May Days - Episode 1 - FOLK

Join editor of The Simple Things magazine Lisa Sykes and wellbeing editor Rebecca Frank as they dive into folk festivals, May Day customs, folklore and dancing. And to mark International Dawn Chorus Day (3 May), there’s an (amateur!) birdsong quiz…

If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here

Thanks to our supporter for this season Titanic Belfast. Find out more and how to visit at titanicbelfast.com and on Instagram @titanicbelfast

Editing and music by  Arthur Cosslett

In the April issue (166) available to buy here

Speak easy: how to have better conversations 

In the May issue (167) available to buy here

Up with the lark: Have an early picnic while enjoying the birdsong before heading home for a second breakfast. We enjoy using the Merlin Bird ID app to help identify birdsong.

Almanac: Embrace all things folk with the many May festivals from Jack in the Green to Garland Day and Beating the Bounds

Modern Eccentrics – mods

The Brighton Mod Weekender takes place from 27-30 August. 

Coming up in the June issue – on sale from 29 May or try an immediate start subscription to get it earlier

Learn all about The Lost Giants of Lostwithiel, Cornwall, the designers and co-creators of giants and beasts of disguise. 

From back issues available to buy here

Scene setting: look to the landscape to discover the folk tales they’ve inspired (Issue 151) Photography from the book Unseen Scotland by Bryan Millar Walker (Greenfinch)

Modern Eccentrics: The Circus (Issue 118) Giffordscircus.com

Modern Eccentrics: vintage car lovers (Issue 155). Women Drivers’ Social Club: facebook.com/WDSC

Fairground attraction: Joby Carter of Carter’s Steam Fair on the art of signwriting (Issue 142)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hello, welcome back to our small ways to live well podcast from The Simple Things. It's a monthly magazine all about taking time to live well, and I'm Lisa Sykes, the editor. This year we're theming our four seasons: Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Dark, and this is season 10, which is our day season, and we're enjoying May Days and summer afternoons. And it's a definite contender for me for favourite time of the year when these light-filled days of late spring and early summer are so easy to love, aren't they? But it's a busy time. So over the next six weeks, we're going to be finding ways to slow down a little and take time to enjoy the season. And this season of our podcast is being supported by Titanic Belfast, which is a really fascinating visitor experience that tells the story of the famous ship, the people who built her, and the passengers and crew that sailed on her. And it's actually on the original site where the ship was designed, built, and launched in Belfast in 1911. So we're going to be telling you a few of the stories throughout this season, and you can find out more on how to visit at titanicbelfast.com. So I'm here today with my co-host Bex Frank, our well-being editor, and we're going to be exploring a theme of folk because it's May Day weekend, and well, it is when we release the episode, and there are so many folk stories and traditions and customs associated with May Days. So we're going to have a look at a few of those, but we're also going to sample a little bit of the dawn chorus and we're having some fun at the fair. Are you ready to delve in then, Bex?

Becs Frank 1:35

Hello. Hi, everyone and Lisa. It's so nice to be back and just kicking off this new season over the May Bank holiday weekend. It's also one of my favourite times of the year. And I love a bit of folk and a bit of folklore, so I'm quite excited to delve into it. It feels like the time to explore it, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, lots of these kind of fellows, festivals and celebrations that we associate with this time of year and the and the May Days and the Spring Banks and things, they they are all about the transition historically, really, of spring into summer. And they go way back. And it's quite nice, isn't it, that some of these traditions are being revived and they are linked to nature, they're linked to the change of the seasons and the land, and they're a nice way of just bringing people together, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Yeah, I mean, you know, it is an opportunity to lose your inhibitions and dress up and dance and feel a part of things, community. It's like, you know, like when people go to festivals and they take on a different persona, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, exactly. I like watching it, but I'm not sure I'd get into an outfit.

Becs Frank 2:36

Yeah, so I mean, we'll go into a few examples, but it is often about really sort of going to town. It's about the preparation and making an outfit. But of course, you can do that and you can take part in it, or you can be an observer, can't you? I think so. Yeah, and and and enjoy it just as much. I did once kind of uh have a little kind of try at the dressing. We I went on a retreat and it was in the heart of Midwales, and um, it's all about folklore and the stories and the traditions and these kind of all tied into the land, and we part of it kind of culminated in us creating this sort of ceremony, and it sounds it sounds a bit out there, but it was really, it was actually really fun. And we all just kind of played with little piece bits of nature, branches and leaves and flowers, and and created something like maybe a you know a headdress or a a crown or just or something to carry or hold.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Yeah, no, you really got into the moment of it, yeah.

Becs Frank 3:26

Yeah, and and or just a little kind of posy to hold, and and we got into the moment and we sat around a fire and we talked about things, and I actually did find myself getting quite into it.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

No, it's interesting, isn't it? And I I think it comes later because I remember in the 70s, you know, because we used to watch like the May Day parades and things like that, and I really hated them, you know. And then as a teenager, I never really got it. Yeah, like in most things your parents want you to do at that age, you find it excruciating, don't you? Yes. But no, it is really interesting. I think the only time I've ever really joined in, though, was uh randomly in Morocco when I I was staying in the Atlas Mountains and going on a bit of a trek, and we happened to be there when this whole village was doing this festival, which seemed to largely involve chasing someone round the fields with a stick and lots of mask wearing things, and they invite you to join in. So you you just do.

Becs Frank 4:14

That sounds really fun. Maybe you lost your inhibitions a bit because you were not at home as well, I think. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Exactly, exactly. But there's lots lots happening this month, though, isn't there?

Becs Frank 4:24

Yeah, I was just gonna say that sounds a bit similar to. Well, there's a couple of things happening this weekend, actually. One is is a Celtic fire festival called Beltane, which um kind of is May the 1st, so actually a couple of days ago from when from when this comes out. But um, it's it's good to mention because it's again about the return of the fertility of the land, um, return of the when livestock would have been put out to pasture, and cows were herded traditionally between bonfires, and which was thought to be protecting them from evil spirits and and disease, and the word beltane. Bet the cows were terrified. I know, and poor cows. Yeah, and then another is have you heard of Jack in the Green?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

I have, yes. I don't actually know much about it though, but it's quite a famous festival, isn't it?

Becs Frank 5:07

Yeah, and that has been kind of revived in a few places around the UK, and there's a big event I know takes place in Hastings, uh down on the South Coast, and also in Bristol, and I'm sure other places. And it's basically a gathering. It can kind of go over the whole weekend, and there's Morris dancers and characters, people play the drums, and then and then there's this figure, Jack, who is basically created and covered in leaves and branches, and this giant figure who's paraded through the streets, and um eventually um the kind of festival culminates with him being sort of stripped of all his of all his leaves, and that basically releases the spirit of summer. Wow, it sounds it sounds like it could get quite raucous. Yeah, I think it is, it was quite a raucous festival traditionally, and yeah, but I'm sure it is. I'm sure it's a great laugh. I mean, it used to be associated with I think milkmaids carrying their pails covered in flowers, and then it kind of, you know, it's kind of evolved into this.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

And is that where the May Queen came out of then? With the with the maids and the flowers and Yes, exactly.

Becs Frank 6:06

Yeah, I remember May Queens. Do you? I don't think I've seen a May Queen since I was a a child either.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

But No, but there used to be a big parade in uh a home in Hoodersfield, and and and I mean maybe they still do it, and and there was floats and there was someone selected to be, and she was all dressed in white with a flower crown, and yeah, no, they were quite a big deal. I mean, I I wonder if I don't I don't know whether it still exists or not.

Becs Frank 6:27

Well, the I know the festival and I uh well I'm pretty sure the festival in Hastings and some of the Jack and the Green ones bring together the May Queen and the Jack. So that you know that it's both of those traditions together.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

We've got a piece coming up in our June issue which is kind of connected to this, and yeah, well, we we'll just have to show you in the June issue because it's a very visual thing. But this there's this group called the Lost Giants, and they they're the people you know you get those gigantic figures at the heads of parades that are like a beast or something, like the Jack, Jack in the Green, yeah. Yeah, exactly. But this is this is often like something made that someone wears rather than a person, and they design and co-create these giants and the beasts, yeah. And they they have workshops and processions and giant happenings, and yeah, no, it's and they've taken old traditions, but they now do it for festivals all over the country. And i I think what was interesting when I was reading about it, and as I say, this is going to be in our June issue, which is out later this month, but it's it was always a community-led project because if you think about it, these things are massive, so they would need a community barn or something to keep it in.

Becs Frank 7:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. To store them.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah, exactly. And so they actually they they reimagine folk trail tales and magical characters. And um this is down in Cornwall, isn't it? Yeah, so this is part of our modern eccentrics because they've rev revived an old tradition.

Becs Frank 7:47

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that. I bet there's giving us some fantastic pictures. They're called the Lost Giants. We were looking into because we have a regular slot in on our miscellany pages. Mcellany is all sorts of different kind of little fun stories and snippets and facts, isn't it? That we run each each issue in the magazine. And we have a slot on folklore. And or is that no, sorry, that might actually be in.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Yeah, do you know what? I I I said to you earlier it was miscellany, and it's actually our almanac pages, isn't it? Which is at the beginning of the magazine. But it's a regular thing we do because we love a bit of folklore, don't we? We do. I know you've been looking up a few favourites, haven't you?

Becs Frank 8:20

So I went back and had and I've looked at a few that we've already featured and some that are coming up, and um, they're all taking place this month. And uh the one we've actually got coming out in May just made me really tickled me. It's called Beating the Bounds, and it's and it ties in with Ascension Day, which is on the 14th of May, which marks Christ's ascension to heaven, of course. And basically, historically, it's about um the boundaries of the parish and marking the boundaries, which typically took place at this time of year, and older generations would take younger children out to show them where to do this kind of performance to show them where the boundaries were, really, in that parish. And they did it by and still do it by beating the boundaries with a cane. So they take like out a will, a piece of willow and go around in Oxford, there's 30 or so boundary stones within the old city walls, and they go around them all.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Presumably they're all in the city now rather than in the village or something. Yeah.

Becs Frank 9:12

They're all in the city, so some of them are in colleges and libraries, and there's actually one in Marks and Spencer's. And so this kind of group of people with these canes get, you know, kind of traipse through Marks and Spencer's and find this this plaque and sort of start and beat it with canes.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

I bet it's in the lingerie department. Definitely. That's brilliant, I love that.

Becs Frank 9:34

And as they do it, they shout Mark, Mark, Mark. So yeah, that sounds really fun. I'd I'd quite like to take part in that.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Not Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, presumably. I like it. Yeah. Thanks. I think that's brilliant. There's another one I liked as well, which was the Abbotsbury Garland Day on the 13th of May, and that that's the start of fishing season. Right. This is on the Dorset coast. I've been to Abbotsbury actually. There's a really good swan sanctuary there. Oh, nice. I don't think I've been. And that they parade through the village with garlands of flowers, which they then hang on the boats and send them to sea in in the hope that it ensures a good fishing year, which is very lovely, isn't it? Yeah.

Becs Frank 10:11

So again, it's kind of it's it's about bringing in the, you know, the the new season and the and setting it off and giving bringing good luck and good fortune, isn't it? And warding off any kind of bad luck or evil spirits or whatever it might be.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Definitely. And there's a there's a the what was that one that you found that was a a dance? Oh, the furry dance. Yeah, the furry dance. Which immediately makes you think of people dressing up in fur fabric and in costumes, doesn't it? Yeah.

Becs Frank 10:36

Completely, which is nothing to do with fur, but fur and the Celtic word fleur, it comes from this, which means festival. And that is all about dancing, and it starts in the morning with a children's dance and then then ancient furry dance, and then there's a you know, throughout the day, there's all these different generations take part in in different dances.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

And I can't remember, did we did we say, sorry, it's in Helston in Cornwall, isn't it?

Becs Frank 10:58

Yeah. It's in Helston, yeah, which I know quite well. I've got friends that live near there.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

So it's lovely, isn't it? Yeah.

Becs Frank 11:04

Yeah. So I think uh I uh it'd be a really nice thing to do this month to seek out some some of these festivals in a I'm sure happening in a town near you.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

See, maybe this is it, Bex, because we're always saying how we don't get to do dancing much anymore. Maybe we just have to try different kinds of dancing. Like, what about a bit of clog dancing?

Becs Frank 11:21

Well, I love clogs, but uh being as I can barely walk in them, I'm not sure that I'm gonna be able to dance in them. But hey Lisa, you were a bit of a tap dancer, weren't you, in your you know, in your past?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Yeah, no, well that's the thing. You see, I I I like everything I think because I can do this, I can probably do this, and it's just nonsense. But it is a clog dancing. I did look this up a bit actually. In fact, I downloaded the 33-minute video that promised 28 moves, but I'm not sure it's gonna get one. Have you tried it? Um, but it is a combination of tap line dancing and Irish dancing, really. But yeah, because I get because I did a bit of tap dancing, but I can't imagine doing it in clogs. No, I mean, uh because you you know clogs uh do you know what how they originated? They were they were instead of leather shoes because it was really slippy in the mills in Lancashire on the floor.

Becs Frank 12:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

So that's why they had clogs.

Becs Frank 12:08

And that's where the dancing came from, you know, it was the mill workers, wasn't it, coming out and in the brakes. Yeah, exactly. In brakes and and having a little jig, and then it obviously spilled out into the sort of music halls and became a thing.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

It's quite hard to imagine coming out of a you know, 14-hour shift in a mill and then breaking into dance though, isn't it?

Becs Frank 12:26

You know, yeah, maybe there's a bit of folklore going on there.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

But it must be like dancing in platform shoes, you know. It I think it's just really hard. I I've got some orange clogs, right, that I love. Nice. But I can just about put the bins out in them, and and they're great for hanging, washing on the line when the grass is a bit wet, you know. But and I wear them around the garden. Oh, I'll tell you what I also use them for. I use them when I'm going to an exercise class to slip on and off. But otherwise, I I couldn't spend too long wearing them, really.

Becs Frank 12:54

No, well, I definitely couldn't take my bins out in them because that involves going up going up a some steep stone steps for me. So I'd be that'd be a disaster. I do have a book. I've got about four pairs of clogs, a different types of clogs. I like the kind of scandy clogs. Yeah. But the ones that I wear and I love and are the ones with the straps across the back because Yeah, I think they're a lot easier, aren't they? I've got some lovely open-ended back in a closed toe, but open and with a little bit of a heel. But I just tried to wear them with a pair of socks or tights, I think, over Christmas, because wearing them with some jeans, and then I realized that actually you have to have bare feet to be able to grip the shoes. So I I had to kick them off after luckily I was at a friend's house, I had to kick them off after about five minutes.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

No, I and so it's you know, we might never be wearing clogs, but I do like a new dress for spring, don't you?

Becs Frank 13:39

Yeah, and what better occasion than going to a little festival to get your new dress out or something a bit floral?

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, a little floral floaty dress, yeah. I in fact I actually bought one last week in preparation for the weather. Yes.

Becs Frank 13:53

I haven't worn it yet. Yeah, the shops have gone full spring, haven't they? Which is great.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

And and it's funny because I I wouldn't really wear that at any other time of year. I don't really do for sort of floral floaties, but in the spring I do like one. Anyway, maybe it comes with age.

Becs Frank 14:08

Like appreciating Morris dancers. I think there's something about the flowers coming out and the colours out in nature that makes you want to kind of dress in a different way as well and get some florals, wear some florals.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

You know, the folklore now is all about dressing up and letting your hair down, isn't it? I think that's that's what and this is you know, this is the time to do it. But we we've obviously been talking about you know the folk festivals, but actually there's a load to say about folklore itself as well, isn't there? You know, dragons, fairies, a bit of storytelling, and you know, we we've done a lot of this in the magazine, and we'll put some links in our show notes to anything we've got on the blog as well. But um, do you remember we did a piece it uh because often they're connected with landscape, aren't they? Yes, and I love that when you get a name like Devil's Pulpit and there's a legend attached to it. We had some beautiful pictures from Scotland that were all about uh particular landscapes that were you know associated with folklore legends. And uh another one I really liked was this it's like this this kind of crevice through two big lumps of rock. Yes, and it's called Fion's Rock. And uh a legend is that you know there was this strapping folk hero. There are always a strapping folk hero, isn't there? Called Fingal, who was so strong, he was like preternaturally strong. His arrow split a rock in half, and now the burn kind of gushes through it. And I don't know, when you see a landscape, it's so nice to know the story behind it, isn't it?

Becs Frank 15:27

They really bring it to life, don't they? And I like it kind of connects you to the past and the and you know, imagining. I love imagining this story, these these kind of shaggy dog stories being, you know, sort of passed down. And they're everywhere, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

I bet I bet you've got one near you.

Becs Frank 15:42

We do, uh we've got a few, and one of my favourites is Sally in the Wood, which is associated with this strip of road. Actually, it's actually an A road that cuts down into the centre of Bath through Bathford, and it's quite spooky, especially at night. There's a wood, it's all woodland on one side, and then oh, maybe on both sides actually, but um it's very, very dark, not very not lit at all. And so, and apparently Sally comes out of the wood and is a spirit that kind of wanders across the road and has caught there's been several accidents related to people who said they've seen they've seen Sally. So I always drive really slowly and kind of you know, with my looking through the back mirror while I'm driving down there. That's spooky. And apparently, yeah, legend has it that she was perhaps um a witch who'd been, you know, banished to the wood.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Often a witch story, isn't it? Although I've got a good dragon one because um St. Leonard's Forest near me is uh reputedly where the last dragon dragon in England was slain. But of course, you know, I think there's a lot of places later to that. But it but when I go for a walk there with the dog, and it's a really nice wood, it's really well looked after. And I do always think about it, you know. You just could a dragon have lived here, you know.

Becs Frank 16:48

What if you can't help yourself, can you? But I think that's the thing wherever there's kind of like rocks and mountains, woods, water, there's gonna be some kind of stories behind it. And and I think I like that when you go to stay somewhere new, when we went up to North Wales, you know, just you know, getting chatting to someone in the local tea room or the pub or you know, just you'll get some a a good story will come out usually.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Oh, you know, we we we're getting into that place that we were it's bank holiday weekend and you want to go somewhere and do something, and and you know, and obviously we'll so we'll leave folklore behind a little bit, but uh it's a good opportunity for me to mention our supporter this season, I think I've already said, but the you know, Titanic Belfast are looking after us this season, which is very good. And it it's a great place to go on the bank holiday. I'll tell you something, Bex. I've been digging, I've been digging into the website, and I went down a real rabbit hole exploring some of the stories they have to tell. They have like, you know, famously Wallace Hartley, the band leader, who played the violin, you know, and the band played while the ship sounded. I mean, so poignant. So what they have the violin? Yeah, they have the violin. Oh wow. And the newest artifact they have, and because they don't have any artifacts that have been salvaged from the wreck, you know, because the the wreck was discovered in the 80s, I think it was, because of ethical reasons. So all the the artifacts they've got either surviv came from survivors or were found on the surface. So um, and but they've they've got a a life jacket that was worn by a female passenger, and apparently there's only about a dozen of these life jackets left. Wow. But I I I I think that must be quite a poignant sight. But the point the important thing is about Titanic Belfast is it's not just the story of the tragedy, but it's also how the SHILT was built and its legacy, because it's actually on the site of at the Harland and Wolf shipyards in Belfast where it was built. And I have to say, I've never shamefaced, I've never been to Belfast. Me neither. But I want to go now, I want to go and find out more. But anyway, you can find out more at titanicbelfast.com and we appreciate their support this season. We do. But another place I want to get to this year is Gifford Circus. Oh, I love Gifford Circus. I know, and we've cut, for anyone who doesn't know, this is a travelling circus, but not like any circus you've ever seen. I mean, it is very folky, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. It goes back to a lot of the magical traditions, and they tour mainly in the south and southwest, I think it is, isn't it? Yeah. From sort of Easter through the summer. Yeah, they're touring now. Yeah, they've got a lot of loyal followers. And I think someone on our team goes every year with their family. And you've been. I have. I've been a few times, uh probably three times.

Becs Frank 19:15

I really yeah, I really enjoyed it when the kids were younger. And I would definitely go again. Funnily enough, actually, it's not that funny, but the last time I went, I had a horrible allergic reaction to the because there's a horses. They basically, you know, this is not this is a very um just to say this is a very ethical circus, isn't it? So you know, they they say they only have animal-wise, it's dogs, birds, and free-range horses. Yes, and there are a lot there's a lot of horse stuff going on, and I'm allergic to horses. And um, I don't know why this hadn't affected me before, but yeah, so you're in this kind of big top and arena, and obviously, you know, it's quite closed in. There's a lot of hair and a lot of horses. Maybe there was a high pollen count that day as well, but I had a horrible allergic reaction and I had to leave. Oh no. So I haven't been back since then. But I actually think, you know, I'm gonna dose myself up with antihistamines and take the kids back for a yeah, um for a little bit of a kind of revival because the same characters put crop up every year. So Tweedy the Clown is just wonderful, and he's always in it, and then they have a different theme every year. And this year the theme has been chosen, it's Waterfield, which I uh is all about the English countryside and the creatures that inhabit it. So I think that sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Yeah, yeah. No, I'm really gonna try and get there because it's somewhere I've always wanted to go, and yeah, and it just feels like a beautiful English thing to do on a summer's evening, doesn't it?

Becs Frank 20:28

You know, yeah, and they're always in really charming kind of places as well, village greens and lovely spots.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

We featured them several times actually, but we'll put the link to which issue um the because we did it, we did a modern eccentrics, another modern eccentrics. The world is full of modern eccentrics. In fact, another one we did actually, sorry, we've got one coming out in the May issue, which is on sale now, the mods, the mods and they're still gathering, they're still gathering down at the seaside in Brighton, other places too. But there's a the you know, bank holiday was traditionally, of course, when they they all went to Brighton. And I have to say, they there's there's a great line in there about um how they fill their parkers out slightly more than they used to, which I think was a very nice, gentle way of saying we've all got a little bit older. Yes, I have to say that I always wanted a Vespa.

Becs Frank 21:16

Yeah? Oh well we I've had Vespers. Have you? Yeah, when we lived in London. Were you a mod? Uh no. Well, I think my husband's always had slight kind of mod aspirations, actually.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Ah.

Becs Frank 21:26

We had one purely as a great way of getting about, and obviously they look they're lovely, aren't they? Yeah, jealous. Yeah, so we used to I used to ride Pillion. I never I didn't actually have my own. For me, the kind of motorbike gatherings that I remember from my childhood were more of the big bikes at bank holidays up in um like Matlock Bath and stuff, which are a bit noisier and less charming, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Yeah, no, and less charming. But uh we do sometimes have that what classic car would you have conversation? And I I don't know what war would you go for?

Becs Frank 21:55

Uh I do know we did a great piece on this, didn't we? And I love I'm kind of torn because I I like something quite glam, like an old an old sort of like soft top Mercedes. Um, you know, thinking like a Maudrey Hetburn or something. But then I also like something a bit fun, um, like a beetle. And my old my uncle Percy had a beetle, which I remember so well because it was that kind of beetle mint green. Do you remember it? And uh and he used to pull up on our road and it was so noisy that you just used to like park in the middle of the road to pick us up, and we'd get so excited. And because that, you know, the kind of the ledge that you could get you can almost stand on.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah, yeah, the running um thing. What I want to call those steps on the outside, yeah.

Becs Frank 22:35

Yeah, little steps on the outside. So I used to stand on that and he used to pretend to set off. So uh what about you? What would be your car?

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Well, I I used to get a lift to school in the in my friend's dad's old beetle that was a nice sky blue one. That was lovely. Yeah. But no, I would have um a Morris Minor traveller, you know, the one with the woodwork on the side. Is that what um the woman in the article had, Rebecca? She had a Morris Minor, but not the not the traveller one. Oh, okay. So basically, this was an article, wasn't it? And she was she got sick of going to things where blokes would say, Oh, is that your dad's car, or is that your brother's or your boyfriend's?

Becs Frank 23:11

And you know Yeah, so she got herself a Morris Minor, didn't she? And then, yes, got fed up of the comments.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yes. She got a woman's group together to to kind of go to shows together, go to runabouts, have social, and and apparently it just, you know, boomed this thing, and there were loads of women wanted to get involved. Yeah, and I just think it's quite interesting. I think that I could get into that, you know. I think I could get into classic cars. The only thing is, I'm not very good at mechanically doing things with them because she like fixes her own and stuff. I wouldn't get that. But I do love driving. Yeah and I do like a manual car. I miss our camper van a lot, yeah.

Becs Frank 23:45

Oh, I think the thing is that the pleasure of driving, you're gonna you're gonna get so much more in a car like that because you can't just, it's not just racing from A to B, is it? You have to go slowly. You're gonna get lots of like waves and smiles and admiration for your car, aren't you? And chats with people whenever you stop. And she talked about that, didn't she? That it's just becomes it's just the journey is the you know, is the fun. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

You just see more along the way, don't you? Yeah. And she does a passenger seat podcast, which I'm gonna have a listen to, which sounds quite fun as well.

Becs Frank 24:15

We'll put all the the details of the events that she hosts um and also the podcast into the into the show notes.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Now we we need to we need to move on, Bex, because we're you know, we're talking our way through this and we've gone on quite a while, but let's talk about the fair ground because I know you really loved that feature we did on the signwriter, didn't you?

Becs Frank 24:34

Yeah, so Carter Steam Fair used to tour, and I I think it stopped actually, sadly, a few years ago. But um, it was all the kind of old old steam-powered rides. Yeah. And um, we used to have one come to Dillish Park, which was uh near to where we lived in London, and we did an article on the guy, the one of the sons of the founders called Joby Carter, and he's a signwriter, and he did lots of the beautiful kind of fairground art on the on the rides. And so if you think about all those decorative kind of squirrel swirls and scrolls and yeah, beautiful, amazing pictures and and all that, all those colours and things. So it's really interesting to kind of it's a bit of a a bit of a dying kind of craft, really, because yeah, there aren't these traditional fairgrounds anymore. But obviously, the you know, sign writing is something that's kind of been kept alive and you see in you know cafes and signs and pubs and tattoo parlors and things like that. So he's still working doing that. I think it was it's just nice to to to sort of remember that. I do love a fair.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

I oh yeah, me too. I've got a piece of slate outside my house, right, that's waiting for a sign. And I admired a friend who was stenciling her own sign for her own house. And so she said, Oh, I'll give you some slate, and it's been sat there now for five years and still haven't done the sign. I it really is quite pathetic. Wouldn't it be fun to do like a try and have a go at a fairground type sign as opposed to one of those like very sensible ones that everyone else has? Yeah, that would look very cool. Anyway, I'm gonna move I'm gonna move us on because our read aloud story this episode is set at a fairground. And for any new listeners, we commission an original short story in every issue of The Simple Things, and we pick some to read aloud in our podcast. So have a listen to this one, put the kettle on and see what you think. Fair Game, a short story by Emily Howes. Callie sees them standing together, one big, one small, over by the Dodgems, where the boys are hanging off the poles, cigarettes fizzing in the dark, steering with their feet into the back of the punter's cars and making the girls scream. They are brothers. She can see it straight away. The same slanting nose, the same mucky blonde hair, but one is taller and stronger, and he knows it. The smaller boy looks up with envy at the prizes spilling from his brother's arms, but the brother does not share his spoils, keeping them tight to his chest, eyeing the fair stalls for his next victory. In the shadow of her stall, Callie draws her knees up to her chest, watching. Roll a ball, hubber race, roll a ball horse race, her dad is calling out next to her in a sing song way. Get your balls in the holes to win. She thinks about her own brothers and their grabbing, pushing need to beat her at everything, the way they race off, laughing, using her smallness to make themselves bigger. The two boys cross the grass until they are standing right in front of the Derby races. She sees the smaller ones' eyes roam hungrily over the prizes, the rainbow sugar dummies and the goldfish turning quick flash circles in their bags, and the stuffed toys looking glassily into the dark. The older boy passes the money to her dad, who sits hunched on his stool, and the smaller boy moves for the red horse, but his brother shoves him to one side, laughing, so chooses the green horse instead, face puckering in his attempt to find it funny. And Callie reaches up and pulls the lever. The balls rattle down in an avalanche, and she watches the boy fumbling for them, biting his lip in concentration. He rolls a ball up, too wild, it misses once, twice, three times, cracking against the wooden sides. The red horse is gaining pace already, but the bigger boy glances over for a second and cackles. The balls hammer against the wood like thunder. The small boy is going to lose. He will not get a taste of rainbow sugar. He will not get a goldfish, cold and watery and beautiful in its bag. His brother, tongue stuck out in anticipation of his triumph, is rolling balls faster than ever, but the younger boys keep sliding back to him, useless, and hot tears are forming in his eyes at the inevitability of it, of being small and no good, and always losing. Above them, a sudden gust of wind catches at the toys and sends them swinging, dancing beneath the bulbs. The red horse is pulling away, its painted rider rocking back and forth. But Callie has her hand on a secret. Down behind the wall of painted zebras and barefooted ladies standing on their backs. Callie knows the horses, knows each one the rods and axles, the nuts and bolts of them, the red and blue and green and yellow. She knows them like old friends. Her father is looking away at last, staring out into the darkening evening, where Maggie, who runs the gallopers, is leaning over the counter, her breath spilling forward. Callie takes her chance, her eyes fixed on the smaller boy, and she unscrews the note from its bolt, just a little, just a tiny bit, and watches as the green horse races ahead, as the whole world for one secret fleeting moment feels fair. So, you know, folk, we've been talking a lot about it in the in the first part of this podcast. And it's not just about legends, is it? It's also about people, which is quite appropriate because you have just written this piece in our May issue about conversations and getting on with people and how to have better ones. And it's really interesting stuff, Bex. So, you know, tell everybody a bit about it.

Becs Frank 30:03

Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a we conversations, we have them all day, don't we? And yet quite often we come out of them or you know, thinking, why didn't why did I say that? Or why didn't I say what I meant to say? And did that person misinterpret what I was saying? Or and we ruminate over it, don't we? So I kind of had a little bit of a you know a dive into why, you know, what actually makes conversations work better and how to express yourselves, how to get on with people. And um, and it was it was really interesting because there's lots of different kind of different ways that conversations can go wrong and different things that you can do to to improve them. And I mean, one of the kind of main things is is actually a conversation is a two-way thing. I mean, we're having a conversation here and I'm just talking with you. But it's about listening and responding and being, you know, there's a saying, a quote in that good conversationalists aren't necessarily the best talkers, but they are the best, often the best listeners.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

You see, I'm being very quiet now because I feel like I need to concentrate on my listening rather than my talking, which um because you know, I I guess a lot of people like me, and you do interrupt, I interrupt people. Yeah, you know, because I I'm waiting to say what I want to say. Because I think it's you know, because I think it's a part of a good conversation. It's not like I just don't want to hear what someone else is wanting to say. Yes, of course. But you don't always kind of wait, do you? You don't always wait for the the gap.

Becs Frank 31:23

Or you're thinking about what you want to say instead of really listening to what the person's actually saying. And then because also I think we're about we're we're kind of scared of of having pauses in in our conversations because we think that's awkward. Whereas actually they're not awkward. You know, conversate pauses are often you know the best bits of conversations, really. That's where the it might be a little bit awkward on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Yeah. There was a big pause. But it's true. This isn't a real conversation like that, is it? No.

Becs Frank 31:50

No, and actually, interestingly, uh, you know, we did talk about the importance of having real face-to-face conversations. Um, or you know, if you can't do that, obviously maybe on a phone or on a video call. But what do you feel about like voice notes? And they've kind of overtaken text messages, even, haven't they? But they're not proper conversations, are they?

SPEAKER_00 32:07

My girls leave them all the time, and they're just so uh annoying, aren't they, really? Because you can't respond. And it's not like a text where you can reply, it's it's just such so one-sided. It's it's an announcement, isn't it? It's not a conversation.

Becs Frank 32:23

Yes, it's a monologue, and often they just get too they're too long, aren't they? So you want to respond to different bits of it, but you've kind of forgotten the bit that you were going to respond to at the beginning by the time you get to the end. Absolutely. And I think I often they often get ignored as well, I think, because they're long and people think I'll listen to that later. Yeah. Whereas you can skim read something and get the important information and deal with it. And also go back to it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

It's it's interesting, isn't it? Because you know, uh we obviously grew up when answer machines were still a thing, and voicemails are just like that, really, and they were annoying then. They're just a more modern way of doing it, aren't they?

Becs Frank 32:56

And now no one leaves any, you know, answering answering machine messages. No. So we talked about being a better listener, but also then that whole thing about not ruminating on you know on conversations that you didn't feel have got went as well as you thought they would be. So that might be, you know, perhaps in a more formal setting, or even just a difficult conversation. So being prepared, knowing what you want to say before, and then and then just moving on from it. Because a lot of us have this sort of kind of imposter syndrome, like, oh, did I not did I make myself sound stupid, or did I not sound like I didn't know about something that and or wasn't as expert as I could have been? And and really very, very little few occasions where someone's going to think that about you.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

I know the amount of times you room in it on something you said or shouldn't have said or should have said, and and and you know, and then you ask other people, do you think I should have done this? And and then it, you know, and it just turns into a big thing when in fact the person involved is probably not thinking about it at all, are they?

Becs Frank 33:50

No, they'll be thinking about what they said and whether that was the right thing. So yeah, there's a lot of good advice and and lessons in in that. And it and also conversations, you know, having more conversations and not avoiding them and just doing messages or putting your headphones on and not speaking to people. You know, it's it's not good for for you know kind of society and relationships. And I read a piece last year about the importance of being open-minded. And conversation is how you kind of get to learn about other people and understand their views a bit more as well, because we can be quite black and white about what we think, can't we? And and not really very, you know, open-minded sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

No, and going back to that, you know, real real conversations in real life, because it is about body language and it is about seeing someone's expression on their face, and you get the sense of their mood and what place they're in, don't you? Yeah, you know, and it's interesting because when we record these podcasts in person, which we do sometimes, I find them easier than when we do it online, even though I can see you. Yeah, it's not quite the same, is it, as being in the same room as someone. No, definitely not.

Becs Frank 34:54

I think that's quite interesting. As well as picking up on people's body language, you can those natural pauses that we're talking about, rather than them seeming like uh you can misinterpret as someone taking offence at something, or you know, I mean, it's so easy to misinterpret an email or a message, isn't it? And you're much more likely to get the nuance, you get the nuance of of a of what somebody's trying to say when you say it in person. Um so lots of good reasons to speak to people.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Yeah, and that's a big piece in our May issue, which is on sale now. So um do give that a go. But today it's National Dawn Chorus Day. In fact, it might be International Dawn Chorus Day, and they're inviting people to enjoy the symphony of Bird Song at Dawn. Um but if you missed it, don't worry, you could do it tomorrow. But we did actually go out, actually, not today. We we we went out uh about a week ago, didn't we? Because are we big fans of the Merlin app, aren't we, Bex?

Becs Frank 35:43

Yes, I love it. We both go out walking every day, don't we? I mean, we've been trying to do our earlier walks, haven't we? And the I mean the bird song is just it's incredible right now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 35:54

I mean, loud and earlier. Yeah, no, I'm really enjoying it. It's really worth getting up early for.

Becs Frank 36:00

But it is quite hard. When I listen to the individual birds song being played on you know the app when I'm looking for examples, I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, got it. I know that. And then when I'm outside and I hear it among all the other birds, I'm just like, will you be quiet, Robin? Because I'm trying to hear the Pluton.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

I think I've probably been a bit unfair to you here, because I I'm going to play you a couple of individuals tracks of a bird song, right? Oh, blind me, okay. Because I'm up in the dales at the moment and and I went on a Moorland walk. So these birds, you're not gonna see them in Bath. But they do, they are quite distinctive, and I will give you some clues, okay? Okay. Right, I'm gonna play this into the microphone. We haven't actually practiced this, so let's hope it works. Are you ready, Bex? Yes. This is your first bird. Okay.

Becs Frank 36:52

That's lovely, isn't it? Well, there's another one, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:59

It's repeating itself. So basically, right, this bird is on the moors in the summer, but in the winter it's at the seaside because it comes here to breed and then it goes back to the seaside for the winter because it's a bit harsh up here on the moors, and it's a very distinctive looking bird, but it has that beautiful call, which for me is the sound of the moors up here in the dales. Shall I give you a bit another clue?

Becs Frank 37:29

You find it in the winter at the seaside, that's what's throwing me a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Yeah, but not every seaside, it's kind of on marshes and salt marshes, and like they moved to Morkham Bay for their holidays from the dales.

Becs Frank 37:40

Can you give me a bit of a clue about its appearance?

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Yes, it it's got a very distinctive curved beak. Oh, is it a curleot? It is a curlew, yeah. Is it? Oh, hey! It's not the sound that I yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't know once you know that song, it you know it's beautiful, beautiful song, yeah. Yeah, it's really lovely. It's really atmospheric and and you can hear it from quite a long way away. And you have them now. Yeah, they've just they've arrived to start breeding now because they nest here, and so you start seeing them, which is really lovely. Right. This other one is also a bird that you get at the seaside, and also a bird that comes here. I'm just trying to find it now in my list of birds. Hold on, it's I'm just oh no, where's my list gone? I'm just uh I'm just looking through because the thing is when you record it yourself, it's really easy to see. Uh oh, here it is. It's really easy to have them all in one thing and they sound beautiful, but then when you extract them out, I then can't find them again in the cacophony where the birds are.

Becs Frank 38:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Right, okay, this one, are you ready? Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna play it into the microphone. Hopefully, you can hear this. This is actually really hard because it's not that distinctive.

Becs Frank 39:03

No, it sounds quite like one that I've been included in my quiz for you, but I don't think it is by the description of it.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

So can you give me an Well, they forage on the beach, but they they've got a long orange beak that digs into the beach. They also you get them up here on the moors as well. I think you're gonna have to tell me this one. I don't know whether they actually catch what's in their name. Oh, they're an oyster catcher. They are an oyster catcher, yeah. I don't know whether I don't know whether they do catch oysters or not. But anyway, that you get those up here as well. Yes. That's another one I'm gonna look out for now. So so there you go. That was quite have you seen them this year. Yeah. Yeah, no, we see them quite a lot. Yeah, they they because they're quite distinctive. Yeah, no, it's great up here actually, because you you get very different birds from when you're at home in your garden.

Becs Frank 39:49

Yeah, it's very nice to have that contrast. So have you kept your because I do a little screenshot and you can save your the birds, can't you? So you can see how it changes through the season.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

I I forgot to do that the first time, so I went out another day and did it again. Because I'm I'm really into it now. I'm gonna, in fact, I might do another one tomorrow in honour of Don Coraste. So there we go. So I I think you've got some uh descriptions for me, but you're doing it slightly differently, aren't you?

Becs Frank 40:12

You say these are birds that have come up in my most of them have come up in my my Merlin app. Well, so I either in my garden or in the woods recently. And then they have something kind of distinctive about their about their song or their name. Sorry, are you gonna do impressions? Is that what I'm getting? Well, we'll see how we go with we'll start with. I love it. Okay. Do you know which bird shouts teacher, teacher?

SPEAKER_00 40:37

I love the fact that you look slightly embarrassed as you're singing this. Teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher. So you have to think of it like that. Teacher, teacher. It's quite shrill. Is it Robin? No. Oh no. I'm just randomly guessing. I I I kind of someone said that to me before, but I can't remember which bird it is. Give me give me a clue. So it's uh there are different varieties of this type of bird, and this is Oh, is it a blue tit then or or a great tit or great tit, yeah. I'll just go through all the tits. Yeah. Does it do teacher? Yeah, interesting. I think those little phrases are quite useful once you know the call, aren't they? Because then you can see it. But I can't get them from just the description.

Becs Frank 41:21

This one sounds quite similar, I think. Okay, but it's also sounds like it, but they say it's repeating its name over and over again. But it's got a very similar okay. So if you think about the name has two short words. And what's it saying, then? Go do it again. Well, I can't say it without saying its name. Because the call, the call is its name. Oh. But it sounds quite similar to the teacher. Teacher. Sounds similar to that, but it's actually its name.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Okay. But you mean that you the the phrasing is like similar.

Becs Frank 41:51

The name of the bird, yeah. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Blackbird. Um, is it two words then? Yeah, yeah, two words. Okay. Um, oh, oh, uh, oh, I can't think of any birds all of a sudden. I know it's hard, isn't it? You see? Sparrow, no. Yeah.

Becs Frank 42:07

Chaffinch. Oh, I thought you were gonna say it. Chip chaff. Yeah. You'll hear that now.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Um I will, I will. This is good. I like this.

Becs Frank 42:17

I mean, I'm sure it's not of any use to anyone listening at all, but now you should know this one. I think you're gonna know this one. So this one has a loud, bright kick, kick, kick, kick. And that's good. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

That's very good.

Becs Frank 42:31

Unlike most of its species, it feeds on the ground and only drums infrequently.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Oh, I know what this is because I've seen these and they're one of my favourites. Green woodpecker, isn't it? Yes, well done. Yeah, because they basically fly off and do an alarm call when they fly away, and their flight does this kind of dipping bottom thing like it's on the roller coaster. Yeah. And they're really big, actually. Beautiful. Yeah, really beautiful. Really big. And they because they dig insects out of the gr out of big fields or lawns, don't they? Yeah. Nice, very good. Well, that wasn't bad, I don't think.

Becs Frank 43:04

I've got one more for you because this one made me laugh. You might have heard it. This one says, My toe bleeds betty.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

There's no way that that is true.

Becs Frank 43:15

And it says it like this: my toe bleeds Betty. So think of the think of the. Is it an owl then? Well, no. It's funny actually, because my daughter said I thought that was an owl. Is it a dove? Is it a coloured dove? It's a wood pigeon.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Wood pigeon. Oh, yeah.

Becs Frank 43:34

So that's one of my or the coloured dove does a similar, similar sound. So that's basically what comes up all the time on my um on my Merlin app. I I think it is easier to have the actual song than you said. No offense, Bex, but I think that's hard. But once you actually identify these, because I remember going on a bird song walk with um someone once, and he said, This guy said to me, Oh, listen, you can hear it. A little bit of bread and egg. Cheese, and I was said, I don't hear really with that at all. But then when you that's the yellow hammer, and when you hear it and when you recognize it, okay, then you see it.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Yeah.

Becs Frank 44:10

So next time you hear that the wood pigeon or the devil, you're gonna think my toe bleeds.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

My toe bleeds Betty, right? I'm gonna go out later and do this. I'll I'll send you a text, I'll send you a recording, or maybe I'll send you a voice note, Begs. Oh no, please don't. I'll ignore it. But actually, the reason we're talking about dawn chorus is not just because it's dawn chorus day, it's because we've also done a lovely gathering feature, which is one of the things we have in every issue of the magazine. And it's all about what does our art describe it as? A party you'd like to be at. Yeah. And and it's this one is about getting together with your friends and getting up early and doing a sort of a dawn breakfast and listening to bird song.

Becs Frank 44:51

And it doesn't even have to be dawn. I mean, this is what we because actually at this time of year, I was out walking at 9 a.m. the other day, and I thought this would be a perfect time to actually come and sit and it lasts a long time, doesn't it? Yeah. Because it lasts a long time, and um, you know, then you don't have to, it doesn't have to be quite so early.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

No, but but actually, when we say breakfast, this is basically taking cake for breakfast on the walk, yeah, and then coming back for a second breakfast with breakfast burritos back at home. That's the best bit, I think.

Becs Frank 45:20

Obviously, the bird song. What's not to like about that exactly? There's nice recipes for things that you can take out with you, so like a a fruit and nut bar or something portable like that, and then and then you so you do your kind of little, you know, listening to bird song, eating your nice snack, and then coffee, coffee, juice, maybe back home. And um, and I love the breakfast burritos because you can't you can't eat a breakfast burrito.

SPEAKER_00 45:45

Yeah, very good. Yeah, and actually that's one of the joys of bank holiday, isn't it? The the chance to have a second breakfast because you've got the extra time.

Becs Frank 45:53

Well, in my opinion, breakfast is the best meal of the day. So if you can make it, if you can do it twice, then definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:59

I mean, I think the rule on bank holidays is do less, not more, really. And and actually that that's nicely ties into you every every episode we try and do something that we uh it's like a signature thing, isn't it? We talk about, you know, it's might be setting our intentions or whatever, but this time it's we're going to look at, you know, how will I waste time this week? And we're we're basically embracing the motto of time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time, which I love as a phrase. I'm all for that.

Becs Frank 46:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah. So how I am going to waste time this week. I'm going to spend time just sitting and identifying the birds in my garden and their song. But I'm also going to try and go down the rabbit hole a bit and learn more about them with my books and not go, oh look, a woodpecker. I'm going to give some time to it. And like if I spend an hour reading about woodpeckers, so what? That'll be fun.

Becs Frank 46:52

That's a great idea because actually, you know, we can obsess over learning the song, but really take it further and learn a bit more about the birds. Absolutely. So I I'm going to take my time by I'm going to waste time, more time on my walks because actually I feel like I've I've started just doing it when I've got a window. Like I'm going out for half an hour, I've got half an hour between things, and and then and then you don't get the time to just either stop and have a conversation with someone or stop and listen to bird song or whatever it might be. And I'm always kind of like trying to rush along and rush my dogs along and yeah, they don't like it either. So and the lighter evenings are great for this. So what I'm gonna do is when I down tools for the day, I'm gonna go out then instead of trying to fit it in earlier, and then just have a you know, a nice relaxed walk and enamel. That's really nice back. Yeah, maybe maybe um brush up on my bird, bird song skills and bird bird impression skills as well. I can't quite believe I just did that, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 47:46

I know, I I can't quite believe you did either, but well done, well done. Um, and that actually is the end of our folk episode. I I really enjoyed that dive into some of the traditions. Definitely need to work on my bird song ID, but thank you, Bex. And um, and thanks also to Titanic Belfast for supporting our podcast this season. You can follow them on Instagram at Titanic Belfast and you can hear some of their stories and find out how to visit for yourself. There are links to everything we've mentioned in our show notes on your podcast app. And if you're tempted to buy our latest issue or try a subscription, then you'll find links to that too, or you can visit simple things.com. And I'm going to be back next week with our other co-host, Joe Tinsley, for our tennis episode. We're getting stuck into the veg patch and learning more about bees and also exploring why exploring our neighbourhoods is good for you. So it's bye from us. Bye, everyone, and and see you next time. Thanks very much for listening.