Franck Carducci Band Live at Loreley 'Night of the Prog' 16th July 2017

Didn't know much about Franck Carducci before Loreley, but it soon became clear that him and his band were mightily fine musicians.

The entertainment started heightening when the 'Alice in Wonderland' theme took over the stage:

Regarding this musical rendering of 'Alice in Wonderland', Carducci explained that Alice was a prostitute.

Found all this a great juxtaposition of wonderful musicianship and 'tongue-in-cheek' humour/theatre.

Without being really familiar with Carducci's music, I enjoyed the set from start to finish, as it seemed to get better and better.

Inishmore to Doolin

Above, Inishmore starts to recede into the distance, while below, we're passing an interestingly named boat:

For the shot below, I think we've already passed Inishmaan, approaching Inisheer with the 14th century O'Brien's Castle visible above the beach:

Love the spray of water behind our fast-moving, small ferry below:

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Melbury Park to Melbury Bubb

After crossing the A37 and seeing St. Edwold's church at Stockwood, I made my way down towards Melbury Bubb.  On the way, I met an interesting fellow traveller (pilgrim).  This was a young man in his mid-to-late twenties who was heading towards the Hilfield Anglican Friary, Batcombe way.  For 20-30 minutes, we chatted about all sorts of things (Tolstoy; religious-seeking; different Christian denominations; Thomas Hardy's agnosticism etc.) until we parted company at (the rather ominously titled) Hell Corner:

During our conversation, my fellow traveller informed me that the sinister 'Cross and Hand' monument from 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' (where Alec D'Urberville, as a roaming kind of Christian preacher, makes Tess promise to not sexually tempt him) was not far away from where he was heading:

And hence, I rather foolishly missed the opportunity to go and see the infamous 'Cross and Hand' (the picture above is from the Internet).  However, with the Chetnole train station lying not far from Stockwood and Melbury Bubb, I should have the opportunity to find the 'Cross and Hand' on a future visit to Hardy's Wessex (think that a train going from Dorchester West train station to Yeovil, Bath, Bristol etc., stops off at Chetnole station).

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Getting Lost in Melbury Park

Don't know how it happened, but it did: while attempting to walk from Evershot to Melbury Osmond through the beautiful Melbury Park, I somehow got lost.

Fortunately, I ended up getting out of Melbury Park through an exit that lead across the A37 towards Stockwood and Melbury Bubb, and was able to double back towards Melbury Osmond later on. 

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: St. Edwold's Church, Stockwood

Whilst making my way towards Melbury Bubb (thought to be the village model for Hardy's Little Hintock in 'The Woodlanders'), I came across the village of Stockwood:

Here, I stopped off to look at "the smallest church in Dorset, fifteenth century and dedicated to the Saxon Saint Edwold" (Margaret Marande 'The Hardy Way' page 117):

Below is the small bridge you have to cross over to get to St. Edwold's church:

Loreley-Saint Goarshausen Views

The day before the start of the 'Night of the Prog' Festival, we had a walk to the Loreley site, and, while climbing up hundreds of steps, this was the wonderful view we got of the river Rhine and a tiny-looking Saint Goarshausen in the distance.

The picture below taken from inside the 'Night of the Prog' itself is perhaps even more spectacular:

St. Goarshausen: The Hotel Balcony

Our hotel room had a balcony which offered great views of the river Rhine and St. Goar across the river.

St. Goarshausen: Great Beer

Me and my friend Dave (below) had great Pilsener and dark beer at the friendly 'Little Norway' pub in St. Goarshausen:

At a pub nearby, I was eventually able to find a Dunkel, while Dave stuck to Pilsener:

We both agreed that the beer below, from yet another bar, was the least impressive beer we got to drink in St. Goarshausen:

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Evershot

I headed towards North Dorset on a bus from Dorchester, stopping off at Evershot/'Evershead'.  This is where, in 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', Tess on her outward and return journeys to 'Emminster' (Beaminster) refrains from entering the Sow & Acorn pub:

Margaret Marande ('The Hardy Way' page 124) reveals that the pub is also mentioned in 'Interlopers at the Knap' from Hardy's 'Wessex Tales' short story collection.

Unlike Tess, I went inside the Sow & Acorn, which, despite looking more like an uppermarket restaurant, served me a really good pint of Real Ale.

Below, there are a couple of shots of the church of St. Osmund of which Margaret Marande ('The Hardy Way' page 119) informs that the poet George Crabbe was the rector of Evershot between 1783 and 1787.

However, my main object of interest in Evershot was always going to be Tess Cottage which stands a few feet across Black Lane from the church of St. Osmund:

This is the model for the place where Tess has refreshment on her outward and return journeys to 'Emminster'/Beaminster (her failed attempt to see Angel Clare's parents):

The close proximity of Tess Cottage and church of St. Osmund can be clearly seen below:

Comedy of Errors Live at Loreley 'Night of the Prog' 15th July 2017

Another band I enjoyed at the Loreley 'Night of the Prog' Festival was Scottish Prog group, Comedy of Errors, who reminded me of IQ; Pallas; Twelfth Night etc. (think vocalist, Joe Cairney, said they had borrowed the Pallas drummer for the gig).
 

At one point in the set, Joe Cairney ended up in the middle of the Loreley crowd:

Had only really listened to Comedy of Errors a bit before Loreley, but now I'm enjoying listening to tunes like 'The Cause'; 'The Answer' etc. properly.

Gong Live at Loreley 'Night of the Prog' 16th July 2017

If truth be known, Gong have never been my favourite band, although on the one previous occasion I'd seen them live, at Mount Ephraim Gardens in Kent in 2000, with Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth in the band, I'd really enjoyed them.

Thus, with the recent passing away of both Allen and Smyth, it was with some curiosity that I saw the current incarnation of Gong (which I've just read had Allen's blessing to carry on as Gong and do the 2016 'Rejoice! I'm Dead' album)

And so it turned out that I enjoyed Gong at this year's 'Night of the Prog' Festival, with Kavus Torabi being an appropriately colourful frontman:

Just liked the self-indulgence, hypnotic quality, and crescendo-building of the band.

Inishmore: Dun Aengus Cliffs

It wasn't planned this way but our central purpose in visiting Inishmore turned out to be walking there and back to the Dun Aengus Cliffs, where a Hardy-type view of the smallness of man on the Earth could definitely be felt:

The tourists from North Carolina below seemed to enjoy peering down to the rocks and sea, probably some 250-300 feet below (no way you would've got me doing this, I've never liked heights):

But in the sprinkling rain and light mist, people seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves:

In the end, we got so caught up with looking at the cliffs that we didn't really have a proper look at the prehistoric Dun Aengus Fort.

It seemed so small in contrast to the cliffs:

 

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: West Stafford

One evening, not long before before sundown, using Margaret Marande's 'The Hardy Way' as a guide, I made my way from my campsite, somewhere in between Higher and Lower Bockhampton, to the neighbouring village of West Stafford.

The purpose of my visit to West Stafford was to see St. Andrew's church, which dates back to the 17th century, and is thought to be the location for Tess'  marriage to Angel Clare in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles':

Inside, the church looked dark and mystical:

And yet ominous in view of Tess' tragic fate.

Before reaching West Stafford, I had passed Keeper's Cottage, which, as Margaret Marande informs ('The Hardy Way' page 194), is a setting in Hardy's short story, 'The Waiting Supper', which, as fate would have it, I ended up reading while travelling round county Kerry, Ireland the week after my trip to Hardy's Wessex.

A short while after passing Keeper's Cottage, I passed West Stafford House, Hardy's model for Froom Everard House in 'The Waiting Supper' ('The Hardy Way' page 194):

In West Stafford itself, I had passed the village pub without calling in for a pint, as I had been wary of getting lost in the oncoming darkness: