Traditional folk music, dance and customs - Harrogate, North Yorkshire

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I was born in Tadcaster and christened plain John Marshall. When the family moved to Harrogate I attended the Grammar School where Malcolm Johnson, who was seated at the desk right behind me, started to call me "Charles" - for reasons known only to Malcolm! This was later shortened to "Chas" and the knickname stuck and was adopted within the folk scene in which I was soon to become involved.

Malcolm and I were members of a teenage R and B group called "The Railroaders" with Stu Beever, Ken and Colin Vince. The ticket alongside shows a price of three shillings and six pence - 17.5p in today's money! Malcolm and I began to visit the Harrogate Folk Club in the mid 1960's when it was held in the West Park Hotel. I have been interested in things folk ever since, developing a love for most aspects including music, song, drama and dance.

Over the years I have been involved with many different folk clubs and folk groups including:

Fiddler's Feud - a folk group with ace fiddler Kevin Briggs and guitarist Dave Chapman. Winners of the Tarn House Trophy for the Group Section in the Fourth Dales National Folk Contest held in Gargrave during November 1973. It was around this time that I helped Ray Black to run the Harrogate Folk Club when it was held in the Harrogate and West Yorkshire Employee's Social Club in East Parade. Ray is still busy running the Tap and Spile music session and was, until relatively recently involved with the Friday 13th Folk Club.

Kitsyke Will - a folk group with Peadar Long, Bob Thomas and Tony Bayliss. Paedar, Bob and Tony went on to play professionally as Kitsyke Will for a while. After Kitsyke Will folded Bob Thomas, Tony Harris and I played for a while under the hugely original name of "Thomas, Harris and Marshall"!! Bob's vocal talents are still on display with the Wakefield based band the Solicitors and Tony is currently playing with the excellent trio Hoover the Dog.

British Queen - a Bradford based Ceilidh Band with whom I "depped" for a while playing the mandola.

Hop Back Jig - Ceilidh Band

Knaresborough Mummers - research into the mummers play led to the discovery of a local mumming tradition - the Blue Stots' Plays. See Publications and Articles. In 2004 the Knaresborough Mummers reached their 30th "birthday" and Hedingham Fair were commissioned to produce the celebratory card shown below. Roosters Brewery were also commissioned to produce a celebratory ale, named "King Slasher" after a characters from the Blue Stots' Play. The Pump Clip shown alongside depicts Knaresborough Mummers founder member John Burrel, in his customary role of King Slasher. During his 30 years with Knaresborough Mummers, John has clocked up some 1500 mumming performances.

Pomfret Morris - Pontefract based Cotswold Morris side specialising in the Bucknell Tradition

Hornblower Morris - Ripon based Cotswold Morris Team which was superceded in 1982 by Ripon City Morris Dancers

Betty Lupton Ladle Laikers - I was the first musician and a founder member for this Harrogate Ladies' Morris Team formed in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year of 1977.

Ripon City Morris Dancers - I was the first Captain and a founder of this men's North West Morris team which was formed in 1982.

The Harrogate Folk Packet - an umbrella name used by local folk groups and clubs who staged the show "Alive and Kicking - a Miscellany of Morris, Musing and Mumming" at the Harrogate Theatre in June 1987. I was both co-writer and co-producer of this show which was based on some of my ideas, after we were approached by the Theatre to put on a fund-raising production. This one-off performance raised £1000 for the Theatre and involved Betty Lupton's Ladle Laikers, Knaresborough Mummers, Ripon City Morris Dancers, Claro Sword and Morris Men, Blind Jack's Folk Club and Fred Pigeon's Polka Band.

Flag and Bone Gang - I was yet another founder member of this Harrogate based team developing dances based on Paul Davenport's "Forgotten Morris".

Royal Preston Morris Dancers - this team was formed by the merger of Preston Royal Morris Dancers and Royal Lancashire Morris Dancers.See Publications and Articles.

Clogarhythm - a clog step dance team formed in 2002.

Current activities include working with the Blind Jack Project - a Yorkshire folk song initiative in aid of Henshaws Society for Blind People, supporting musical activities at Henshaws College in Harrogate and Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre in Knaresborough.

In the 1960s and 1970s it was often necessary to become a member of a folk club and club-goers were issued with membership cards. This is a fine example from the Brig Folk Club showing some etched glass from the venue which was the Adelphi in Lower Briggate, Leeds.

I have tinkered with stringed instruments over the years - mainly guitar, mandolin and tenor banjo - but now I play mainly anglo-concertina.

Why www.crimple? The river Crimple runs through the southern parts of Harrogate and this I chose for my host name after exhausting other more obvious possibilities which, I discovered, were already in use! The Crimple name was also used in the early days of the Harrogate Folk Club by the Crimple Mountain Boys, a bluegrass/old-timey band which included the talents of Robin and Barry Dransfield and Roger Knowles. ICI Fibres once had a Research Division close to the river and Crimple was used as the basis of the name "Crimplene".

On the subject of the early days of the Harrogate Folk club why not check out Mark Ellison's wikispaces web site?

2008 Chas Marshall

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