Soft Machine: A New Day Festival 2nd August 2019

Soft Machine were another band who I got to see for the first time at this year's New Day Festival.

My friend Phil, who loves Soft Machine, describes them as sublime but inaccessible to many.

Must say that without being really well up on Soft Machine, I really enjoyed their set, especially the opening tune, 'Hidden Details'.

Was also interesting watching the Soft Machine soundcheck:

Old Church Dunlewey

After something like an almost nine-mile walk from the campsite near Leo's Tavern, I finally arrived at the Old Church Dunlewey at the foot of Mount Eriggal:

Can remember first seeing this church on a Val Doonican interview with Enya.

As expected, the church was truly stunning:

 Could only imagine what it was like when it was operational:

The lake in the background added to it's beauty:

Think the shot below captures the enchantment of the church well:

Have just read that the church was built in 1830 from marble and stone from a nearby quarry. It certainly is a statuesque building:

A living relic of a time and people gone by:

From another angle, the church looked incredible with the Poison Glen in the background:

Camping near Boscastle

The day before, it had been relentless rain in Bude but this hadn't been too big a problem.

However, the strong wind in and around Boscastle the following day was terrible. As can be seen in the picture, I had to use some rocks to help hold down the side of the tent facing the wind.

Needless to say, I got next to no sleep during the night, and before first light, I made a strategic retreat to the toilet block where I packed my tent and all my gear together away from the ferocious wind and constant rain.

Just before eight o'clock, I was on the bus from Boscastle, making my way back to Bude with the intention of getting back to Dorchester via Exeter and Yeovil.

My first ever venture into Cornwall had been great for the Thomas Hardy sites at St. Juliot and Beeny Cliff, but the weather had just been too much.

Visiting Thomas Hardy's St. Juliot Church

In extremely windy conditions, I got to see St. Juliot church, near Boscastle in north Cornwall, after a scenic bus ride from Bude where I'd stayed the previous night.

The picture above shows St. Juliot church tower becoming visible after I'd walked 1-2 miles down a country lane from the main road where the bus driver had dropped me off.

In 'Discovering Hardy's Wessex' (1978/1982: 49), Anne-Marie Edwards explains:

          "The little church stands today on its hilltop in as wild and remote a setting as" Hardy 
          "pictured it".

Moreover, on the same page, she reveals that:

          "Hardy spent many hours in the church drawing plans for the restoration of the tower and the
           renewal of rotting woodwork".

The church was beautiful from an age gone by:

Inside the church, I only took the one shot below (should've taken many more photos):

And signed the visitors book briefly explaining my interest in Thomas Hardy.

Of course, I couldn't keep my eyes off the tower:

Anne-Marie Edwards (1978/1982: 49) explains about Hardy's future wife, Emma Lavinia Gifford, who he met at St. Juliot rectory:

          "As the rector's sister-in-law she had much to do with the restoration work, apart from her
           interest in the architect! It was Emma who laid the first stone of Hardy's new tower".

Canterbury: Seeing Old Friends

Was great to see my old friends KT and Ron at Westgate Wetherspoons in Canterbury:

Hadn't seen them since 2008.

Arriving in Canterbury, Kent

This was my first visit to Canterbury since 2008. After flying from Shannon to Stansted, and getting various trains down, we finally arrived in Canterbury.

The first thing we really saw was the old Norman church (above) near the Dane John Gardens.

As we made our way towards the High Street, we passed the red-bricked almshouses below:

Had almost forgotten about those.

The building below was some kind of Real Ale bar now, it'd been something else before (I lived in Canterbury 1999-2003 and worked the summers there 2004-2008 too), but I cannot remember what:

We passed St. Peter's church, set just off the High Street:

And on the High Street, we saw the old pilgrims' hotel:

I went inside this building many years ago, it contains a very old fresco.

Thunderstick: A New Day Festival 2nd August 2019

Continuing with the theme of merriment, full credit to Thunderstick for the great music and atmosphere:

Could hear Raven's incredibly powerful vocals up near the loos, near the festival entrance, when the band came on with the old Samson classic 'Riding with the Angels'.

Then, when I got down near the stage, the crowd were treated to other Samson classics ('Vice Versa' and 'Earth Mother') and Thunderstick material which was every bit as good as the Samson stuff (saw Samson many moons ago opening for Blackfoot at Manchester Apollo).

And of course, to end a fantastic set, there was a rousing version of the Rocky Horror Show classic, 'Time Warp'. All in all, I enjoyed every minute of the Thunderstick set, definitely one of the highlights of the festival.