Shepley Spring Festival
The weekend before my birthday was not a dancing event for a change. There was a festival, but not one that we were invited to dance at - actually it was one that we (Thieving Magpies) steward at. Shepley is south of Huddersfield, 30 mins by train from Marsden, and a bit east of Holmfirth, so not that far away. I had decided to steward, since my cousin Matt in Manchester whose birthday was on the Saturday was not doing anything to celebrate it. So I signed up to steward through friend Bekka and three days before the event ran into 19-year old friend Kim who also wanted to steward.
So on the Sat morn, Kim and I got up early to get the train at 7.30am via Huddersfield to get to Shepley at 8.30 so we could go to the stewarding meeting at 9am. Kim and I spent our 3 hour shift at the campsite box office with Simon, who had been at Upton too and remembers the thieving that occured on the first night there. At Upton, talking to others about thieving, I recall a woman telling me that it had also happened at Shepley - so this year it was mentioned in all camping information to look out for your stuff so on the Friday night there was nothing stolen - all you need is the festival organisers to mention something about it to warn people. As much as Simon said it happened, we were NOT warned at Upton - had we been we would have hidden our stuff.
Kim and I were at the campsite box office from 10am to 1pm. Then we walked back to the entrance down Marsh Lane to the Box office to see Bekka who told us we had the rest of the day off - stewarding only requires 3 hour of time! :D and thats a free ticket (£80 for an adult ticket).
I had not yet seen any of my friends who were camping, like Mark and his family, Angie, Freyja, Ruthie, the Chris's, Dawn and Lynda. Crossing to the kids activity tent, I could not see Angie, who was planning on working there with the kids. I did find Jess, a newish member of the Magpies who was with us at Holmfirth, and then I saw Mark's wife Col and one of her daughters, Kate. Kate, aged 10, was on a pair of stilts which were only 6 inches off the ground (that made me laugh, but you've got to start somewhere). I asked her if she'd seen the film 'Labyrinth' and she shook her head. I was amazed. I then proceeded to tell her anyway that the baby from the Labyrinth film is a boy called Toby Froud and that his job now is stilt walking. An old man helping the kids with the hoola-hoops and stilts and stuff was listening in and he mentioned that he'd met Toby before. Awesome. Jess came to tell me Ang had come to the kids tent - so Kim and I signed in our hi-viz yellow vests and went back to see Ang. She had Freyja with her, so it was good to see her too.
My main aim was to go to the Hedingham Fair marketstall, and I had a fair bit of money with me for a change, so decided to get myself a present. Kim and I then found Dawn picking up rubbish next to the kids activity field, we had a chat before I could see Hedingham Fair from where we stood.
At the Hedingham Fair stall, I must had bored Kim with my 15-20 minute gander at the stock, indeed, she went out for a cigarette waiting for me to finish. There was so much to buy that I did not know where to start, or how much to spend. I ended up getting two books, 3 cards and a pair of oak leaf earrings. I met Karen Cater, who is the awesome artist of the famous Hedingham stock. I met her and her husband (I think) and as I had friended HF on FB recently and introduced myself, she recognised me and we got talking about the 2006 Pagan Pride Parade that we had both been at.
Kim and I then went and ate, and sat by one of the outdoor stages to watch the Mortimer's Morris team from Nottingham that Ruthie is involved with (one of 4 teams she is in!). We saw Chris, and Lynda and I got a Bradshaw Mummers badge off Lynda, and then we caught up with Keith too. We visited a clothing stall that was being run by a couple from Melbourne and I had a nice long chat with them about Geelong, Victoria and England.
Caught up with Ang, Ruthie and Freyja one last time before Kim and I were offered a lift home by Keith - I was exhausted and foot sore, and it was about 4 pm, and Kim had to get back, so we accepted the offer, and we headed home, me with my fine booty from Hedingham Fair.
So on the Sat morn, Kim and I got up early to get the train at 7.30am via Huddersfield to get to Shepley at 8.30 so we could go to the stewarding meeting at 9am. Kim and I spent our 3 hour shift at the campsite box office with Simon, who had been at Upton too and remembers the thieving that occured on the first night there. At Upton, talking to others about thieving, I recall a woman telling me that it had also happened at Shepley - so this year it was mentioned in all camping information to look out for your stuff so on the Friday night there was nothing stolen - all you need is the festival organisers to mention something about it to warn people. As much as Simon said it happened, we were NOT warned at Upton - had we been we would have hidden our stuff.
Kim and I were at the campsite box office from 10am to 1pm. Then we walked back to the entrance down Marsh Lane to the Box office to see Bekka who told us we had the rest of the day off - stewarding only requires 3 hour of time! :D and thats a free ticket (£80 for an adult ticket).
I had not yet seen any of my friends who were camping, like Mark and his family, Angie, Freyja, Ruthie, the Chris's, Dawn and Lynda. Crossing to the kids activity tent, I could not see Angie, who was planning on working there with the kids. I did find Jess, a newish member of the Magpies who was with us at Holmfirth, and then I saw Mark's wife Col and one of her daughters, Kate. Kate, aged 10, was on a pair of stilts which were only 6 inches off the ground (that made me laugh, but you've got to start somewhere). I asked her if she'd seen the film 'Labyrinth' and she shook her head. I was amazed. I then proceeded to tell her anyway that the baby from the Labyrinth film is a boy called Toby Froud and that his job now is stilt walking. An old man helping the kids with the hoola-hoops and stilts and stuff was listening in and he mentioned that he'd met Toby before. Awesome. Jess came to tell me Ang had come to the kids tent - so Kim and I signed in our hi-viz yellow vests and went back to see Ang. She had Freyja with her, so it was good to see her too.
My main aim was to go to the Hedingham Fair marketstall, and I had a fair bit of money with me for a change, so decided to get myself a present. Kim and I then found Dawn picking up rubbish next to the kids activity field, we had a chat before I could see Hedingham Fair from where we stood.
At the Hedingham Fair stall, I must had bored Kim with my 15-20 minute gander at the stock, indeed, she went out for a cigarette waiting for me to finish. There was so much to buy that I did not know where to start, or how much to spend. I ended up getting two books, 3 cards and a pair of oak leaf earrings. I met Karen Cater, who is the awesome artist of the famous Hedingham stock. I met her and her husband (I think) and as I had friended HF on FB recently and introduced myself, she recognised me and we got talking about the 2006 Pagan Pride Parade that we had both been at.
Kim and I then went and ate, and sat by one of the outdoor stages to watch the Mortimer's Morris team from Nottingham that Ruthie is involved with (one of 4 teams she is in!). We saw Chris, and Lynda and I got a Bradshaw Mummers badge off Lynda, and then we caught up with Keith too. We visited a clothing stall that was being run by a couple from Melbourne and I had a nice long chat with them about Geelong, Victoria and England.
Caught up with Ang, Ruthie and Freyja one last time before Kim and I were offered a lift home by Keith - I was exhausted and foot sore, and it was about 4 pm, and Kim had to get back, so we accepted the offer, and we headed home, me with my fine booty from Hedingham Fair.