Club organiser Steve Ramm had kindly approached us after our performance at the 2013 Tenterden Folk Festival and offered us the chance to headline at the wonderful Hoy-at-Anchor Folk Club in Westcliffe-on-Sea.
We had had the pleasure of playing at the club's previous venue in Leigh-on-Sea back in November 2011 as well as the Leigh-on-Sea Folk Festival on a pleasant summer’s day in 2012 and had long been keen to make a return.
Fired up from an excellent reception the previous night and stopping only for a plate of grub at an eatery on the seemingly mercilessly busy A12, we arrived at the club nice and early. This meant we had plenty of time to chat with club organisers and to get set up in comfort.
The new venue for the Hoy-at-Anchor is a nice sized room at the front of the British Legion Club in Westcliffe-on-Sea which, with the club’s folk night decoration and chair settings, provides an intimate setting for an evening of music.
It is nice to report that a number of club members remembered our floorspots from previous visit to the club and, indeed, we remembered some of those who had played with us back then – and it was it was very nice to hear them play once more. We had some excellent melodeon playing and a couple of songs from Mick Denny alongside some other great contributions.
Our first set went well and, as with Chesham the previous night, we enjoyed a listening audience both keen and quick to pick up on choruses. The banter was also very good between club members and with us.
We had chance to chat with some of the club members and fellow performers during the break including a young Irish singer and whistle player who was new to the club and was already clearly making some good musical friends there.
Our second half also went very well and we were again rewarded with calls for an encore when we finished. As we were packing away, it was very nice to be encouraged to return to the club soon - something we would love to do.
For once the journey home proved uneventful which helped to nicely round off a very pleasant evening.