Gig report, SARK EARTH FAYRE 
May 5th 2007

A detailed report from Andy Tebbutt-Russell

We left started loading our stuff at Poole at about 1.30 Friday and got a lot of weird looks as our luggage included a bundle of idiot sticks, loose bits of drum kit, carrier bags of hats, smocks, etc. We sailed at 2.30 on a Condor catamaran and had a civilised crossing to Guernsey arriving 5pm. We teamed up with a street entertainer (Stuart of www.astralcircus.com) who was also doing the Earth Fayre. At Guernsey we had to transfer all our gear (and Stuart's - including a huge blue ball that he balances on while juggling and which took four people to manhandle) onto a small open dive boat (Andy, one of the organisers runs Sark Diving). Fortunately the weather was good and it took about an hour to get to Sark. We unloaded at the tiny harbour and had to wait for our transport up to the, err, not sure what to call it - smaller than a village so must be a hamlet(?). Eventually our tractor and trailer arrived and we loaded all our gear on it, piled in ourselves and chugged up to the Bel Air pub for a few drinks and to make instant friends with everyone in there - boy are the Sark lot friendly! A fantastic meal at a nearby restaurant and then we spent the evening (and early hours!) drinking and playing in a corner of the pub. Just about everyone joined in whether singing, tambourining or joining in on a Bodrum (Ian the guy who was going to do the sound for us).

Next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and set up the equipment. Sounds checks followed and we got playing about midday. It was a lovely sunny day and the atmosphere was really good. As well as the food, stalls, etc. there were Welly throwing and hay-bale chucking contests so we felt right at home. Just to show how multi-talented The Plonkers are, Shep won the men's Welly chucking and Anja won the lady's! They even got interviewed by BBC Channel TV (I guess there's not a lot of news in the Channel islands!).

We played on-and-off all afternoon leaving off when the Morris dancers (a ladies group - ooh, lovely!) and the Punch-and-Judy-man were doing their stuff. Drinks kept appearing so by the time we finished we sounded really good (well, at least to our ears we did). The audience seemed to like it 

The trip back was even rougher than what we are but we all survived to play another day.

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The Wheel Inn gets 'Plonkerised' 

The Plonkers' local, The Wheel Inn, has a new landlord, David Mellish. He thought it might be nice to book a local band but maybe he was not sure he knew what he was letting himself in for! So, on 7th October, the group lugged their gear round the corner (it's only about half a furlong away from Gordon's smithy) and they set themselves up. The landlord was giving The Plonkers some funny looks (which might have been the smocks - he's not from round here, you see, and maybe thought they looked a bit queer) but when The Plonkers fired up and everyone in the pub joined in with their drinking songs he suddenly looked pretty happy. It was a great night - the group had fun, and David wants them back! Look out for more dates there soon on our venue page

If you're wondering who's in the photo it's (from the left; that's your left not our left - if it was our left it would be the other way round and you'd have to read the list from bottom to top instead of top to bottom, obviously): (a typical Plonker Picture)!

Bob on Squeezebox - famous New Forest gorse farmer.
Old Shep - the last New Forest shepherd who takes great care of both his remaining sheep.
Andy on concussion - no-one knows what he does, he just appears whenever there's a chance of playing and getting free drinks.
Ron the horn thing player - tractor driver who sometimes comes and deafens Gordon.
Gordon himself - blacksmith, singer and player of the round guitar.
Gary the Sludge tanker driver. If you want your cess pit sucked out, he's your man! 

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The Plonker's on Steam Fair FM

Shirley Ludford at Steam Fair FM,
about to play another track from The Plonker's CD 'Second Eruption'
Picture taken at The Great Dorset Steam Fair, 31st August 2005.

Golly and the gang were not playing live at this year's Great Dorset Steam Fair, but the 250,000 visitors were not to be disappointed. Steam Fair FM not only played many tracks from The Plonkers CD, Second Eruption, but Shirley Ludford also broadcast an interview with The Plonkers Webmaster during her late evening show.

Steam Fair FM can be heard every year at the Great Dorset Steam Fair on 87.9 FM. Transmissions run constantly from the shows build up on the Friday before the show starts, and continue 24hrs a day until the Monday after the show has closed to the public.

The Plonkers CD shown above, 'Second Eruption', can be purchased via this site, Click here to go to our shopping cart

The Plonker's TM

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