Hidden Gems Cruise - Final Night and Maris's Birthday

Monday 23 September 2019. A busy afternoon onboard the Marella Dream, packing all our stuff into suitcases ready for the trip home tomorrow. We still had a final evening to look forward to.

It was Maris's birthday. So we were treating her and Tomas to dinner in the ship's Mistrals restaurant. One of three speciality restaurants, there is a small cover charge for the food but it is well worth the price as the food and service are both wonderful.

But first there's time to get settled and pull funny faces...

Or slightly more serious faces... The meal started with an aperitif - "What do you mean, waiter? I've still got most of my own..." This was a cauliflower tempura, a small cauliflower floret encased in batter and served with a sprinkling of chopped chives.

Starters included a prawn cocktail with mini lobster-type thing on top. Maris said it was just a big prawn...

...and then tried to make things up in case she had hurt its feelings...

Massive chunk of steak topped with dressed crab meat and hollandaise sauce with small salad on the side and side dishes of fries and mushrooms. Yum!

Maris went for full-grown lobster. Tomas mixed lobster and salmon fillet. Miss Franny also had steak but without the trimmings - she doesn't do vegetables or anything remotely green...

Maris received an extra dessert! Everybody in the restaurant all sang Happy Birthday to her, which was a nice moment.

Fran and I had a sampler dessert, with small portions of three different scrumptious sweetie stuffs!

A quick coffee and then its time for Tomas and Maris to go to work, singing in Tides Bar.

My backing vocalists were trying out their choreography tonight! After a week onboard I was struggling with the air-con drying out my throat which limits my range. I sang Doo-Wah-Diddy-Diddy which meant I could leave several lines to the audience!

As my last song of the cruise I sang Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire which has no high notes for me to struggle with! And it went down very well too!

We ended the night as always with a late night (early morning!) coffee in the Lido restaurant with Tomas and Maris and then the sad business of saying goodbye to these two lovely people until the next time we meet.

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Creeping Bentgrass in Southport

Saturday 26 January 2019. Our first gig of the year took us on a stormy journey to Ainsdale near Southport to play at a 70th birthday party.

The venue was Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club where we found the best "can do" staff and an enthusiastic audience who kept the dance floor occupied throughout the evening. We kept the dancers busy and were asked to do our version of the Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin which earned us a standing ovation. Thanks to all concerned - we had just as fabulous a night as we hoped you did!

Creeping Bentgrass in Darwen For Double 70th Party

Saturday 30 September 2017. Last weekend we motored across to Darwen to play at a double 70th Birthday Party. One of the couple's birthdays was in June - the other in December. September was the obvious time then!

We had a great night with a full room and lots of enthusiastic people in the audience. Thanks all for the booking and the wonderful feedback and comments. It was a pleasure playing for your party.

Creeping Bentgrass Party Time

Last night Creeping Bentgrass headed out to Darwen to play at a 60th birthday party. It was quite cold in the room to begin with and my strings were not eager to stay in tune until we had played for an hour or so and enough people had come in to warm the place up a bit!

We had (rather rashly perhaps) agreed to sing Let It Go from the Disney film Frozen for a couple of little girls who were going to be there. This was the first time I've ever sung the line "...and it looks like I'm the Queen"... A voice killer, but it went down an absolute storm (sorry!) and earned us a standing ovation after the entire room erupted with singing! A whole new career beckons...

Back on more familiar ground, every gig features a couple or more songs where I ditch the guitar in favour of playing the keyboard live. Not sure when Miss Franny took this photo but it could be on Peaceful Easy Feeling or It's Now Or Never or the crowd pleaser, Penny Arcade.

Happy Birthday Chris!

90th Birthday Party

Last Saturday we played for one of our own. Miss Jeannie's mum, Joan, was 90 years old and we gathered family and friends together at our favourite Blackpool venue, Coast Riders under the care and catering of our good friends Pete and Janet.

There was a fabulous buffet laid on and I have to mention the Southport bikers' club members who turned up with a huge bouquet of flowers for Joan. She didn't seem to want to take up the offer of a ride on the back of a motorbike, but I'd swear it was declined with a twinkle in her eye...!

Here's the birthday girl with Peter and Miss Jeannie, her son and daughter on the two sides and Elaine, her son-in-law's sister and Miss Franny adding their congratulations.

We tried out a couple of the new songs, knowing we were amongst friends, but "Happy Together", "Keep On Running" and "I Like It" sounded so right that I'm sure audiences in 2015 will get a chance to hear them!

And just in case you think that at the grand age of ninety the birthday girl would stay off the dance floor - think again!

Party Antics

Saturday night saw us once more at the fabulous Coast Riders Diner Bar, playing for Pete's 65th birthday. Themed as Luau-cum-holiday night, the room was filled with rather loud shirts and one or two snorkels...

An interesting night - I was playing against a persistent tinnitus background hiss and was a bit paranoid that I might not be able to hit the right notes. I mean singing rather than the odd guitar/keyboard whoopsie! Anyway a few new tunes got unveiled. Apart from Pete's birthday it was the anniversary of Elvis's passing so In The Ghetto got a first play, as did a 3-song medley of Teddy Bear, Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog. The last time we were at Coast Riders I made a rash promise that we would come up with a version of Roy Orbison's Penny Arcade and also The Beatles' P.S. I Love You came out.

And I have an awful feeling we may have... no surely not... but yes... I definitely remember playing Dancing Queen...

Birthday Party in Chapeltown

Last night Creeping Bentgrass played for a 70th birthday party at the Chetham Arms in Chapeltown.

We once wore red shirts to our first gig at this pub and they were the exact shade of the wallpaper. We just blended in and the audience were treated to two floating heads... We thought we might be safe with these shirts!

It was a good night and when we started a few of the pub's regulars were looking in at the door to the function room. I like to think they were impressed by the music rather than them going "What on Earth...?"

Driving through the Lancashire countryside late at night, I was dying for a bag of chips... No chippies open at that time of night and skinny ex-frozen french fries from an all-night papier mache burger bar just don't hold any attraction. Nipped out this morning for a walk along Fleetwood prom and had my supper for lunch! Result!!!

An Hour In Ambleside

I know I went quiet for a bit there! But a lot was going on in March, so here's the first of a few articles to let you know what was happening.

We'll start with the second week in March which saw us heading up into the Lake District for a day with Gill and Grace to celebrate Fran's birthday. We stopped off for a quick coffee at Lakeland in Windermere before heading up the side of the lake to Ambleside.

The weather was being very kind for March - not warm, but very sunny. We left the pram in the car and Grace walked, stepping out very proudly with Mum holding onto her reins for safety. She must have been exhausted with all the walking we did but I only had to pick her up once when she decided it had just got too much as we were about to cross the road. The cars stopped, the green man lit up and Grace sat down...

So we went into the Apple Pie Bakery for some lunch and a rest and the prospect of a proper glass with a straw had her wide awake and ready for something to munch. I had a sausage and egg on a brown barm and I'll be back for another as soon as I can! Absolutely yummy!

The Apple Pie Bakery is the first shop you come to walking into town once past Ambleside's most famous sight...

...which is The Bridge House, a tiny two storey building built over the River Stock. Fran went to look round the pottery shop and came back with another little cottage to add to the sprawling conurbation that her collection has grown into. Happy Birthday Miss Franny!

Return to Lake District and Cumbria Index

A Family Occasion

I don't often do family related stuff on here but this weekend I'm going to make an exception.

The year is 1979. Our daughter, Gillian, was two. This shows her with my wife, Fran and my Mum.

Noddy was still allowed to be seen in those days...

Showing Gill how to eat ice cream... And the reason for all this nostalgic look at when Gill was two?

Because this weekend her own gorgeous little girl, our granddaughter, Grace, turns two herself.

Surprise Birthday Party Gig

Friday 5 April 2013. We were booked to play at a surprise birthday party.

Surprise birthday parties can be a risky thing to accept bookings for as the last one we were booked to perform at was called off after the birthday boy - who knew nothing about it - booked a holiday instead! But here everything went according to plan.

We were at the Raikes Hotel in the centre of Blackpool - a nice change for us as although we live there, most of our gigs tend to be out of town! The birthday boy was a biker and there was a fine collection of tattoos in the room!

A great night all round!

If you would like live music at your party or event, please find our contact details in the left hand panel and give us a call!

Birthday Gig

On Saturday night we were playing a private booking for a birthday party in Thornton - a gig close to home for a change!

The birthday girl was very keen to secure our services and both she and the rest of the party-goers were enthusuastic in their applause during the night and their praise at the end of it.

We enjoyed ourselves too, giving Elvis's Burning Love its first public airing.

To book Creeping Bentgrass for your own party, event or club, email bispham2@hotmail.com or telephone on 01253 301324

Club and Pub Weekend

Creeping Bentgrass were out and about this weekend.

We started on Friday night at the Longshaw Sports & Social Club in Blackburn. This was a charity night in aid of the Mayor's charities.

An upstairs function room, a stage and some rather hot stage lights! The crowd set the standard for the weekend, crowding onto the dance floor early on in the proceedings!

Then on Saturday night we played for a 70th birthday party (that's two of those in a week!) out at the Chetham Arms, Chapeltown. Again the guests made a beeline for the dance floor early in the night and a good time was had by all.

Our appreciation and thanks to those who booked us, particularly for the very kind compliments and feedback and today has been a nice, relaxing day which didn't start until long after normal get-up time...!

A Fabulous Time at the Party

What a wonderful fabulous time we had last night!

We were out at Garstang Golf Club for a 70th birthday party, playing a country and western set before the guests had a meal and then playing for dancing later on.

The lady wife of the birthday boy had done a lot of preparation for the event - there were games, competitions and a lot of fun and once the meal was over the dance floor filled up and we had a ball.

It's always very nice when bar staff tell us we are the best band they've ever heard and I have to say, the bar staff last night showed some excellent taste...

Huge thank yous to all concerned!

Check out the Creeping Bentgrass YouTube channel for samples of our work!

Frolicking in Frodsham

Are you allowed to frolic in Frodsham? I'm not sure - this is, after all, the posh area near Chester and we went out to the Golf Club last night to play for a 50th birthday party.

It was a double celebration as the birthday was that of twins Michael and Carolyn. Does that make it a 100th birthday party? Oops no...!

Michael even joined us to sing Jim Reeves' Welcome to my World and got a huge round of applause for his efforts!

Michael is seen here with wife Yvonne, listening to us trying to follow his spot! Another highlight was a quiz which asked guests to identify which of the twins was the first to walk, talk and be potty trained...!

From One Garstang Gig to Another

It was a busy old day yesterday! From performing for several hours at the Arts & Music Festival we took a couple of hours break and then went to a venue in the town to perform at a private birthday party.

This was at the superb Wyrebank Banqueting Suite - what a great venue!

And what a great audience too! We almost ran out of business cards, thanks to all of you for the interest and support! If we could take an audience on tour it would be you!

So a fairly full weekend. My finger ends were smarting after 7 hours of guitar playing yesterday, we are back at the festival tomorrow and we had to turn down a booking for tonight as after a week's holiday last week I didn't think I'd have enough corn on my finger tips to play 4 gigs in 3 days! I know... what a wimp!

A big thank you to friends Sandra and Gordon who came to see us in Garstang at the festival and who, when hearing we had another gig in the town without enough time to get home to eat and change, immediately offered us a meal and facilities at their home. A wonderful meal with special people.

Rocking in Winmarleigh

On Saturday 16th we played a 40th Birthday Party out in the West Lancashire countryside at Winmarleigh Hall.

There's a killer of a hump-backed bridge to go over the canal once you leave the A6 by Garstang! Until you get over the top of it you have no view of what is awaiting you on the other side. Luckily it was more road...

The party was spread over the room we were in, a reception room and a bar so we had competition from the row of pumps and bottles at least, but the dance floor filled nicely once we got going and we had an excellent turn from the birthday girl's parents who sang "Danny Boy" unaccompanied with some wonderful and well practiced harmonies.

I've been struggling with a bad back and for the first time ever had to sit down for some of the quieter numbers so as to save my back for the 60s stuff and rock and roll. Recently we've added a few new songs where I play the keyboard live so I was able to sit at the keyboard for those and therefore not come across as being too pathetic (I hope!)

We played a few new numbers which got good responses - measured not only by people applauding but by other people coming into the room to listen and by people interrupting their own conversations. Two in particular which gave us a real boost by the audience reaction were Westlife's You Raise Me Up and Billy Fury's Lost Without You.

Other songs played for the first time at this gig were Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes and The Beatles' Ticket To Ride.

We were struck when we came out at around 1:00am how clear the sky was and how many stars were in sight. Living in towns with all the light pollution from street lighting makes you forget to look skyward once in a while!

Happy Birthday Jeannie!

Last night was Jeannie's 60th Birthday Party. The band played (with Bob on stage with us). Fran did the catering - and picked up so many compliments for the wonderful buffet spread she put on.

It was a very busy and very full day but all the effort over the past few weeks came together to good effect and it was a brilliant night that seemed over almost as soon as we started! Jeannie's birthday is during the coming week, but we chose the weekend for the party to ensure as many people could come as possible - mainly me I think at the moment!

There's a few more celebratory events to come this week. Jeannie and Fran are going off for the day on Tuesday for an all-day pampering at a local beauty salon. David and I were turned down as the staff said they had to have a fighting chance... Couldn't understand that...

Then at the end of the week we're taking a couple of days off work to have a meal and perhaps fit in a trip out somewhere. On Saturday the band have a club date in Ormskirk.

Today we have been unloading the cars - last night we were so knackered that we left everything in the car. Although Fran just wanted one bag out of the back seat. This was so crowded I opened the door very carefully as it was around 1:30 in the morning. Unfortunately whilst I caught the bag that wanted to fall out, it didn't much matter as it was upside down... A large Quality Street tin, which had cup cakes or something in it, fell out with the loudest crash I've ever heard and trundled off down the once-silent street! Sorry neighbours...

Happy 21st Birthday!

Today we played for a 21st Birthday Party out to the north of Preston. We've played this one a few times now - not always for a 21st of course, but we did the young lady's 18th and her brother's 21st and this year was her turn to be the magical 21.

The garden party started in fine form with brilliant sunshine as you can see.

By the time the champagne cork popped and smacked David in the face - were they trying to tell him something - anyway, two and a half hours of his singing had not done much for the weather, as can be seen here as he poses with the wayward champagne cork.

Not long after this, thunder rumbled and then the heavens opened and stayed open and we had to quickly drag everything back into the tent/gazebo. The rain wasn't going anywhere though and we had to dismantle and start to dry everything out.

At least we had managed to do a brand new version of Bridge Over Troubled Water for the party girl's gran - as promised a couple of years ago!