Wimborne Folk Festival 2018: Great Vegan Food

Some great vegan food I had at the Wimborne Folk Festival this year, a great spicy + non-spicy food mix from an Indian food stall.

On one hand, the meal was a bit on the pricey side at seven quid, but, on the other hand, it was genuinely delicious.

Wimborne Folk Festival 2018: Town Centre Shots

Some shots from my trip to the Wimborne Folk Festival on Sunday June 10th:

Festival-goers relaxing on the grass outside Wimborne Minster:

Locals and visitors from afar enjoying the entertainment in the main town square:

Was always going to find some kind of morris dancers along the way:

Some decent musical entertainment in the streets:

The place was buzzing with energy on an early summer's day:

Galway: Enjoying an Irish Breakfast

Nice shot of an Irish breakfast I enjoyed while watching the world go by in Galway city centre.

Went to Galway for a couple of days after the Doolin Folk Festival (before moving onto my hometown of Bury in north-west England).

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh Live at Doolin Festival 2018

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (above) was probably my favourite performance at the 2018 Doolin Festival.  Her songs in Gaelic gave me goosebumps, they were that beautiful.  Like my friend Dave said, she and her two bandmates were reminiscent of early Clannad (from the 1970s) at times.

Also really enjoyed Lorraine O'Brien, Aoife Granville & Eoin O'Neill who were on before Muireann on the Saturday (16th June) at the Doolin Festival:

Really like traditional Irish music without knowing that much about it.

Think I would've also really liked Lankum had it not been so crowded:

The band sounded great, the atmosphere was electric, but I just don't like feeling claustrophobic.

Doolin: A Walk Along The Coastline

On the Eve of the Doolin Festival, I went on a wonderful, short walk along the Doolin coastline:

My friend, Dave, joked that he wouldn't mind camping on Crab Island:

In the distance, we saw the swirl:

Which got more dramatic as we drew closer:

At one point, it started looking like a witches' cauldron, like something from 'Macbeth':

The Doolin coastline was wild and picturesque, brimming with energy:

This is as close as I got to the swirl, the booming sound was amazing:

Hand to Mouth Theatre: Wimborne Folk Festival 10th June 2018

One of the most interesting things a friend and I saw at the Wimborne Folk Festival while there on Sunday 10th June was Hand to Mouth Theatre who appeared on a side street near Wimborne town centre:

As can be seen in the picture above, the Hand to Mouth Theatre performance seemed to represent a kind of medieval Punch & Judy show with an environmental message:

The show was accompanied by the mesmerising sounds of the hurdy gurdy.

Through internet surfing, I've since discovered that the two very talented members of Hand to Mouth Theatre, Sue Eaton and Martin Bridle, are also in a very interesting band called The Shimmering Bees.  Will have to check this band out properly for sure.

Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Druce Farm

Shortly after finding Waterston Manor, we turned around, retraced our steps, went on a bit further along to a couple of bends in the road, and came across Druce Farm:

With the place not being signposted, my first thoughts were that the place looked interesting and could be Druce Farm.

Thankfully, a friendly man came out and greeted my friend, Dave, soon confirming that it was in fact Druce Farm, the model or inspiration for Farmer Boldwood's home in Hardy's 'Far from the Madding Crowd':

Poor Farmer Boldwood, read a piece about him recently which listed him amongst Hardy's characters of self-destruction (Jude; Tess; Michael Henchard; Eustacia Vye; Giles Winterbourne etc.).

The owner of Druce Farm also very kindly allowed us to take pictures all around the place:

Yeah, it was a pleasure to find Druce Farm, as, like with Waterston Manor, it was at the third time of asking.