By this time next week we will be welcoming Folk Festival followers and other visitors to Sidmouth.  

Folk Week has always been an event that divides opinion amongst locals. Personally I think it is a terrific week that brings much-needed income and vibrancy into the town. It does, however, draw people into the town who aren’t as welcome, but that is the nature of the beast.

This year among the performers is Barbara Dickson. She will be headlining at the Ham Marquee at 3pm on Friday 4th August.  I expect ticket sales will have been good. On Wednesday, the 9th August Lindisfarne will be performing at the Ham Marquee at 8pm. I very much look forward to attending this concert having been a fan of the band’s songs in the 1970s with Meet Me On The Corner and Run For Home being two particular favourites.  

The bicentenary celebrations at Sidmouth Cricket Club finished on Sunday 19th July. We had a fantastic week and although the weather wasn’t settled we were able to finish every single game of cricket that took place during the week. This included a T20 fixture against Somerset. We were lucky that Somerset qualified for the T-20 blast finals day and they wanted the match to be a preparation game. This meant we saw a number of the 1st XI stars taking part. Sidmouth came out on top in a high scoring game, but it has to be said the Somerset bowling was of a very friendly nature! On the Saturday Somerset won the T20 Blast Trophy which was fantastic.

On the Wednesday evening there was a dinner in the marquee with the guest speaker being Vic Marks, the former Somerset and England all-rounder. This event was well attended and numerous stories were told about the Somerset side of the 1970s and 1980s which featured household names such as Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Joel Garner. The final event of the bicentenary celebrations was the Caribbean Night on Saturday, the 15th of July. This was sold out and a good number of people from the Sidmouth area were able to enjoy a fantastic evening. Heavy rain showers that peppered the evening were unfortunate but they didn’t ruin it.

On the previous Thursday local folk artist Steve Knightley performed a number of his songs in front of a good sized audience. On the Friday there was a karaoke night hosted by local entertainer Neale Bavington. With a deadline of 11pm the neighbours were able to enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep afterwards! On the Monday after the bicentenary week we were interested to see what damage, if any, had been done to the grass. Fortunately it was minimal, which is good news for the future if we plan any similar events.

On to other matters. Has anybody noticed how the pedestrian crossing lights at Radway now have a much longer time delay before turning green? I assume this was changed to allow people more time to cross in a leisurely manner. The things you notice when you are retired! 

As the council don’t maintain the verges in Connaught Road any more a neighbour has planted wildflower seeds in an area outside their house. The result is a spectacular success with colour in abundance and plenty of pollinators in attendance. Perhaps this could start in other areas where the verges are no longer maintained by the council?

Finally it is a sad weekend for us at Sidmouth Cricket Club as it’s the last game of the season for our overseas professional Bryce Parsons at Plympton. He returns early next week to South Africa for preseason training. Hopefully our younger players will have benefitted hugely from his coaching and watching his game management. What was due to be his final home game last Saturday was unfortunately washed out. Safe travels Bryce and good luck with your future cricketing career.