Charity Night For Trinity Hospice At Coast Riders

Saturday 25 November 2017 saw us back at Coast Riders Diner and Bar for a charity night in aid of Trinity Hospice and in memory of the wonderful Janet Houghton, whose baby Coast Riders was.

There were stalls selling all manner of crafts, perfumes, cakes, jewellery and lots more. Coast Riders was filled to bursting with people. There was a tombola and a raffle. Miss Franny came home laden with handbags and other stuff...

Two old geezers got up on stage and played a bit - a bit??? I think it was getting on for four hours but there was quite a break for food and the raffle. Even so by the end of the night I had some sore fingers after playing guitar!

A fabulous night was had by all though and it was the sort of night that Jan - "Big Jan" as she was known on account of her being ... not that tall really - would have loved.

We made sure we played all her favourite songs and everyone - eventually - went home happy...

...once the vampires had been seen to!

Creeping Bentgrass in Charnock Richard

Saturday 8 October 2016. This last weekend we played for a charity event in Charnock Richard - the village in Lancashire, not the nearby motorway services...

We were at the Football Club playing for one of Jack Gerrard's events. He's the man behind the Chorley steam fairs and all monies were going to Rainbow House.

We played to a fairly packed house and what a great crowd they were, singing along and loads of enthusiastic applause. We took another four bookings on the night, so we must have done something right!

Creeping Bentgrass in Charnock Richard

On Saturday night we played at the Football Club in Charnock Richard. This was for a charity night organised by Jack Gerrard, who for many years has organised the Steam Fairs at Heskin Hall.

The night included a fish and chips supper provided by a van. The lady was already there getting prepared when we arrived and it turned out she had a very early start the following morning. I hope we got everybody out to pick up their suppers in time for her to get home and to have a few hours in bed!

The raffle was a jolly affair too with two of the tables enjoying a healthy competition to see which could win the most prizes. Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie also had some success!

We unveiled our version of Procul Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale which gained us a huge roar of appreciation and we got many compliments at the end of the night which was very nice. A great audience throughout the night!

Charity Acknowledgement

Received today is a poster from the British Heart Foundation confirming our raising funds of £710 at the gig at Blackpool venue, Coast Riders Diner on 18 October this year.

I expect we will be arranging another charity event for next year - watch the dates feature on the band's page.

Creeping Bentgrass Charity Gig For British Heart Foundation

Last Saturday, the 18th, we performed for the second of our own charity gigs of the year. Usually we do these every two years, but the response after the April one was such that we set about organising this one almost immediately.

It's for an invited audience, but we always have a few new faces at these events, brought by friends or family. Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie were kept busy on tombola and raffle with help from daughter Gillian and a few friends. We already had lots of raffle prizes but special thanks must go to all those who turned up with more, including an expensive pair of hiking boots which made their winner very happy!

David sang to a hairbrush for some reason during "Wooden Heart" - he claimed someone called Elvis did the same thing in a film... I don't know...

A special mention must go to Peter and Janet at Coast Riders Diner, who not only provided us with a free venue and food but also added a very generous sum to the pot and we ended up (so far) with a collection of £710 for the British Heart Foundation. Someone from the Coast Riders people asked us to play Johnny Preston's Running Bear, a song we've never done before, but hey - if we know the song we love a challenge and they were incredulous that we'd never played it before! I was a bit incredulous at the key David chose to launch into, to be honest, but that's a different matter. I'm now designated to come up with a polished version for the next gig...

We now take a short break from gigs as Miss Franny starts radiotherapy. Little did we know in April when we did the gig for Cancer Research that we would be in need of the results of that research within 6 months. But things are progressing well. As for the Heart Foundation, well I'm already a heart attack survivor and David carries a second one in the shape of a pacemaker in his shoulder. He claims this makes him a Time Lord, but the dalek he tried to intimidate was having none of it...

Creeping Bentgrass at Charnock Richard

Last night we were out at Charnock Richard Football Club to play at a charity night. What a brilliant night it was too, lots of people all round the room singing along with us. I unveiled my new solo song as a nod to Sheridan Smith's fantastic performance as Cilla Black in the recent TV 3-part bio - Cilla's You're My World. It certainly got a good reception - David might not let me sing it again...!

A cheque for £2000 was presented to Lancashire Air Ambulance from the Heskin Hall Steam Fair back in June and there was a huge raffle and the auctioning of a beautiful hand-made wooden old-fashioned lorry loaded with barrels. And I do like a gig where we pick up a couple of bookings for the future!

Sean's Fundraiser in Shrewsbury

On Sunday night we played at "Sean's Fundraiser", a charity event in aid of a very poorly little boy, critically ill with leukaemia and lymphoma cancer. We came to hear of this from his grandma, who we met through the Billy Fury networks.

And we met up with Mags and Marie, also friends from the Billy Fury website http://www.billyfury.com.

This fundraiser was held at the Albrighton Hall Hotel in Shrewsbury and included a delicious three-course meal and a charity auction and raffle before we were called upon to sing for our supper.

As the auction came to an end, there was one final lot - a chance for the organisers, Gaynor and Rhian and the auctioneer, Jeremy to undergo this ice bucket craze. "Crazy" is the word I reckon, but it is in a good cause. Rhian went off to change into one of the hotel's towelling dressing gowns but Gaynor sat down in all her glam and serenely took her dousing. (Is "serene" the correct word for jumping up and screaming?)

Anyway, well done to all three. Rhian was able to go and put her glamrags back on whilst Gaynor spent the rest of the evening in her dressing gown...

But there again, how many times (apart from at home with the gorgeous Miss Franny) do I get the chance to cosy up to beautiful ladies in their dressing gowns?

...and before you ask, the lipstick mark on her face is not my shade... Massive thanks to Sean's gran, Hayley Easthope for involving us and for adding yet again to my postcard collection! Great to see Hayley and Steve again at the do.

Creeping Bentgrass Cancer Research Night

On Saturday night Creeping Bentgrass played at the Coast Riders bar in Blackpool.

This was one of the rare charity events that we arrange ourselves. They happen roughly every two years and this year marked a move from Staining Village Hall to the Coast Riders bar on Cropper Road, south west of the end of the M55. A massive thanks must go to Peter, Janet and team at Coast Riders. They were really superb and very accommodating.

Around 70 people gathered and as we knew at least one person in every party, it was a very jolly start to the night as we welcomed lots of friends. A few friends of friends had travelled a long way: two ladies from Spain and a party all the way from Australia!

We unveiled a couple of new songs including Roy Orbison's Leah, one of his B sides that was especially requested by Pete from Coast Riders and I played my own version of a Bert Weedon instrumental, Red Guitar which is very lively and seemed to go down very well with the audience.

We had a few special guests. Peter and Shelagh Cooney have supported us several times and we have developed a couple of songs to do together as a foursome.

Chrissie Turkington joined me for the first time to perform the Dolly Parton bits of Islands In The Stream. We played it once years ago at an informal party night in Edinburgh but this was her first performance with me on a club stage and she nailed it, making the song a very memorable part of the night.

Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie were kept busy with a raffle, bottle tombola and hot pot supper to sort out and by the end of the night we had raised £425 for Cancer Research and had a load of fun doing it. In fact reaction from both the venue and the audience has been such that a much earlier return than the usual two years may be called for! Watch this space. Our dates can be found on the band blog's side column.

Charity Night at Charnock Richard F.C.

Last Saturday night we headed out to Charnock Richard Football Club for a charity night in aid of Rainbow House and Chorley Lions.

The night was organised by our old friend Jack Gerrard who organises the steam fair at Heskin Hall every year. The next one will be on Saturday 31 May by the way! An excellent night with a huge raffle - there were so many prizes there was almost one for everybody, although one table right at the front managed to avoid winning everything, taking their lack of success good naturedly as others got up from their seats for a third time!

We managed to get slightly lost on the way there but found the venue in plenty of time. Many thanks to Jack and the lovely Josephine and to the rest of the audience who seemed to enjoy themselves as much as we did!

Creeping Bentgrass Flyer for 12 October 2013

Can it get any better? A night of music and fish and chips! Charnock Richard Football Club: directions

Creeping Bentgrass at Larbreck Hall 2013

Last night we played at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. Since 2004 when my Dad died we've done an annual night here, donating our fee to cancer research.

For all of those years until this year Mum, who has a resident van on the site, has arranged things. Last year she announced it was her last one and the site owners, Roland and Edith Armistead took over. Not that she slowed down all that much - she was there running stalls, managing a guess the number of buttons in a jar and (OMG...) having her hair dyed orange to gain sponsorship.

Around 80 people packed into the barn to see us last night and they seemed to have a good time! Overall over £700 was raised for charity with Mum's contribution being a hefty" £220. Ah well... it'll grow out in a few weeks I suppose...

As always, the people from the site had done a great job on the stage dressing and we unveiled a new song on the night - the Everly Brothers' So Sad.

Staining Charity Night

Last night saw Creeping Bentgrass on stage at Staining Village Hall.

This was a night we had arranged ourselves and we had invited family, friends and people we have worked with year after year until they too can be classed as friends.

We do one of these every two years or so and they are informal, punctuated by guest appearances and a chance for us to try out new stuff to people we can trust to tell us if they don't work.

After years of having "Abba!" thrown at us we have capitulated and now "Fernando" and "Waterloo" (seen above being road-tested with The Creepettes - or is that the Bentettes?) are added to the repertoire.

We road tested a few last night in fact. The Single Girl, I Can Hear Music, You've Lost That Loving Feeling - the latter after we busked it in response to a request in Chapeltown a few weeks ago!

Then again, Jack who books us every year for his steam fair at Heskin Hall at the beginning of June has been asking for House of the Rising Sun for years. It is a bit of a voice-breaker but we have now come up with a bluesy version which went down a storm last night!

And talking of going down a storm - here was a bit of fun!

I walked off stage to leave David singing a West-End musical song - Love Changes Everything. It raised a few eyebrows but then I walked back on to join him in harmony from the second verse on and if we surprised the audience with a new style of song, then in turn we were blown away by the reception the song got at the end.

Thanks have to go to Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie for arranging raffles, hot pots and to willing helpers, Gill, Chrissie, David and Elaine, Claire, Shelagh, Janet and Doreen who dished out grub, sold raffle tickets, managed to separate people from money for the charities, to Marcus and his friend for arranging and manning the bar, to Shelagh and Peter Cooney for the guest spot, to the Bentettes: Louise, Marion, Janet and Shelagh, and to all of you who came from far and wide. A special mention to Harry and Maureen Whitehouse who had come over from Scarborough for the night. Harry is the head of the Peaksoft recording label and was responsible for convincing us to contribute to a CD of Protest Songs (see here) and he donated a copy for the raffle. Harry is also the man behind billyfury.com and so absolutely a VIP member of the audience!

A quick aside to Billy Fury New Zealand Fan Club Manager Moya Gleave here - Harry did stop a little short of giving me a "big sloppy kiss on the top of my head" but thanks for the thought...!

A huge thank you to all who came to see us - we didn't have much time to talk to anyone but it was great to see you there and we appreciate it so much!

After paying the expenses for the hall, bar and food we made £200 profit which will go to the two charities - a Cat Rescue Centre and Diabetic UK

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...!

New Christmas CD

The band are featured on a new CD that has been released by billyfury.com in memory of forum member Pauline Swindells, who passed away recently. Johnny Storme, a great singer from the Isle of Wight, as nice a fella as you could hope to meet, sings a brand new song, Christmas Day Again, written by another forum member, Steven Sinclair

Good King Wencelas by Creeping Bentgrass is one of 9 tracks on the CD which can be ordered from the Billy Fury site above or direct from Amazon. Proceeds from the CD will be donated between the Earl Mountbatten Hospice, Isle of Wight and the Heart Fund at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool.

Charlie the Wheelchair Cat

We've spent the afternoon at an open day of a Cat Sanctuary in St Annes that we have supported for a while.

David and Jeannie first told us about it and we did a charity gig a while ago where the proceeds went to help them.

Their star resident is Charlie the Wheelchair cat. Charlie has a condition very similar to cerebral palsy in humans and cannot balance on his legs at all. His front legs are still quite strong though and the sanctuary have fitted him with a cat wheelchair on which he tears about the garden with his tail held high and happily comes when called to be petted and to love you back.

He does get the shakes a bit, but is such a wonderfully inspiring cat as he is determined to get on with things despite his handicap and no one who sees him can doubt that he enjoys life. This afternoon we saw Charlie and all his fellow rescued cats, including a tiny bundle-of-fun 4-week old kitten called Basil, who has taken to Charlie in a big way and sleeps with him and follows him about - or even rides on him when he's in his wheelchair!

Fran was lucky at the tombola - more or less walking away with all the booze... and we bought a few bits in the auction too!

Birthday and Charity Night

Saturday was my Mum's 75th birthday.

Ever since Dad died five years ago she has organised a charity bash at the caravan park where she lives in aid of Cancer Research. Over the years she has raised somewhere around £3000 at those events.

The afternoon is devoted to raffles, tombola, name the doll, the whisky wall and a bring and buy.

In the evening the band has played. Outside if the weather is fine and in a large barn if it's cold or threatens rain.

This weekend we were in the barn and David and I gave the residents and holiday makers 3 and a half hours of country, folk, sixties and rock and roll. We started with Don Williams' Gypsy Woman and ended with everyone in a circle singing You'll Never Walk Alone with a whole host of stuff along the way, including a first airing (without even a rehearsal) of Billy Fury's Maybe Tomorrow as part of a five-song tribute to Billy's memory.

Large versions of the photos: Mum, John and David

Creeping Bentgrass

Last night the band gave a performance to an invited audience of some 80 friends and family members at Staining Village Hall.

It was great to see so many people there, especially as some of them we don't see all that often. Old school friends had come from the Rochdale area, some family had come from the Chester area and Fran's brother and his wife drove up from Swindon to spend the night with us.

There were, of course lots of friends, family and colleagues from Blackpool, Cleveleys and Garstang to swell the numbers.

It was only the second time we had arranged a season-starter for ourselves and this time any excess funds will be going to Cat Rescue (Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde).

Each member of the band shares their house with 2 cats and so it's a charity close to our hearts.

We had fun with some of Fran's friends last night who were calling for some Abba songs. Abba don't normally feature strongly in our act, though John did his best and included a snatch of Waterloo in the keyboard instrumental in the middle of Hi Ho Silver Lining!

Large versions of the photos: view from the hall, close view

Chilled...

I'm just starting my annual summer break.

Fran's still working this week so it's my catch-up-with-all-the-things-I-haven't-done-yet week. Not fun things I hasten to add, though I may try to sneak some of those in as well. Nope - there's the floor in the spare room to reclaim, the fence to paint, the photos to be re-hung in the hallway that were taken down for the central heating to go in a year ago... You get the drift...

I took the first of the boxes of old CDs, DVDs, books and bits to the charity shop yesterday. Why are they so ungrateful? They either want it or not, but if not I'd rather they said and I'll take it somewhere else. Instead I got, "Oh, we're bursting with those things, I haven't got room, well if you just dump it there I'll have to put them in the toilet..."

I almost said "Where is it? I'll drown them myself..."

So the rest can go to the tip - easier for me. You can't pass on electrical goods these days because they should be PAT tested in case they electrocute someone who might sue so the old karaoke machine is definitely destined for the tip!

We used that for the band's very first gig before we bought a PA. Sheesh that's going back a bit! Seven years in fact - we've come on a bit since then and we hardly suspected then that we would be the sort of band we are now.

Talking of which - next Thursday we are playing at Garstang Music Festival, on the corner of the car park near the council offices. Depending on the weather of course as it's an open air gig with no cover. Previous years have been kind to us and we usually draw quite a crowd of onlookers as an audience.

The photo at the top of this post reminds me of a very chilled morning. It was taken at Woodbridge, near Ipswich very early one morning in 2003, where I was attending a meeting for work. I was awake early and got up to look at the river, being rewarded by this tranquil scene. The Sutton Hoo archeological site is close by this place. It was quiet, the water was like glass. It was February.

Chilled? To the bone!

Larbreck Hall Gig

Great gig last night for David and I out at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park.

We were going to do an outdoor, but the weather was appalling. The organisers had sorted out an old barn and built a stage with scaffolding, pallets stacked and carpeted over and a backdrop and sides of sheet plastic - pretty good too for such a temporary set-up!

The pallets were very springy though - when we started foot tapping and getting into the faster stuff I thought I was going to be catapulted off stage a couple of times but we survived and dragged Jeannie up to sing backing vocals for The Ronette's song Be My Baby.

Thanks to the holiday makers and residents at the caravan park for such a great reception and your enthusiasm! Thanks too to the very enthusiastic group of girls who screamed and shouted and kept demanding Bob The Builder for some strange reason! I managed to work it into my keyboard solo on Ho Ho Silver Lining - that has to be a world's first...!

The gig rounded off a charity event organised mainly by my mother which she has run every year in support of Cancer Research since Dad died in 2004.

First Gig with New Keyboard

We played a charity gig in aid of Sports Relief last night at Bispham Conservative Club arranged by the ladies from Sainsburys store next door. They raised over two thousand pounds for the charity altogether so a tremendous effort.

We did a couple of spots, starting and finishing the evening and there was a performance by Britain's Got Talent contestant Tom McLeod.

The new keyboard sounded good, but I'm still not totally familiar with it yet and there was a moment's panic when I couldn't find an entire folder of rock and roll songs. It took a while before I realised there were too many folders to show on one page and there was a page 2 button lit up! Duh!

Anyway we got everyone up dancing, which we were told was a most unusual feat!

Carrying all the gear down a very steep fire escape in the dark was a bit hairy!