A day in the life of the Folk Trail

6:30am - awake to harp alarm. Sleeping bags move (last night's curry). Search for clothes. Moira loses instructions for trousers.



First brave soul leaves tent and puts on kettle. Queue for loos. Scramble for muesli, porridge or hot cross bun (Moira). Sniff milk. Clare furtively moves off with Cara. Returns for poo bag. Cara more bouncy.
Pack up worldly possessions and search for missing ones. Scrape compeed off from bottom of sock. Eventually speak.
Unpack van. Repack van. Dismantle tent. Unpack van. Pack tent. Scrape banana out of backpack (Clare). Decide what day it is, look up where we're going. Look at dwindling kitty box in silence. Hang wet laundry on backpack. Wait for new walkers. Set off at 9am. Run after Chris.

Walk. Walk. Walk further. Ow (stinging nettle). Climb stile. Walk. Kissing gate. RING RING! Answer Folk Trail phone. Walk. Cara no! Walk. Kissing gate. Walk. Splash. Retrieve dog. Walk. Splash. Swear (Moira). Walk. Walk. Where are the others? Wait. Cara no! Splash. Urghhhh! Go away. Wash dog (Clare). Cara no! Walk. Walk. RING RING! Answer Folk Trail phone. Ow (bramble). Walk. See cows. Cara no! Wash dog (Phil). Caaaarrr! (busy road). Look pasty shop!

Lunch.

Walk. Walk. Compeed stop. Walk. RING RING! Answer Folk Trail phone. Walk. Cara no! Walk. Walk. Admire view. Camera snap (Moira).



Walk. Walk. Not there Cara! Oh no. I'll catch you up (Clare). Walk. Arrive at campsite.
Wonderful van! Wonderful driver! Wonderful tea! Remove boots. Inelegantly stretch aching limbs. Excavate tent from van. Put up tent. Set out beds.

Argghh, cold! Argghh, hot! Argghh, cold! Argghh, hot! (shower). Aw no, I've just washed my clean knickers! (Moira). Get dry. Accidently hit shower switch with elbow. Argghh, cold! Argghh, hot! Argghh, very, very wet. (Clare) (fully dressed) (towel now wet). Suppress swearing (children within hearing).

Help/hinder/obstruct chef. Eat (bliss). Wash up. Dry up. Pack up cooking gear. Attempt laundry. Feed tumble dryer. Feed tumble dryer again. Curse tumble dryer. Give up on tumble dryer.

Download last night's audio recordings from zoom 2 (Moira). Download last night's audio recordings from zoom 4 (Moira). Download last night's video recordings (Moira). Attempt to remember to type up last night's session book (Naomi). Fail (Naomi). Attempt blog (Clare and Naomi). Hurry up, we're late for the session! Abandon blog. Pack up van. Pack in dog. Search for session venue in van. Park van in tiny street. Block tiny street. Extract instruments from deepest recesses of van. Lose van somewhere legal. Stagger into session (slightly late) "What kept you?!" Smile sweetly. Return to van for collection bucket (Clare). Set up recording gear. Save recording gear from spilt beer/shanty men/mass bodhran band. Sit if possible. Drink. Fantastic session!!!! Lovely hosts. Meet old friends, make new. Last orders. Session continues.



Gather scattered instruments/coats/bags/archiving equipment/people. Pack van. Pile in van (Cara no!) Return to campsite gone midnight. Scrabble for toothbrush. Attempt to find toilets in dark. Fall over wet boots/laundry/dog/people. Sleeping bag found. Search for pyjamas. Give up. Zzzzzzz.......

6:30am - awake to harp alam. Sleeping bags move....

The Folk Trail Team x