Wimborne Folk Festival

The festival started really well last night. The Friday procession was very short, only the three local teams and the Wimborne Militia, but then that's how Friday always is. The Mayor was there and there was a good turnout and the atmosphere was good.

What really caught my attention was Bourne River morris. I've known the team for many a year and they're a relaxed and not terribly accurate team. Great guys, but pretty mixed on the dancing front. This year, I instantly noticed that they'd all washed and ironed their white trousers. Even more, their dancing had improved. They did a spot in the ceilidh and, by golly, they were in time with one another, and the footwork was miles better than normal. And they've even discovered theatre! The last dance was done to an impressive chorus of drums that brought a real cheer from the audience.

I'm sure the weekend's alcohol consumption will restore them to normal, but it was great to watch them in such splendid form!

Sadly, my old side, the Dorset Buttons, have gone a bit downhill. Wobbly lines and poorer timing, though that may improve tomorow when more of them are here. (Ah, it's so easy to be a critic when you're no longer dancing...)

waveney and I will be doing what we always do at Wimborne - collecting. exalted_mugwump will be sorely missed, but we'll have to see how well we tin-rattle without him. It's a family skill. We collect a non-trivial part of the festival's funds between us. We were trying to work out how many years we've done it and we can no longer remember. It started when I was invalided out of the Dorset Buttons one year and went collecting instead. I found that I enjoyed it as much as I did the dancing and when I left the Buttons, I carried on collecting for the festival.

Oddly enough, it turned out to be a useful skill. I'm convinced that the reason both Richard and I adapted so well to recruiting members for hte Wildlife Trusts is that we were already used to approaching total strangers and persuading them to part with cash. It really is a skill - it needs good humour, a relaxed attitude, a willing smile, an ability to stay on your feet for the entire day and the confidence to actually ask for the money. (That doesn't necessarily mean saying 'gimme cash' but smiling at the guy standing at the back, holding the collecting tin in easy reach and making eye contact)

The main risk is sunburn. There isn't much shade in the middle of the festival, so we'll both be piling on the sunscreen, especially on the forearms - holding out tins all the time makes the arms very vulnerable.

And then we'll dance at the ceilidh in the evening.