First, the Bridge Inn Folk Club on Mondays is no more (ahhhh! ) and is now the Red Bull Folk Club. Same Club, same residents new venue.

History...

This is going to get complicated, so listen closely! In about 1975 I had a band with a few friends and we played at The Fir Tree folk club in Reddish. We played lots of places but that one in particular fits the story.

It was run by Vic Hassle and Geoff Monks amongst others, we only knew about five songs and one of those was a Les Barker poem based on 'Long distance information'. Les Barker turned up at the club to do a spot ... We were too mortified to sing the song but Pete Fidler, the crooner with the band grabbed Les in the bog and asked him if he'd mind if we did the song. Of course he said yes, the rest is history and a very blurry history. We sang the song did a few more gigs and 'Breakfast of Champions', the band, disappeared forever.

Many years later, my baby Sister, Sarah Hood, asked if I would drop down to the Egerton Arms in Stockport to sing at a singers night run by Kieron Hartley and Clive. We went and my interest in playing folk music was re-kindled. Sarah and I got paid a couple of times and she went to sing more and eventually got on folk on two and sang with 'The Timekeepers' appearing on the Poynton Folk Club CD.

My brother-in-Law, Pete Goode, became the resident for the Monday singaround at Poynton Folk Club and I went down there and Pete encouraged me to play more. Kieron and Clive, and Vic Hassle became residents at around this point as well. A further club 'Grannies' was being run by Pete Roberts and Phil and Clare Allen, I also sang in there and met loads of great people, Dave Clarke, Dave and Angie, Jon Brinsdale, Lynn and Barrie Hardman and many others.

At this point Poynton was run by Lynda Boyle on Saturdays with Dougie and Sue Price running the Monday singaround - Dougie and Sue left Poynton and asked Phil and Clare Allen and me, Peter Hood, to run the Monday night. We had a fantastic run on the Monday nights, most of the South Manchester folk music people came to the club, Mark Ahearne, Rick Carlton, Anne Yates, Angie, Pete Roberts, Vic Hassle, Geoff Monks, Dave and Lynda Wildblood, Ken, Lynda and Katherine Edwardes, Jim Embleton , Whiskery Bill, John Ashurst, Mary Asquith, Fran Early, Sarah Hood, Gail Hood, Pete Goode, Doug Price, Dave, John Greenhat, Amanda and Dave, Pete Farrow, Geoff, Dave McGowan and many others.

Poynton, sadly closed for performance, still retains an excellent dance evening, but the folk singing moved through many phases until it came to the Red Bull Stockport. I was also involved as a resident with The White Swan Folk Club run by the legendary Annie Morris, along with Kieron and Mary Hartley and ... Vic Hassle.

Annie fired my enthusiasm for folk music and when the White Swan folded, it left a void very hard to fill. By this point I had teamed up with Lynda Edwardes as a duo and the support Annie gave to all her residents leaves a stamp that's visible to anyone who played there.

The Red Bull is the product of all those great clubs, people who love folk music and welcome it wherever it occurs. It's not my club but belongs to everyone in the Stockport area who enjoy being with people who play or listen to live folk music of any sort. The residents are all the people of the Stockport area who enjoy performing and listening to folk music and dance.

You Know Who You Are... thank you to you all!