First up – some news in from some local favourites Scolds Bridle and then Tippin’ It Up!!

SCOLDS BRIDLE
June 2025 will see the 50th anniversary of one of Lancashire’s most popular folk music acts. A chance burst of harmonising in the Queens Hotel Car Park, following a Fleetwood Folk Club event, led to Sue Bousfield and Liz Walmisley embarking upon a fifty year song career. Since that meeting in 1975, they have performed at many nationally known festivals, hundreds of folk clubs and concerts and recording for national radio and television.

A Golden Anniverary Concert , featuring Scolds Bridle with support artists, has been arranged for Friday June 20th at Poulton le Fylde Community Hall. Sue and Liz have continued to live on the Fylde Coast. Back in 1975, they were looking for a ‘stage name’. They chose Scolds Bridle, which has become synonymous with quality vocals and engaging humour. The Scolds Bridle or Brank, was a device intended to prevent women from chattering too much! The inter song chat has become an essential ingredient in Sue and Liz’s performance.

Here's a reminder of what has happened since then!
Sue grew up as a teenager in the then thriving fishing port and resort of Fleetwood. She was a local sixth former when the town’s folk club was founded in 1969. Liz, a Blackpool based pharmacy trainee was a regular attendee at Blackpool Folk Club at the Kings Arm’s. She was a self-taught guitarist, who enjoyed singing, out of the public eye. That chance meeting, harmonising on ‘The Blacksmith’ led to Sue and Liz developing an early repertoire of unaccompanied close harmony and accompanied ballads. Later, regional Lancashire based music hall material was featured. Sue Bousfield became the Lancashire and Cheshire Clog Dance Champion often performing a routing on club dates with Liz accompanying her. They soon developed a confidence with the audience, during their early years as club residents at Fleetwood, alongside Ian Gartside, Dave Walter’s and Woodbine Lizzie.

Liz’s skills developed on a Yamaha instrument but a family friendship with Roger Bucknall and Dave Walters at the then emerging Fylde Guitars led to her buying and playing one of their instruments.

Within twelve months of meeting, Sue and Liz - as the newly named ‘Scolds Bridle’ were appearing at Buxton Festival , Horwich Folk Festival and later in the summer in Devon at the prestigious Sidmouth Folklore Festival. Fleetwood Folk Club’s Cod End Mummers were also part of that event.

By 1977, Fylde Folk Festival under the direction of Alan Bell, had become independent of Fylde Arts and Scolds Bridle were booked to make a main stage appearance. There followed thirty five consecutive annual appearances at one of the North’s most prestigious folk music events. Fylde was a great career springboard, putting Sue and Liz in touch with other festival directors and club organisers.. I addition to main stage concert spots, Sue and Liz began to feature as vocalists in Alan Bell’s choral works like Wind Sea, Sail and Sky and the Century’s People. The Alan Bell Band were featured with Sue and Liz, with Fleetwood Choral Society providing strong vocal choruses.

Festival appearances did much to boost Scolds Bridle’s popularity around folk clubs further afield - in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire in particular. With Sue as a teacher and Liz in the pharmacy and young families ,distant bookings often entailed early morning arrivals back home. By the early 1980’s they were managing to arrange club tours in the North East and Midlands in school holidays.

A breakthrough in their singing career, came through the success of the show ‘Final Trawl’ in 1982 . Written by local man Ron Baxter, the presentation looked at the rise and decline of deep sea fishing in Fleetwood. It toured a number of venues in the North West before drawing a ‘full house’ at Sidmouth Festival in August. Other shows featuring Sue and Liz included ‘From Fleetwood to Frisco’ and an award winning BBC radio documentary , ‘We’ve Fished These Grounds for Sixty Years’ Their resonant distinctive voices contrasted strongly with deeper male voices and led to them presenting their own show ‘ We Are The Women Left On The Shore’ - the harsh existence of deep sea fisherman’s wives. This presentation led to numerous festival and concert bookings, often linked to specialist maritime events.

During the past twenty years appearances at top festival events, like Whitby Folk Week, Broadstairs Folk Week, Towersey Festival, Banbury Festival etc have helped spread their popularity. They have continued to tour, the South-West, South East, Kent and London, Wales, the East and West Midlands, Humberside and North East England. Now fully retired from full time employment, they are able to enjoy more flexibility in touring arrangements. In the past couple of years, they have also been seen at the Lowther Pavilion and Gardens, Blackpool Grand Theatre and Fleetwood Marine Hall and Fleetwood Day.

To date four previously released cd recordings have sold well with a new cd recording due to be released in mid-summer 2025.

TIPPIN’ IT UP
Here at FNW, we have received the news that, following both lockdowns and illness, Chris and John, better known as Tippin’ It Up are resuming active duty and are on the lookout for opportunities. Familiar to many in the FNW universe, the multi-instrumental duo offer mainly traditional Irish tunes and songs, along with some more contemporary songs, including some of their own. Chris is contactable through the New Everyman Folk Club, assuming that you don’t already have his details and will no doubt be delighted to hear from you.

HUNGRY HORSE HAPPENINGS

Meanwhile, over in Ellesmere Post, Sue Farley and Eric Craven have recorded a CD of self-penned songs and poems celebrating childhood and memories of the sort of things that happened as they were growing up. Titled, ‘Remember When… a compilation of nostalgic songs and poems’, the CD will be officially launched on Thursday March 20th in the Oak Room at the Hungry Horse Folk Club, where the duo will be the opening spot for Chester’s multi-instrumental trio, Wellcome, Finnan and Chrimes. (Details on the Hungry Horse website). Their song ‘Childhood Games’ has been uploaded to You Tube.

NATIONAL TREASURE NEWS
Adopted North-Westerner and local legend, folk singer, songwriter, raconteur, Anthony John Clarke (AJ to his multitude of friends) has just released his ‘Ultimate Collection’ as a CD, containing a career spanning 14 tracks, chosen by the man himself, aided and abetted by Richard Digance, the album is available from gigs or via his website.

AJ has been an integral part of the UK music scene for 30 years, much loved by those who know him, hugely respected by his peers, and a guaranteed good night for those who book him. Described as ‘a national treasure’ by non-other than Fairport Convention, originally from Belfast, AJ emerged there with his songs ‘The Broken Years’ and ‘The Only Life Gloria Knows’ but now presents as one of the most humorous and entertaining acts around. Audiences cannot resist the musical invitations to sing from this true gentleman of the music world. His gentle stage presence is matched by a voice rich in melody and accompanied by some deft guitarwork. Probably coming soon to a folk club near you!

NORTH WEST FOLK REMEMBERED:

Launched by Brian Jones, the OpenHouse Studio webpage and podcasts are a treasure trove of memories of folk music in the North West over the past half century or so. Interviews with artists and othes involved in the ‘Folk Scene’ takes us through the boom years of the 1960s, with a folk club on every street, through to the current day and overviews of what is going on now. From current artist Gerry Ffrench through to a podcast featuring Brian in conversation with our esteemed editor Dave Jones, it’s a growing resource, worth exploring. Here’s the link to Brian and Dave’s overview of 50 plus years at the heart of North West Folk, but let it be a starting point for so much more to explore.

THAT’S NOT ALL FOLKS!!
There’s a million stories in the FNW area, please send them in and we will do our best – we would also welcome your reviews of your guest nights and any CDs that have tickled your fancy – it will help the artists if they can point to something positive.

All best wishes

Damian – for Folk North West