Issue 66

rhythm and booze Steve Harley Railroving in Kettering The Region’s Biggest Gig Listings

Live Satellite Sports Live Entertainment ‘Cheesy Tuesday’ Cheese sharing nights

Sun 1st May - Retrolux Sun 8th May - Dan Knight Sun 15th May - Salmon Dave Sat 21st May - The Guards Sun 22nd May - The Reckless Sat 28th May - Circa 73 Sun 29th May - Mark Stevens solo acoustic Fri 3rd June - The One Eyed Cats & Summer BBQ (4pm) Peterborough CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011 & 2014 CAMRA Gold award

Sat 4th June - Curry Night Sun 5th June - Tommy Philpot Music Sun 12th June - Arctic Roll Sun 19th June - Division Sat 25th June - Tiger Club Sun 26th June - Radius 45 The Ploughman Summer Charity Beer Festival Thursday 30th June - Sun 3rd July Peterborough Civic Award 2017 for Community Involvement

2013 & 2016

Celebrating 10 consecutive years in the Good Beer Guide Werrington Centre, Staniland Way, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6NA

The Wheatsheaf

Horse and Jockey, Manton

– the Botolph Arms Peterborough Beer Festival Lion

Golden Pheasant

the Haycock Manor Hotel Ploughman

Blue Bell at Easton on the

th

Cambridge Rock Festival Hambelton Hall The Farmers

Cross Keys

The late Ron Cook

(Contin from Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5, there will be live music throughout along with a barrel race, tug of war, coffee and cakes and a Sunday roast – detail at thecrosskeysinnkingscliffe.co.uk In Market Deeping, the Square in the town’s Market Place is available for lease with Star Pubs & Bars – details at starpubs.co.uk Sadly, we have to report the death of Ron Cook, charismatic landlord of the Blue Bell Maxey who passed away in mid-April, days before he and his wife Kathleen were due to celebrate 20 years at the pub, which will remain open. The Thirsty Giraffe in Deeping St James is launching a Cheese Club on the last Wednesday of each month commencing 25 May, and a Saturday bike club – a “leisurely bike ride taking in the fresh air, local sights and probably a beer” commencing in June This year’s Bourne Festival will coincide with the Queen’s jubilee weekend celebrations, commencing on Thursday 2 June (6pm) with all day opening from 12 noon through until Sunday 5 June. Organised by the Round Table and held on the town’s

Wellhead Park since 2002, there’s the usual range of 80 real ales from around the country, 25 ciders, with live music and fairground rides each day. As well as street parties, the Corn Exchange will feature a jubilee dance and buffet on the Friday.

The MG Club will be holding a car rally and there’s a street market on the Saturday. In contrast, the Spalding Festival has been cancelled due to increased costs and a lack of sponsorship.

It is hoped the event will return over the late May Bank Holiday weekend in 2023. Still in Bourne the Mason’s Arms has closed again after the tenants handed the keys back to owners Star Pubs & Bars – interested parties

are requested to visit starpubs. co.uk/pubs/masons-arms-bourne Work is progressing at great pace on Bourne’s branch of JD Wetherspoon – the Raymond Mays in North Street is now due to open in late May – more details in our next issue. Sian and Tom, Managers of the Sugar Mill in Bourne for the past three years, the were due to leave the pub/restaurant in March to take the reins at sister Marston’s outlet, the Tulip Queen in Spalding.

The landlord of the Bell at Weston Hills near Spalding has announced her intention to apply for change of use to a dwelling as the pub is deemed to be unviable – the pub is reportedly for sale for £365k. Local woman Emily Chappell, along with her mother and daughter, has taken on the Bull Inn at Pinchbeck and hopes to have it open for May. She hopes to reopen the kitchen and bar simultaneously, with the upstairs restaurant and carveries reintroduced later. Not so good news for the nearby Bell Inn, however. The long-closed pub is subject to an application to convert the building to apartments, with detached bungalows to be built

at the rear. Locals in Holbeach St John are trying to raise funds to reopen the Plough in the village as a community asset.

The Grade II listed Railway Inn at Ketton has been awarded Pub of the Year for 2022 by Rutland Camra. The Coach House Inn at South Luffenham will be celebrating Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you…”) by offering Dark Star ales at 1977 prices (the year day only – guests are welcome to dress up accordingly, and there will be a range of table top games. Landlady Emma Rose has added her help to the Ukraine crisis by joining an initiative by Euroboozer to buy 45,000 pints of beer from a Ukrainian brewery. The 9th Rutland Camra Beer Festival (23-25 June) will feature live entertainment, more than 40 cask and keg ales, 10 ciders and perries and a gin bar dubbed Multum Gin Parvo – wine and food is provided by the Plough at nearby Greetham. The Horse and Jockey at Manton, idyllically placed on the walking/cycling route around Rutland Water has increased capacity with an extension featuring an outside bar, new toilets and a sizeable upstairs open-air terrace.

Grantham Camra has awarded its Country Pub of the Year 2022 to the excellent Castle at Castle Bytham. A good opportunity to sample the wares of this pub and the Good Beer Guide-listed Fox and Hounds just across the road is the Castle Bytham Midsummer Fair (18-19 June, midsummerfestival.co.uk). This popular event involves the whole village and features its own beer festival with 24 real ales plus ciders, live music on both days and a range of family activities including a trail run, garage

The Wheatsheaf, Peterborough

sales, street market, children’s entertainment, dog show, duck Despite last ditch attempts at resurrecting the business, the owners of Beerheadz in Grantham closed the pub permanently from early March.

Only open since 2016, the pub won the local Camra Pub of the Year award in both 2017 and 2018, but was affected by the pandemic restrictions. Other Beerheadz outlets in Nottingham and Lincoln are not affected.

Venue 1874 at the Gingerbread, at Grantham Town FC’s Trent Road stadium is to host monthly entertainment slots commencing with an evening with ex-Nottingham Forest keeper Mark Crossley on 27 May and a comedy night featuring stars from Britain’s Got Talent on 24 June. The space is available for hire from £150 – details at thegingerbreadgrantham.co.uk Out in the Vale of Belvoir, the attractive Nags Head at Saltby is for sale after John and Kathy Cox announced their retirement.

Priced at £495k the pub enjoys a good reputation, restaurant and darts, crib and pétanque teams – details at everardcole.co.uk The Eight Sail Brewery at Heckington is holding a beer

festival over the Queen’s jubilee weekend, Liz Fest will run from 2-5 June with live music on the Friday and Saturday.

The Poacher Line music trains which were due to call at the adjacent station have been cancelled until further notice Boston’s iconic Gliderdrome venue has gone on sale along with the neighbouring York Street stadium, until recently the home of Boston Utd FC. The venue is expected to be retained as an entertainment centre, and the £5m price tag also includes a number of other properties in an area covering 4.95 acres.

Pubs no more The owners of the Mermaid pub could not possibly be made convert it to apartments, with further building on the car park, should go ahead – the plans are now expected to be approved by the council’s planning committee.

Plans to convert the former Westgate Social Club in Grantham to homes have been refused after the developer failed to agree affordable housing contributions.

Chris Shilling

the rhythm section Don Letts

Congratulations to Kat Beeton on becoming the new Peterborough poet laureate. Kat is a student at the University Centre Peterborough and editorin-chief of the forthcoming anthology of the students’ creative work, The Other Side. A launch event for the publication takes place at the Park Crescent site at 7pm on Wednesday 15 June with free tickets available from eventbrite.co.uk/e/ ucp-anthology-launch-eventtickets-296346850407 Unfortunately, the talk by sitcom writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran at the Key Theatre on 4 May has been cancelled.

At the Cresset (01733 265705, cresset.ticketsolve. com) in Bretton, wild animal expert Steve Backshall will be presenting Ocean on Saturday 7 May. Leicester slam night Some Antics are coming to the Brewery Tap in Peterborough on Saturday 7 May. No word about ticket price at time of writing.

Luke Wright is bringing his new show, The Ballad Seller, to the Stahl Theatre (01832 277300, stahltheatre.savoysystems.co.uk), Oundle, on Monday 9 May. Tickets £15 (children/over 60s £13). Elsewhere in Oundle, Annie Garthwaite will be talking about her historical novel Cecily (set during the earliest part of the Wars of the Roses) on Friday 20 May at St Peter’s church, then on Thursday 30 June, poet Chris Tutton and harpist Anne Denholm take us through Imaginary Landscapes at the Great Hall of Oundle School. Tickets for both from

Steve Backshall

creativeoundle.savoysystems. co.uk/CreativeOundle.dll Former footballers turned radio pundits Alan Brazil and Ray Parlour bring their talkSPORT Live show to the New Theatre, Peterborough (01733 852992, newtheatre-peterborough.com) on Thursday 26 May. Stamford’s Pint of Poetry, which meets at Stamford Arts Centre (01780 763203, stamfordartscentre.com) on the last Wednesday of the month, welcomes Carcanet-published poet Alison Brackenbury on Wednesday 18 May, with (as very special guest) Then in June, they are meeting on Wednesday 22 for an evening celebrating their own weaver of words, Sylvester.

Peterborough Poets United are intending to gather in Helpston on Saturday 21 May (probably at the grave of John Clare) to read his poetry and commemorate the anniversary of his death.

Also, on Wednesday 15 June, wildlife cameraman Toby Strong will be giving a talk, at Stamford Arts Centre, entitled Through a Wild Lens. Tickets are £14.

Then on Friday 29 July Cathy

Carson is bringing her show Becoming Marvelous at 7.30pm.

Last year I picked up a Hall of Fame TOBY Award (for this column) and before you know it, it will be award season again. If you know of someone from the local scene who you think deserves a TOBY on their mantlepiece, pass your nomination on to Gary Huskisson.

Looking ahead to other festivals, the TS Eliot Festival at Little Gidding is planned for Sunday 10 July (depending on availability a certain actor/ director hopes to read The Waste Land); the John Clare Festival in Helpston is planned for 15-17 July (this year with the theme The Importance of Tradition); the second Boston Book festival is pencilled in for 16-18 September.

As well as being an extra in Mark Grist’s music video Parents’ Evening BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for a Remembrance Sunday poem, Cardinal Cox also had a video Lone Animator of his poem The Night Land.

The Old White Beare Village Street Norwood Green Halifax HX3 8QG 01274 676645 oldwhitebeare.com Tucked away in a quiet village just off the A58 west of Leeds, the Old White Beare is a living museum piece of a pub.

Although it’s had its share of alterations over the years, this free house has retained plenty of character, including large chunks from a 16th century sailing ship from which it takes its name.

The Tudor naval vessel saw action against the Spanish

Armada in 1588, before being decommissioned and rebuilt a few years later as a 57-gun royal ship. The pub, then standing on the old packhorse track running

between Leeds and Halifax, had recently burned down, and timbers from the galleon were used in the rebuild.

The individual rooms

include a main bar, “brewhouse” restaurant at the rear and a delightful snug complete with high-backed wooden settles, low ceiling and its own open

pub, but the staff and locals were very welcoming, and keen to show us round, though they were united, on what was a particularly grim day, in complaining about a lack of

beamed ceilings, with work from local artists displayed on the

outdoor area at the front of the pub is complemented by a much more substantial sheltered

plus Saltaire Blonde and changing guests from other local breweries such as Copper Dragon and maybe a national brand such as Doom Bar at extensive selection of wines and

for hire for meetings and

Well-kept beers come from Boltmaker when we visited)

Food is prepared by a Michelin trained head chef with good home cooked, locally sourced classic British dishes choice from a la carte, bar snack

Parties and buffets are also toasted Ciabatta sandwiches – we tried the Battered Fish Butty, Chris Shilling The pub is open all day from 12 noon every day with food served 12-3pm MondayFriday and 5-9pm every day (12-5pm Saturdays, 12-6pm Sundays).

The Northamptonshire town of Kettering boasts a sizeable population of around 65,000 and is only just over 30 miles from Peterborough, so why haven’t we covered it before? Well, the easy answer is that to reach it by rail involves a circuitous route with a change at Leicester, the original “Nene Valley” route having closed in the 1960s. That said, the fare (off-peak with railcard and purchasing the PeterboroughLeicester, and Leicester to

Kettering tickets separately) came in at just over £20, arriving an hour and 40 minutes later, via a cheeky one in Steamin’ Billy’s Parcel Yard next to Leicester railway station.

Kettering is an industrial town, originally a centre for the shoe trade, and frankly does not possess the prettiest of town centres. Following Station Road and onto Sheep Street, the town centre on this pleasant Thursday lunchtime was strangely quiet.

The Cherry Tree appeared to be permanently closed, the Old Market Inn does not open until 5pm (and does not open at all Monday-Wednesday), and the Royal Hotel also appeared to be closed. With the Three Cocks also not opening until 5pm, the Peacock bereft of real ales and Yards Bar seemingly an outside bar serving bottles and a couple of kegs, we were beginning to think we’d made a bad move, so we dived into the Stitching

Potbelly Brewery

Shire Horse

Alexandra Arms

Pony – a large Marston’s house with Hobgoblin Gold and Ruby before heading for the local JD Wetherspoon outlet – the Earl of Dalkeith – where we took lunch and enjoyed a range of 12 beers. The pub opens at 8am each day and is named after the former Duke of Buccleuch whose family owned much of the land around the town and the stately home known as Boughton House. As with many JDW outlets there’s plenty of local history related on pictures and notices around the pub. Business was brisk and we couldn’t help but wonder if its presence was

partly responsible for the lack of open pubs around.

Moving up Silver Street, things improved when we discovered the Shire Horse, a basic free house with exposed stonework, pulled beers – three from the local Potbelly brewery plus Summer Lightning and four guest ales when we visited. The beer quality was excellent and if you’re around at the weekend there’s live music and weekly jam nights – there are also occasional beer festivals. The Alexandra Arms at the junction of Victoria Street and Alexandra Street is

arguably better still. Open from 2pm (12 noon at weekends) it’s another free house, renowned locally as the best choice for discerning beer drinkers and offers a friendly welcome and up to 15 cask ales, keenly priced “mainstream” beers such as Summer Lightning, Hobgoblin and Pedigree, but you can also expect an impressive range of ales from around the country.

We were offered expertly kept degrees, Twisted Wheel, Church End and Kinver breweries.

Until recently, the pub also featured its own microbrewery, originally Nobby’s and then Purple Cow before closure due to the owner’s retirement – the brewery equipment is currently for sale. Not surprisingly, the pub has won numerous pub of the year awards, with framed hundreds of pump clips on the walls and ceilings We were keen to visit the Potbelly Brewery a short walk away on Sydney Street, housed in a former leather factory, but their sizable tap room is only open on Friday evenings.

A brewery visit needs to be

The Little R’Ale House, Wellingborough

booked in advance with a £25 price tag which includes up to chip supper. We struck lucky, however, as we wandered up to the brewery, a corporate visit underway and our small party was invited in by the friendly brewery owners, Greg Johnson and Ian Loasby. We got to try a sample some of the 70 or so ciders available, indeed our hosts seemed reluctant to let us go once they realised our genuine interest, and we stayed a little longer than we had planned.

If time allows, the Good Beer

Guide-listed Piper situated on Windmill Avenue alongside

Camra member and features up to seven changing real ales. the Three Cocks, opposite open from 5pm and features up to six well kept real ales from the likes of Oakham, Grainstore and Church End and a games area with Northamptonshire Just nine minutes further south by rail lies Wellingborough, whose station houses a little gem

Mary and Rob at the Little R’Ale House,

of a pub known as the Little R’ale House, so after a little research we found we could extend our journey for just £4 each and popped back on to a southbound Corby-London daily the bar is housed in the former “Ammo Room” – nothing to do with military operations, but the building where warning detonators used by the track gangs were once kept.

New licensees Mary Donaldson and Rob Walker offered us a very friendly welcome, explaining that the We tasted beers straight from the cask from Magpie, Castle at just £3.50 a pint. There are also bottled craft ales, lagers and wines available in this tiny one-roomed pub along with Little Devil spirits, distilled locally so we had no choice but try a shot each – very tasty. If also a collection of scale models also a small patio area outside if the weather is kind enough.

Chris Shilling

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Key 1. Old Market Inn 2. Three Cocks 3. Peacock 4. Yards Bar 5. Stitching Pony 6. Earl of Dalkeith 7. Shire Horse 8. Alexandra Arms 9. Potbelly Brewery 10. Piper

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Come Up and See Him Opposite, top: Steve, pictured with Eddi Reader who appears on his new album, Uncovered. Opposite, bottom: Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, 1972.

The last two years have been hard on everybody, none more so than those businesses and artists that this magazine was set up to support. Pubs, theatres and other live venues were forced to close as a result of the lockdowns, denying artists a space to perform and, in several cases, delaying new works from seeing the light of day.

Singer/songwriter Steve Harley is one such case in point. Just three he released his new album, Uncovered, and had just started out on a 69-date tour.

“We lost sixty shows, we played nine out of the 69,” explains Steve. “It hurt badly, a whole year and a half of not playing a show. I mean the theatres themselves were completely out of pocket, it must have been horrible for them, completely horrible.”

With the exception of a single date, Steve has been able to reschedule the tour, and will be coming to Stamford Corn Exchange with his acoustic band on 11 June. Although it’ll be Stamford, it’s a town the he loves and knows quite well.

“Mrs Harley and I can often be seen in the stone hotels in the town centre,” says Steve. “Oddly enough, on the Uncovered album, there is a duet with Eddi Reader who I met in My wife and I came to Stamford Arts Centre to see Eddi and her band. We met backstage for friends.”

On the all-acoustic Uncovered, Reader duets with Steve on Star of Belle Isle – a introduced to through Bob

Dylan’s recording. In addition to reworkings of his own (Love) Compared With You and Only You, the album includes a further eight covers of some of Steve’s favourite songs including David Bowie’s Absolute Beginners, the Beatles’ I’ve Just Seen a Face and the Rolling Stones’ Out of Time.

“They’re songs that I’ve been singing at home for years,” explains Steve. “They’re favourites of mine. The main criterion, when a songwriter makes an interpretation of someone else’s song, I guess, for me anyway, the main criterion, is: ‘Do I wish I had written that?’

“In each case, I would absolutely have to say ‘yes’.

They’re classic, brilliant pieces of song writing, and our recording of them are totally organic, there’s no EQ, no echoes, no knob twiddling, there’s no help at all from the equipment, the

technical equipment, it’s really, really, totally live acoustic.”

Performing as a four-piece, Steve will be joined on the tour

by Uncovered personnel Barry Wickens (violin/guitar) and Oli Hayhurst (double bass), along with lead guitarist Dave Delarre, a personal recommendation of the album’s Martin Simpson (“a world-class clawhammer, make the tour due to his solo commitments.

In addition to material from Uncovered, the band will be playing a selection of Steve’s vast back catalogue – both as a solo artist and as a member of Cockney Rebel – including Mr Soft, Judy Teen and, of course, his 1975 chart-topper Make Me

Smile (Come Up and See Me).

Outside of music, Steve, who lives half-an-hour from Newmarket, enjoys going horseracing.

“For many, many years, I’ve owned racehorses, I’ve got three at the moment, or 50% of three, in a share with people. Also, these days, life is centred quite a bit around having three grandchildren, which is wonderful and we see quite a bit of them whenever we can. They love coming here, I mean my wife is one of the best grandmothers you can ever imagine having, and they adore her.

“So, yeah, we keep busy as a family but the diary is so crammed with live dates, just in the last few weeks we’ve been

in Norway and Denmark, I’m on my way to Holland in a few weeks’ time.

“Over the last two years, it’s become clear that you don’t know how short your life is going to be. So, I try and get out there and play every single concert as if it’s the last show I’ll play on earth. I dedicate myself to that.”

The Steve Harley Acoustic Band will play Stamford Corn Exchange Theatre (01780 766455, stamfordcornexchange. co.uk) on Saturday 11 June.

For further information on Steve Harley, his new album Uncovered and other tour dates, go to steveharley.com

LISTINGS The Expletives 30 April Los Cojones (9pm), Prince of Wales Feathers, Castor Ramshackle Serenade 01 May The Fureys, Stamford Corn Exchange Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Jazz Underground (12pm), Dan Poole (3pm), Charters, Peterborough The High Rollers Open Mic Night (6-11pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Retrolux, Ploughman, Werrington The System, Edwards Bar, Grantham 02 May Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 03 May Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Riverside Ukulele Band (10.30am), HUB, Sleaford Unplugged (6pm), HUB, Sleaford 04 May Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Big Fun Quiz, Grainstore, Oakham 05 May Fascinating Aida, Stamford Corn Exchange The Xtremities Embrace LGBTQ Night Unplugged (7pm), Solo Bar, Sleaford Open Mic, Ship, Pointon 06 May The Deps, Bell, Deeping St James Salmon Dave/The Xtremities Movie Cabaret Night with Haus of Queerio (7pm, £25 inc food), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Quiz Night (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Black Rose Society

The Sensational 70s and 80s Disco (9pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Open Mic (7.30pm), Heckington Sports Pavilion Platform One (8pm), Legion, Sleaford Arctic Numpties, Mama Liz, Stamford 07 May Junk Puppets, Burghley Club, Peterborough An Evening with Simon & Oscar, Stamford Corn Exchange Halo, Golden Fleece, Stamford The Dizzy Miss Lizzys/The Xtremities Voodoo Haze (8.30pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Charlie Jacob, S Bar, Stilton Mike Jay (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Velocity (10pm), Charters, Peterborough Radius 45 A Song for Dorothea (10am), Source, Sleaford Andy Lenton, Sleaford Ukulele Orchestra, Terry Walton, the Kilburns, Malt Whiskers, Mike

Priors Oven

Follow us on M bluebellpe4 6 The Green, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6RU 01733 573261

Todd, Keith Collishaw and Andy Tymens (12pm) Heckington Windmill Jill Crossland (1pm), St Denys Church, Sleaford Rock Vixen (8pm), Legion, Sleaford DJ, London Inn, Stamford SafeandSound , Mama Liz, Stamford Fire Flies, Nobody Inn, Grantham 08 May Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Jordan Poole (3pm), Charters, Peterborough Head in the Sand Folk Session Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Keith Collishaw, Riverside Ukulele Band, Jim Ross, Steve Doane and Andy Tymens (12pm), Heckington Windmill End of Week Music Session (4pm), Horseshoes, Silk Willoughby Miller Magic, Masonic Rooms, Sleaford Dan Knight, Ploughman, Werrington Poor Boy , Mama Liz, Stamford Open Mic Night, Grainstore, Oakham Outside Chance, Edwards Bar, Grantham 09 May Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 10 May Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 11 May Acoustic Open Mic Night (6.30-9.30pm), Duke of Wellington, Leasingham Open Mic Night (7.30pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Wednesday Acoustic Sessions (8.00pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Quiz Night, Ship, Pointon Ostracised Live Music 13 May Flo & Joan, Stamford Corn Exchange Pool Tournament (8.30pm, £5 entry), Whistlestop, Tallington Darts Tournament (8.30pm, £5 entry), Whistlestop, Tallington Whittlesey Folk Club (8.00pm), Falcon Hotel,

Whittlesey Sweet Revenge Everything Urban with DJs TK and T3lsy (9pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Eat Your Own Head + Das Kapitans + Ice Cream Headache + Misinformed, Mama Liz, Stamford 14 May The Nuggets, Burghley Club, Peterborough Big “D” (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Houndogs, Bourne Corn Exchange The Dizzy Miss Lizzys (10pm), Charters, Peterborough Ouse Valley Singles Club DJ, London Inn, Stamford Beachy Head Diving Club, Nobody Inn, Grantham 15 May Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Matty Haynes (3pm), Charters, Peterborough Soulful Strut DJ Session Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Salmon Dave, Ploughman, Werrington Indigo, Edwards Bar, Grantham 16 May Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club

COSY COUNTRY PUB AND RESTAURANT IN THE PICTURESQUE VILLAGE OF CASTLE BYTHAM Regular Live Music Monthly Pub Quiz (3rd Tuesday) See Facebook/listings in this issue All Major Sporting Events Shown ‘Castle Pantry’ open from 12-5pm daily Sunday Lunch Served 12-3pm

Celebrating Grantham CAMRA Country Pub of the Year 2022 Join us on Tues May 3rd for the Presentation Evening

June 3rd – Jubilee menu with Live Music June 18th Midsummer Fair Weekend June 19th Father’s Day – special menu

High St, Castle Bytham, Stamford NG33 4RZ The Castle Inn, Castle Bytham T: 01780 411223

17 May Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Open Mic Night (8.00pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 18 May Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club 19 May Fairport Convention, Stamford Corn Exchange Originals Acoustic Night Ramonas + March to the Grave, Mama Liz, Stamford Funhouse Comedy, Grainstore, Oakham 20 May Outlaw Eagles, Burghley Club, Peterborough Dirty Rumour, Golden Fleece, Stamford All Glammed Up, S Bar, Stilton Music Quiz (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Don Letts (10pm, ticket only), Charters, Peterborough 8 Foot Under Quo Vadis with DJ Mr Nash and guest DJs (9.30pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Sticky Fingers , Grainstore, Oakham 21 May The Expletives, Burghley Club, Peterborough Blackout (8.30pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Colin Stevens (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Carpark Rendezvous (10pm), Charters, Peterborough The Money Shot Filthy Contact, London Inn, Stamford The Guards, Ploughman, Werrington Festival of the 60s, Legionnaires Club, Sleaford Betty Swallox, Nobody Inn, Grantham 22 May Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Palmy Uke Band (3pm), Charters, Peterborough Mark Stevens Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale The Reckless, Ploughman, Werrington Pennyless with Bill Pauley, Red Lion, Bourne Relentless, Edwards Bar, Grantham 23 May Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 24 May Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club

Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 25 May Monthly Comedy Club (8pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Quiz Night, Ship, Pointon Cheese Club (6pm), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James 26 May Vicarage + ToTouchTheFaceOfGod + Support 27 May Division, Burghley Club, Peterborough Last Minute Brigade (8pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Open Mic Night (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Friday Acoustic sessions (7.30pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Vinyl Night (8pm), Charters, Peterborough Frankly My Dear High Rollers (10pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 28 May Live Band TBC, Burghley Club, Peterborough Steve Moyse (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club The Deps (10pm), Charters, Peterborough Candy Twist Halo, London Inn, Stamford Circa 73, Ploughman, Werrington Under the Covers, Nobody Inn, Grantham 29 May Uncovered Takeover (2-5pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club The RAW Collective Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Mark Stevens solo acoustic, Ploughman, Werrington One Eyed Cats + BBQ (2-6pm), Five Horseshoes, Barholm Cheese Club (6pm), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James Love Machine, Edwards Bar, Grantham 30 May Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Amber (8.30pm), Ship, Pointon 31 May Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough

Peterborough CAMRA City Pub of the Year 2022

Five constantly changing real ales including gluten free and vegan

Live Music Every Weekend - See listings and our website

17 North Street, Peterborough PE1 2RA (Just off Westgate)

“Ostrich Inn Peterborough” ostrichinnpeterborough.com

ABV 3.9%

01 June Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Open Mic, Ship, Pointon 02 June Jessie’s Ghost, Burghley Club, Peterborough Jubilee Bike Show: Triple Threat, Burlesque and Alex Eardley-Scott (2-9pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping The Cobras (6pm), Cross Keys, King’s Cliffe No Gods No Managers Presents - Fair Do’s + Das Kapitans + Jordy Notion Comedy Night (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Real Monsters, Grainstore, Oakham 03 June The Gangsters, Burghley Club, Peterborough The Expletives, Deeping St James Karaoke, Golden Fleece, Stamford Jubilee Karaoke (8pm-late), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Quiz Night (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Mae Florence (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club The Detail Salmon Dave (6pm), Cross Keys, King’s Cliffe House Sessions (2-10pm), Charters, Peterborough The One Eyed Cats & Summer BBQ (4pm), Ploughman, Werrington Hey Beatles, Mama Liz, Stamford Manky Beds, Grainstore, Oakham Jubilee menu with Live Music Curly (8.30pm), Ship, Pointon 04 June Frankly my Dear, Burghley Club, Peterborough , Golden Fleece, Stamford CJ Hatt, S Bar, Stilton Rick Roberts (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Roy Raven & His Winklepickers One Eyed Cats (6pm), Cross Keys, King’s Cliffe Mola Mola Jambalaya (12pm), Charters, Peterborough Bent Back Tulips Arctic Monkey, London Inn, Stamford Curry Night, Ploughman, Werrington SafeandSound , Mama Liz, Stamford Filthy Contact, Grainstore, Oakham Indigo (9pm), Ship, Pointon Saturday Bike Club (meet 11am), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James You and I acoustic duo, the Souls Sista, Groove Cartell, the Expletives, Last Minute Brigade (from

3pm), Blue Bell, Easton on the Hill 05 June Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Dave Smith (4pm), Cross Keys, King’s Cliffe Jazz Underground (12pm), Charters, Peterborough Richard Hall Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Palmy Uke Band Tommy Philpot Music, Ploughman, Werrington Leannan , Mama Liz, Stamford Open Mic, Grainstore, Oakham Rick Huddlestone acoustic (2pm), Ship, Pointon 06 June Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 07 June Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 08 June Acoustic Open Mic Night (6.30-9.30pm), Duke of Wellington, Leasingham Open Mic Night (7.30pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Wednesday Acoustic Sessions (8.00pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Big Fun Quiz, Grainstore, Oakham Quiz Night, Ship, Pointon 09 June Embrace LGBTQ Night Jess Jocoy and Lexie Green, Mama Liz, Stamford 10 June The Magic of the Beatles, Stamford Corn Exchange Pool Tournament (8.30pm, £5 entry), Darts Tournament (8.30pm, £5 entry), Whistlestop, Tallington Prime Cuts with DJs Ollie Jones and Derby Neal (8pm), Charters, Peterborough The Midnight Calling Open Mic with Chloe Lorentzen, Bull, Rippingale Planet Fatale + Live Wire + Filthy Mellow Orchestra, Mama Liz, Stamford 11 June Velocity, Burghley Club, Peterborough Steve Harley Acoustic Band, Stamford Corn Exchange Travis Graham (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club

Barholm, Stamford, Lincs PE9 4RA • 01778 560238

A Welcoming Traditional Ale House

Open from 4pm week days, 1pm Saturday and 12pm Sundays NOW SERVING ‘STREET FOOD’ SATURDAY NIGHTS 7th May TBC 14th May Kura, Kura Sri Lankan curry (5-8pm) 21st May Heartcibo burgers and pizza (5-9pm) 28th May Cheesy Pig (5.30-9pm) 4th June TBC 11th June Heartcibo burgers and pizzas (5-9pm) 18th June TBC 25th June Morton Fish and Chips (4-9pm)

FRESHLY MADE PIZZAS Celebrating 10 years in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide!

COOKED IN AN AUTHENTIC WOOD FIRED OVEN EVERY

FRIDAYS 4-9PM. BOOKING ESSENTIAL CALL DALE ON 07941 781168

Six Real Ales with three on rotation • Three Draught Ciders • Three Lagers Three Craft Ales • Fine Wine & Spirits • Large Beer Garden • Heated Marquee

thirstygiraffedeeping

Jessie’s Ghost Drum and Bass Night (9pm, £5 entry), Brewery Tap, Peterborough DJ, London Inn, Stamford The Jammie Codgers (Jam tribute, 8.30pm), Ship, Pointon Saturday Bike Club (meet 11am), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James 12 June Sunday Sessions: Moonshiners (3-5pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Opaque (3pm), Charters, Peterborough Head In the Sand Folk Session Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Arctic Roll, Ploughman, Werrington 13 June Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 14 June Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 15 June Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club 16 June Originals Acoustic Night 17 June Music Quiz (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Shaparak Khorsandi, Stamford Corn Exchange BHDC (10pm), Charters, Peterborough Porky Pig L’Aristo’s Revival (9pm, £5 entry), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 18 June Soul FX, Burghley Club, Peterborough All the Small Things (8.30pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Reckless, S Bar, Stilton Mark Steele (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Eddie Nash (3-10pm), Charters, Peterborough Black Dog Murphy Blackout UK, London Inn, Stamford Skate Aid 8: Charity Punk All-Dayer (from 1.30pm), Mama Liz, Stamford Midsummer Fair Weekend Saturday Bike Club (meet 11am), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James

DJ Sounds, Mark Stevens, Richard Durrant, Dancing Wu-Li masters, Smokestack Blues Band, Idle Hands, Uninvited Guests, Groove Cartell, 19 June Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club The Atomics (3pm), Charters, Peterborough Soulful Strut DJ Session Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Division, Ploughman, Werrington Father’s Day , Grainstore, Oakham Zeb Rootz (2-6pm), Five Horseshoes, Barholm Father’s Day Corby Glen Dance Academy, Ruth Dutton, Stringlers, Chloe Lorentzon, Figure of Eight, 20 June Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club 21 June Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Open Mic Night (8.00pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 22 June Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club Quiz Night, Ship, Pointon Ostracised 24 June Karaoke Night (8pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Open Mic Night (8.30pm), Whistlestop, Tallington Friday Acoustic sessions (7.30pm), Falcon Hotel, Whittlesey Stamford Comedy Club, Stamford Corn Exchange Vinyl Night (8pm), Charters, Peterborough DB5 The Gangsters (10pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough CJ Hatt, Bustard Inn, South Rauceby 25 June The Dizzy Miss Lizzies, Burghley Club, Peterborough Miscellaneous (8pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Noel Gee (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club DJ Pat Unwin (3-9pm), Charters, Peterborough The Mighty & The High Dirty Rumour, London Inn, Stamford

Tiger Club, Ploughman, Werrington Genie Lamps (8.30pm), Ship, Pointon Saturday Bike Club (meet 11am), Thirsty Giraffe, Deeping St James 26 June Uncovered Takeover (2-5pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (12.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Funked Up (3pm), Charters, Peterborough David James Smith Quiz Night (7pm), Bull, Rippingale Radius 45, Ploughman, Werrington

Liz Fest

Gin & Cider Festival Bourne Festival Beer, Ale & Cider Festival

27 June Quiz Night (8.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Music and Beer Festival 28 June Poker (7.30pm), Peterborough Con Club Pub Quiz (8pm), Brewery Tap, Peterborough 29 June Monthly Comedy Club (8pm), Iron Horse, Market Deeping Bingo (8.15pm), Peterborough Con Club 30 June The Peterborough Big Band (8pm, £5 entry), Brewery Tap, Peterborough Funhouse Comedy, Grainstore, Oakham 01 July Last Minute Brigade (8pm), Ploughman, Werrington 02 July Midnight Calling, Burghley Club, Peterborough Salmon Dave (3pm), Carpark Rendezvous (8pm), Ploughman, Werrington 03 July The Nuggets (3pm), Ploughman, Werrington

Beer Festivals

04-07 May 2nd “Xtreme Ales at The Farmers” Beer Festival

Rail Ale Beer & Music Festival 10th Annual Rutland Cider & Sausage Festival, Grainstore, Oakham

18-19 June Castle Bytham Midsummer Fair - Live music, 24 real ales, eight ciders, lagers and gins.

30 June-03 July The Ploughman Summer Charity Beer Festival, Ploughman, Werrington - Over 40 real ales and ciders, speciality gin selection, live music, hot food available all weekend

Rhythm & Booze, Issue 66 May/June 2022

All written material, unless otherwise stated, © Simon Stabler All events are listed free of charge. To ensure inclusion in the July/August 2022 issue, or have any other news included in the magazine, email simonstabler@aol.com by 10 June. Entry cannot be guaranteed for late submissions.

For advertising queries, contact Chris Shilling on 07736 635916 or by email to chris@shillingmedia.co.uk Advertising Rates (excluding VAT)* £200 - full page (cover) £160 - full page £100 - half page £60 - quarter page * Discounts for series bookings Thank you to Wally Barnes, David Brown, Cardinal Pete Cox, Billy Walker, Steve Williams, Mick Slaughter, Karyn Kennedy, Tony Shilling, Wayne Cocker, Graham Coombs, Jocky Martin and ‘Suss’ Cornish for their help in compiling this issue.

The Blue Boar. Having grown up in pubs (his father, Martin, had the nearby Town Arms) and then worked in them his entire life, Kieran had pretty much seen everything.

However, 2020 was going to be a little different and while the year starts off normally enough, by early March, Kieran reports about a “potentially deadly repository disease that has spread from China, and which seems likely to reach us soon.”

Cue Kieran and his business partner looking at ways of

Smoke & Oakum

By The Longest Johns, CD, Decca 3876697 One of the most unusual success stories of the pandemic period to date has to be the international passion for sea shanties – traditional music spread by modern methods.

At the heart of this musical phenomenon were four singers from Bristol who got together purely for fun and, named the Longest Johns, found themselves with a new career. In early 2021, their rendition of the traditional Wellerman went viral online.

Their fourth album – and with the Decca label – shows their development to date with more use of musical accompaniment compared to the early releases that featured mostly unaccompanied harmony singing. The guest list includes Seth Lakeman on vocals and Sam The mix of material blends

traditional songs together with their own writing very much in the folk tradition. The opening track is the Stephen Foster song Hard Times Come Again No More, followed by a lively selection that takes us to places in song titles like Nantucket in search of whales through to Wayfaring Stranger that takes us over Jordan in search of home.

While we usually associate sea shanties with the work of sailing ships, Pride of the White Star Line sings of the mixed fates of those with engines, before declares Beer is Great.

Splendid sing-along songs all.

David Brown Diary of a Publican

By Kieran Lyons, SNB Publishing Ltd, paperback Inspired by Shaun Bythell’s critically acclaimed The Diary of a Bookseller, this memoir covers a year in the life of Kieran Lyons, co-owner of Leicester freehouse

running a takeaway beer service from the Blue Boar and sister pub the Ale Stone, Aylestone in the face of increasing (and often petty) bureaucracy. With the occasional missed delivery or broken bottle along the way, we discover more about this truly British of institutions and the people involved. Littered with plenty of anecdotes, we are introduced to a whole host of regulars with colourful nicknames, discover the author’s thoughts and frustrations about the pub trade and the drinks industry, and are reminded of just how important pubs are to the communities that they serve.