The Yetties at The Weavers Club, Sherborne

 
Had a great time last night at The Weavers Club, Sherborne, a concert in the skittle alley of a Dorset pub.

The main attraction, apart from the floor singers, was The Yetties, a Dorset institution and wonderful ambassadors of the UK.

I first heard them in Greece on 5 March, 1983; they made a hugely successful British Council tour in February-March 1983, and played in Levadia, Aspra Spitia, Chios, Athens, Salonica, Edessa, Naousa and at Deree College. Last night they remembered it as one of their most enjoyable tours ever. They also recalled the car journey they made to Prague, Czechoslovakia, before the Velvet Revolution, and their amazing concert at U Fleku on 1st March 1989. They could have brought down any number of Berlin Walls.

It's sad to think that they will be retiring next April. I've managed to catch one of their concerts about once every five years, either in Bridport or Sherborne, or somewhere else in the West Country.

I always request their rendition of William Barnes' poem "Linden Lea" (written in Mere; on this animation Barnes himself is seen reading another dialect poem,  The Humstrum )! I've just discovered a version of one of my favourite songs "Bound for South Australia" recorded by The Yetties. From Mere and Dorset to South Australia!

So, three cheers for the Dorset trio, Bonny Sartin, Mac McCulloch and Pete Shutler! There's no better entertainment.