The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Cropredy has a long and interesting history. The South Aisle dates from as early as 1050. The Sanctuary in its present form dates from the 14th century. The lower stage of the tower dates from 15th century and the belfry was added about 80 years later. The clock, with its 14ft long wooden pendulum dates from 1831. The tower has 8 bells, six of which were installed in the 17th century and the last two, Fairport and Villager were added as recently as 2007. These bells were named to reflect the good relationship between the church and local Fairport Convention annual festival.

As always, it was a great privilege to open the Cropredy Fringe at St Mary’s at 12 noon. We have noticed over the years, how attendance is boosted either by blisteringly hot weather or, sadly for festival attendees today, by rain! This wonderful lunch time concert is beautifully organised by Church Warden, Verna Wass and we should like to thank Verna, Stephen, their refreshments team and the Revd Canon Sarah Fenby, Vicar of Shires Edge Benefice for the opportunity to play at this special event. The programme truly has something for everyone and is greatly appreciated by all who wander in to join us. Long may it continue!

Our first outing at Music in a Field was in 2023 when the rain and wind were challenging! This year, the sun shone and it was a real privilege to play two sets at this lovely event organised by Adrian Nicholas and Megan Gilkes. We began as the Silver Bough Ceilidh Band and a happy band of dancers joined us on the field in front of the stage. As always, it is a joy to watch a wide age spectrum of people responding so well to Jackie’s fantastic dance calling. After this we morphed into Gospel Bell and in slide guitar maestro Toni’s absence, Adrian played some great harmonica solos. Thank you Adrian for your enthusiasm and fantastic acoustic guitar playing during the Ceilidh and then singing, harmonica and stomp box work during the Gospel Bell set.  We’d also like to thank Joe and his colleague for super sound engineering and support throughout. This is such a special event – our grateful thanks to Megan and Adrian for inviting us to play and for the time, care and attention you put into organising Music in a Field.