Monday 28 September 2015

Lake District

I've just got back from a gig in the lake district and thought I'd tell you all about it!

We left sunny Stroud at midday. The car was packed full of tents, sleeping bags and guitars and we were all ready to go. I woke up on Friday morning with a dreadful cold and so the idea of sitting in a car for 5 and a half hours was not one I took lightly. I drove up with my older brother Matthias and the 5 hour journey that we expected turned into an 8 hour trip! It took for what felt like forever and as we passed the sign for Cumbria in the last hour of daylight we were relieved. The final hour of the journey was just beautiful. The sun was setting over the rolling mountains and the reflection of the clouds glistened on the lake.

However it suddenly dropped dark and we got slightly lost... The festival was down a long narrow lane which we eventually discovered after many u-turns and frustration over the SAT-NAV. It was then 8:00 pm and we could just about find a place to park and carry all of our stuff over to the field. I think I learnt something quite important in the next hour- Never put up a tent in the dark! It was an absolute nightmare when all we had was a bad windup torch and my brother being deaf made it even more tricky! After a lot of perseverance we had put both tents up and went to pick up my brother Rohan and his friend Robin from Penrith station.
3 headed Robin 

I woke up to an amazing sight. I hadn't realised that we were surrounded by hills in the low light we had when we arrived and so it was quite a shock walking out of the tent, completely unaware of what you were going to face. Just spectacular.
I played my set at mid-day and hung around for a while to watch some other acts and Firewood Island from Bristol were really great!:)

In the afternoon we decided to climb one of the cumbrian mountains. Those who know me well are probably wondering how I did that as I can't walk properly but I thought it would be a pretty good achievement. With a lot of determination (and piggy backs) I managed to get to the top. The view from there was incredible and you could see for miles. It was also a fantastic feeling just being there and knowing that I never could have got up there even 2 months ago.

My brothers and I
The evening was good fun too. We found a friendly pub in Keswick where we had a meal and then returned to the festival where we spent a few hours sitting around fire singing songs.

A fab weekend overall and a great end to the festival season!

Next up I'm off to Cheltenham with Tholy for the Fairview convention and then bring on the recording of the next album..




Being carried down the mountain