Petersfield to Putney with a few either side.

Before I tell the tales of this portion of the tour I wanted to share a rather lovely video of Rob and I performing our version of the classic song “Summertime”, filmed at the Peel Centenary Hall on the Isle of Man by Dave (why I) Armstrong and Christy (stunningly gorgeous!) DeHaven from Running Media. Thanks to Christy for the edit... if only she could make me look 20 years younger:

Summertime? But it's winter! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

It’s been a particularly adventuresome couple of weeks with many highlights and a few testing low points ... especially for Rob. We began on a low point which actually had some highlights within it ... not least the resilience Rob managed to muster during a very trying journey. But first ...

I left the Isle of Man on Wednesday morning on the 8.45 Heysham boat. I had a fairly long drive ahead of me once we’d reached the adjacent Isle - as we Islanders like to call the UK - and at one point I felt I might actually fall asleep! So I pulled off at a service station on the M6 and had a sweet fruity drink and my first coffee in over 4 months. I only drank half of it but the combination seemed to do the trick and I made it safely to Pam and Martin Dury’s lovely home in Sandhurst by 6pm.

We had a particularly lovely evening with Phil and Pat Chappell and included a fabulous form of dining that neither Phil, Pat nor myself had experienced before. It’s a Swiss style of cuisine called Racklet ... named after the type of cheese involved - it’s Swiss ... cheese is obligatory. Whatever it was it was delicious and great fun too.

Anyone for Racklet? from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

And so to the beginning of our next run of shows and Rob’s first vehicular challenge. After his dice with Friday traffic-jam hell en route to Bury during our first flurry of shows, he was becoming adept at timing his travels to and from Cardiff but there are some things you just can’t control.

He called on Thursday morning to let me know he was leaving Cardiff and would be able to pick me up to take us both to Petersfield and the rather late addition to the tour at the Square Brewery Pub.

An hour later he called again. “this is my calm voice ...” he calmly told me. Mm ... never a good sign. First of all he explained that he’d had to come off the M4 at Bristol due to a car on fire and then his own car promptly broke down! “Just call the AA” I said in a mild aunty-ish manner. “I’m not in the AA ...” he sheepishly replied ... doh!

Anyway, to cut a very long and anxious making story short ... he joined the AA; the AA man turned up and the car started first time! He said it was an electrical fault and he couldn’t fix it on the roadside but it might not happen again so Rob soldiered on. The car broke down 4 more times. He eventually left his car at a service station near Warminster and got on a train. His train was due to arrive in Fareham - 30 mins drive from the gig - at 8pm which meant I’d have to start without him - eek! His train was 40 minutes late.

He finally arrived as I was finishing the first half - I cheered! Pam and Martin Dury were absolute Angels driving to Fareham, waiting for Rob to arrive and ferrying him to the venue - bless you both. Turned out to be an exciting night. All’s well that ends well. Not a show I’ll forget in a hurry. Poor Rob ... bless him too. Petersfield were very understanding and enthusiastic ... a delightful and much appreciated combination. Thanks.

Patient Petersfield from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

The saga continued the following day. We had to leave earlier than either of us would have liked - a long-lie in would have been lovely, however we had to go back to Warminster and get Rob’s poor old car to a garage in Mere - the closest Kia dealership - drop it off, which we managed to do easily enough and then drive on to Brighton for that night’s show ... just a minor detour.

We accomplished it all but not without a little more stress. It was Bonfire night ... Lewes, very close to Brighton don’t-you-know, has the UK’s largest Fireworks display and the entire world descended on the Brighton/Hove/Lewes environs and so our 2 hour journey turned into a 4 and a half hour drive from Hell! Argh!

Luckily we both have a fair amount of patience and arrived only slightly ruffled but ready for one of the quickest sound checks yet. The Brighton Folk and Blues club were very accommodating. We did our best, tired though we were and managed a reasonable level of energy and focus, all-things-considered. Phew.

Brilliant Brighton from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Lucky for us we were staying with Martin and Pam after each of these shows and it made everything much more palatable. They always waited up for us and had food and drink at the ready whatever time of the night/early morning we arrived on their doorstep. They are without fail, always delightful and generous ... Rob and I felt very blessed in deed.

Our next port of call was the fabulous Acoustic Routes club in Cambridge run by lovely Bernard ... scene of our final show last tour - ah. Chris Howarth and his lovely lady friend Vanessa, graced us with their presence - Chris’s 5th gig of the tour! And Rob did a wonderful set before our first half - all was right in the world.

There were many friendly faces in the audience, in fact it was a sell out crowd -
hurrah! Everyone was fantastically enthusiastic and loved the show and weren’t afraid to let us know. One minor occurrence means I won’t be able to use the audience flip footage I took that night, as someone objected to the experience very much ... I promised I wouldn’t use it ... it’s really just a bit of fun but if anyone feels that badly about anything then I have to respect those feelings. My apologies to anyone who would have liked to have seen the fun and frolics. Rob and I both loved the experience.

Acoustic Routes Cambridge from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Back to Martin and Pam’s once more ... our home from home on the road. Sweet dreams all round.

Our next show was in London, the last of 4 in a row. I’ve not played the Half Moon Putney for 4 or 5 years and it’s been a favourite venue since 1985! Gulp. There were a fair few Facebook friends who turned up to this gig ... lovely to see them all ... and one in particular took some very lovely photos. Thanks to Pete for these great shots.

Half Moon Putney from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

Pam and Martin came along - their 4th gig - and very kindly drove Rob back to their place afterwards and took him to a train station the following morning very early ... still in limbo with his car saga ... in order for him to get back to Cardiff in time to start rehearsals with Jonathan Powell. Rob’s now in this very talented Welsh singer songwriter’s band. We’re all very excited for him and this great opportunity. I’m fair bristling with pride for my favourite surrogate nephew. You’ll all definitely hear a great deal more about Jonathan’s new cd: The Flight and Other Stories, due for release in the new year.

I drove to Heathrow after the Half Moon and checked in to a rather lovely hotel to sleep and await Bob’s return from South America (!) very early the following morning. Bless. He crept into the room around 7am and promptly fell asleep - ah. We woke several hours later and drove off to Cardigan Bay to meet with Rob and Jo Selbourne, our lovely friends from Prebendal Farm, who were enjoying a well earned rest in the Welsh countryside.

We got lost several times but finally found their wonderful hide away retreat, literally built into the cliffside over-looking Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea! We arrived as it was getting dark and didn’t really appreciate the location at that time but were, of course delighted to see our friends. A delicious meal and great company lulled us into a wonderful sense of peace and relaxation. We slept soundly.





The following morning when I walked into the kitchen my breath was taken away by the amazing panoramic view that met me! The front half of the house is basically open-plan with 4 huge picture windows giving the most stunning views. I’ll let the little video and a spattering of photos tell the tale:

Wild Welsh wanderings and a mad yet perfectly formed dwelling from Christine Collister on Vimeo.

The tour is now over and it’s time to write the rest of our adventures for you. I’ll end this piece here and catch up with you all again in a couple of weeks with the final part. It’s been absolutely amazing and I’ve just loved being back on the road again. Thanks to all who came to a show and for you dear Blogger reader for stopping by.

See you in a few weeks.

Much love

Christine XX