very successful Burns Night a fortnight later. Our regular Gordon Mallory was the right performer to sing Burns’ songs, as well as a fine haggisstabber! Thanks go especially to Mary and Vince for organising and cooking the food. It was excellent!

The Singarounds have been good as well. Sometimes more people turn up, sometimes less, but the performers know enough songs, poemsand tunes to fill an evening – and then some!

So – come and try us. We’re a welcoming bunch so if you’re a stranger to us, you won’t be a stranger for long! We meet every Tuesday at the Redcar Borough Park Bowling Club, Thwaites Lane, off Redcar Lane, TS10 2FD. Turn off Redcar Lane at the big red racecourse sign and we’re at the end and a bit to the left through the gates. There’s plenty of parking space, and we’re in a comfortable modern Club room with a fine bar. Doors open about 7-30 p.m., singing starts about 7-45 p.m., and we finish at 10-45 p.m.

For those who can’t be there in person, or fancy a double dose, we still have the Singazoomaround sessions online on Thursday evenings. They begin about 7-45 p.m., and end about 9-45 p.m. There’s a good attendance from Britain and beyond, and you’ll hear lots of new singers and material.

To get the link, email our Secretary, Nigel Carden at info@cuttywrenfolkclub.com

That’s also our general email contact, and we have a website at www.cuttywrefolkclub. com You can also ring me on 01642 471769. Thanks as ever to our kind hosts at the Bowls Club for accommodating us this past year, and especially our wonderful bar lady Gemma. And also to the committee, M.C.’s. guests and singers who all help to this great music alive.

See you soon

George F

volunteers, festival goers and anyone else who wants to soak up the folky atmosphere. Lawn care specialists Green Thumb have already signed up to continue as Festival sponsors, and if more businesses lend their support, the Festival can become an even better event.

The simplest way is to get tickets is to visit the web site at https://www. saltburnfolkfestival.com/ and if you are very quick you might even be able to grab one of the “Early Bird” tickets which are selling for just £70! Visit the website, email festivaloffice@saltburnfolkfestival. com or phone 07375 890581 to speak with one of the Festival team.

Oneof our favourite breaks is a double between the beautiful Polish cities of Krakow and Warsaw.

We fly to one of them, spend a few days there before getting the train to the other one where we spend a further few days and fly back from there.

However we shouldn’t ignore a third beautiful city –Wroclaw, renamed Breslau by the Germans but now back to Wroclaw again by the Poles. You can fly from Leeds Bradford to Wroclaw for less than £50 return!

The city of Wrocław lies on the Oder River. It’s known for its charming old Market Square, lined with elegant townhouses and restaurants.

It also features a Gothic Old Town Hall, with its large astronomical clock.

Food is good and very reasonably priced as is the excellent range of beers. There`s lots of places of interest to visit in and around the city.

To get a feel for your whereabouts it’s worth taking the two hour electric car tour of the city for around £35 or you may prefer to tour by grand E three wheeler scooter or even a one hour segway tour at about £25.

Located in the Ostrow Tumski district is the magnificent Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It`s the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław and a landmark of the city. It`s a Gothic church with Neo-Gothic additions.

The current standing cathedral is the fourth church to have been built on the site.

A little further afield is the unpronounceable Szczytnicki Park which is located to the east of Plac Grunwaldzki and the old Oder river, and covers approximately 10 square kilometres of land. The park, besides offering many sightseeing attractions, also has many woodland rarities. It’s worth spending a good half day there.

Wayfarer

Ifso, you can buy some that is very locally made, by just two people, in our kitchens in Moorsholm!

Naturally Smart Skincare has been around for about 10 years now, and we have always tried to make it as natural as possible. We have never included any animal sourced ingredients, or ingredients that have been tested on animals, and we have never tested any of the finished products on animals – just each other, and our friends and relatives!

So, if you want face products, body products or hair products, and you need to know that no animals have been used in their manufacture, in any way, Naturally Smart Skincare is the place to go locally. We also have vegan soap, made without palm oil, in several traditionally made varieties, all fragranced with essential oils and coloured naturally with minerals. These include salt bars, fruit soaps and vegan milk and honey soaps.

In recent years we have also won two national awards; Janey Lee Grace’s Platinum awards. In 2014 our Supreme Cream won Highly Commended in the Hand Made Face Cream category, and in 2015 our Self Tan won Best Natural Tanning Product.

Our newest products are ones I am very excited about. For years people have been asking if we made deodorants, and the answer was no, but I decided to experiment and have come up with a deodorant balm which is very effective at reducing perspiration as well as odour, despite not containing any traditional antiperspirant ingredients. The ingredients are all natural, and the product comes in a tin – so no plastic! Even better.

We have also developed a very popular antiinflammatory gel using Apple Cider Vinegar. This is proving to be very effective on general aches and pains; I am currently using it regularly on an aching shoulder, and I have several clients who use it before bed to help get rid of aches and pains so they can sleep.

In the past few moths we have released Whipped Body Butter, solid Shampoo Bars and solid Hair Conditioner Bars. They are all available in the same range of essential oil blends, seven in all including fragrance free. The only oils we use to make our products are pure, high quality vegetable oils, organic and cold pressed whenever possible, including olive, apricot kernel, thistle, argan, broccoli seed, castor, red raspberry seed, rice bran, sesame seed – and many more! We have the latest anti-aging ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid,

Vitamin C, Vitamin A Palmitate, Sea Buckthorn and lupin extract, all derived from non-animal sources, and the only scents we use are from essential oils. The preservative we use is the most gentle, but still effective one that we can source –no parabens or mineral oils in sight! So, if you want natural, vegan skincare, that is made with love by our hands only, and you want to support local business, have a look at our website www. naturallysmartskincare.com and see what we can do for you.We have a stand at the Farplace Vegan market in Eaglescliffe community centre on Saturday March 4th.

Thisis the true story of Will Randall`s amazing adventures in the Solomon Isle.

Told by a drunken girl at a wedding that he was getting past marrying age at 32 and he should take the first opportunity that came along. He did, but not for marriage but to teach in the South Pacific. Will`s new home was Mendall, a village so remote it could only be reached by dugout canoe. His task is to make the village self-sufficient and it pits him against shipwrecks, sharks and mosquitoes. What a challenge and what a read. It’s a mixture of adventure and humour. I just couldn`t put this book down.

The Reader