It wasn’t far off the girl’s dream, I realised, as four of us in two couples joined another couple (ignoring the four kids) for a meal consisting of pie and mash in a cardboard box, which was actually tasty. Our son looked slightly woozy, in the happiest of ways, and both Blake and Di joined us in absolutely not teasing him. That restraint was clearly telling on Di, for she suddenly stood up and called out “OY!” to someone behind me, followed by “Just walk past and ignore me, why don’t you?”

“Sorry, Diane. Didn’t realise you’d be here”

“Just you?”

“Yup”

“Eat with us? I’ll grab a spare chair”

It turned out to be Chrissy Morgan, the late addition to the line-up. As Diane made the introductions, the girl smiled, pointing at me.

“I remember some of you! Bethesda? Bunkhouse? Non-humped cases? Small world! Where’s the bear with the crash hat?”

She had a massive platter of mixed veggie food, as well as a beaker of tea, which she slurped from before continuing.

“Didn’t know I was coming, either. My agent rang me two days ago, that’s all. I’m supposed to be a shanty group, all men, or at least that’s who I’m replacing. Apparently, one of them caught a bug, it spread to two of the others, and now they’re just renting any food they eat. Both ends”

She looked down at her plate.

“Um, probably not the best topic of conversation right now. Anyway, how do you know Diane?”

I responded with a quick reversal, asking how Chrissy knew her.

“Oh, it was a gig in Cardiff. She and her mates solved a stalker problem for me. Do you know Candice as well?”

Maz nodded.

“Very well, in a way. We… did you read about the Rhodes family? Modern slavery thing?”

“Over in Indonesia? That was awful!”

“We’re the Rhodes family. Candice and Di here brought us home”

“Oh, I am so sorry! Rerunning what I said now to see if it was anything awkward. Change subject, Christina. Who are you looking forward to hearing?”

Ish laughed, saying “You again, now we know you’re here”

“Flattery will get you nothing except a potential slap from your girlfriend, matey!”

Clara found some more self-confidence just then.

“Do you camp with the other acts?”

“Yup. They’ve given me a spare glamping tent”

“Well, my Nana, she has a song she loved. Her man sang it in the Bethesda club a while ago, and she had it for her wedding, and it was the song she says makes her think of her parents”

“Ah. Can I take it that they are no longer around?”

Wordless for the moment, Clara shook her head.

“What’s the song, love?”

“It’s a Steeleye Span song. Saucy Sailor. I know they video the groups so you can watch it later, and if they sang it, it would mean a lot to her”

“The song?”

“Saucy Sailor”

“Right. I know Maddy, so I will ask, but their set is likely to be tied down tight. Mine isn’t, on forty eight hours’ notice. If they can’t fit it in, I will. Deal?”

“What do you mean ‘deal’? I haven’t given you anything”

“Just make sure she sees the performance. Can I have a name for your Nana, please?”

“Debbie. Debbie Prosser. She says it’s the last verse, the bit about not caring what the world thinks, that describes her parents”

“They’re strong words, love”

I tried to change the subject, asking about her accent, and she laughed.

“Ah, I was a Forces brat, so while I am indeed Welsh, and am learning the language, I lived all over the place, by RAF bases. Lived everywhere from Penzance to Lossiemouth, and spent quite a bit of time in Northumberland, near Boulmer, hence some of my accent and a lot of my music”

LC added her bit, once more proving the resilience of her soul.

“We were in Northumberland. There’s a little wall there and climbing with jams, and lots of castles for princesses”

“There are indeed, little darling. Did you see the very big castle at Bamburgh?”

“Yes! And the shouty birds on the island”

“The Farnes?”

I answered for her.

“Arctic terns are what she means. We were staying near Once Brewed”

“Good beer there!”

“Good people, too. We were with a very close friend, and he’s sort of… sorry, personal stuff. He lost his wife several years ago, and where Clara says about his Nana’s parents, he’s looking to do the same with his wife’s remains”

“Ashes… Lovely place to… Di?”

“Yes?”

“Another of your cases, wasn’t it? Absolute delight of a man called Nigel something?”

“That’s the one. Neil, the widower, was the one who pointed us at these people’s case, so it all ties together”

“Right. You still in touch with this Neil?”

“We are, officially, but Mike and Maz are really close, just not geographically”

Chrissy scribbled on a piece of paper, handing it to Maz.

“My e-mail and mobile number. Get him to give me a ring. Where exactly is the spot?”

Ish answered before I could, and she simply smiled at an obviously warm memory.

“That place is so evocative: more bang for your bucks than sites a hundred times the size. I will have a word with the others, and you’ll hear it from one of us. Now, talk among yourselves: I need to graze before I fall over. Busy day”

Once her plate was cleared she apologised and trotted off for a sound check or something, as Ish checked his watch.

“Dad?”

“Son?”

“Ukelele workshop is in half an hour”

“Best get moving, then. We’re eating at the Edifice at five, remember”

“Got it”

He was off, new toy in one hand, girl in the other and life in both their eyes.

Our evening meal was pasta and salad, and the first event was in the dance tent, which seemed to have attracted a lot of the real youngsters, marshalled into sets by a number of stewards, who guided them through the easier dances. So many of the others didn’t just look happy at the idea of a bop, but showed actual and avid hunger for it. One of them was Steph, who didn’t really count, though, because I was already fully aware of how unhinged she could be. Annie and Eric were also a known factor, as were Enfys and Alys, but Caroline and Pablo almost leapt up when the first dance was called, and I noticed she was actually wearing heels. Some hopeful youth asked Rita up, and as the rest of our group moved into position, it seemed like we had taken over half the floor.

I danced with my beloved, of course, which brought back memories of our wedding. The music played, the caller gave his instructions, and most of us got somewhere near getting it right. The music was well-played, which meant that even sitting out was fun, and the large collection of water bottles brought along by the Woodruff clan did exactly what was needed.

Neither Ish nor Clara proved to be dancers, however, but they still had a go, and both were still smiling even as they got it wrong.

We couldn’t stay all night, though, because the music was due to start, and our first ‘tick list’ entry was Lindisfarne, or what was left of them, including Alan Hull’s son-in-law. They weren’t quite what I remembered, but they were close, and as we sat in our chairs in the last of the sunshine, Rod Clements asked who had and hadn’t seen them before. When he asked why the latter hadn’t. a woman called out “We weren’t born then!”, which was followed by a roar of laughter.

The next act centred on a Gambian kora player, which had LC fascinated by both sound and technique, and then a group of acapella male singers, which had her staring at me and Ish, obviously wondering why we weren’t up there too. Shortly after they had finished, Pablo and his girls were squeezing their chairs into the spaces near us, Rita bouncing with anticipation.

“This group, Mr Rhodes, Caroline, she sent me a disc of it and the first time we come to stay, she has tickets, and we are jetlagged, but SO good! Is where we meet Steph and Annie”

So many memories tied up in one place, with one band, and I noticed Pablo lean across to kiss his wife gently just as the MC reappeared.

“Good evening Shrewsbury!”

She waited for the audience to settle again, then reminded people of the live streaming, which brought a gasp from Clara, who started typing rapidly on her phone as the spiel continued.

“One of the original folk rock bands, this group has hosted so many of the greatest of our performers, such as Peters both Zorn and Knight and even, briefly, a certain Mr David Bowie. They also worked with the great Terry Pratchett! Speaking of authors, they themselves almost wrote the book on how to be a folk rock band. So, please, let’s have a huge Shrewsbury welcome for STEELEYE SPAN!”

It had been years since I had seen them live, and the ever-flexible line-up had changed, but they still drew great musicians, even great musicians who were the offspring of great musicians, and they hit the stage running, or, in Maddy’s case, swaying gently while nailing the vocals down superbly. Rita had simply turned in her seat to say “Papa?” and received a nod before she was off down the front to dance. Ish looked at Clara; there was a similar nod, and they were gone as well.

Maz sighed.

“Why did we bother carrying the chairs, love?”

It was good, it was tight, and when they started a song called ‘The Gardener’, Caroline simply oozed pleasure, especially when the young woman now playing fiddle for them swapped to an electric instrument and started to scream the stage down with it.

Record tent: new entry on list of things to seek out. It couldn’t last, of course, and they took their bows to start the traditional tease, as the MC appeared once again.

“We still have some time left. Would you like more? Sorry, I couldn’t hear that. Would you like MORE?”

The crowd roared, the band reappeared, and Maddy took the mike.

“Haven’t you lot got tents and that to go to, or maybe a bar? Anyway, we have had a request! A real, honest request, and not just for that hit you all know the words to, so before that one, this is dedicated to Debbie Prosser and her parents”

The familiar guitar figure started up, and Maddy crooned the opening words as the crowd roared its approval, but after the final verse, as the acoustic guitar softly played the song out, there was utter silence until the last note was done. That brought the biggest roar, almost, because it simply got louder when they began ‘All Round My Hat’.

Once everything was done, we waited in place for our moshers to return, and to my surprise, Clara was in tears. Ish showed me a couple of texts on her phone, one from someone called Kim, which simply said

Nana in tears. U genius grl. Happy tears!!!

The second one was from Frank.

Deb in floods of tears. That was inspired. Deb said I should say she loves you, but I am saying WE do. Come home safe. All our love to you and Ish

We folded our chairs, joining the masses as they headed back to ‘tents and that, or maybe a bar’, in our case the Berwick Bar, and then settled down for another night under canvas, LC by now most definitely demanding that she sleep with the other three.

I was woken by my bladder at around three, but before I could use the appropriate bottle, I caught the sound of whispering.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Really sure. Please!”

“I’m”

“You’re amazing”

“Worried I’ll hurt you”