Conquering Snowdon

 

2014

“Got everything?” I asked Danny. I had been looking forward to this trip ever since my old Post Office buddy had sorted it and informed me whilst I was walking over that bridge in Teignmouth a month or so back. Taking my car, I picked him up and he came out of his house with four bags, plus a bag full of food. “Marie has packed us a load of sandwiches, biscuits, chocolate bars and a flask of coffee” Dan said. We were only going for two nights but this didn't really surprise me. Danny likes to be organised! Or to be more precise, Marie likes Dan to be organised! I’d sussed that out after we'd been on a couple of bike rides earlier in the summer. Puncture outfit, rain mac, bottles of water, sweets, pump, an ordnance survey map! We were only going to Stanion three miles away. And I have to say, we had one of our famous arguments, over which way to go whilst studying the said map over a pint in the Green Dragon at Brigstock. We ended up carrying our bikes over a ploughed field! Anyway, much to Danny’s surprise, or he would say, not, all I've got for the trip to North Wales is a couple of bottles of Lucozade and a change of clothes. Travel light that's me.

Danny is one of those blokes you often find yourself shaking your head at. We’d set off and half an hour later as we are belting along the A14 he exclaims; “Oh no! I've forgotten my shoes!”
Unbelievable. “Well it's too late to turn back now”, he tells me he's got a pair of sandals and a pair of trainers - and 'they'll have to do'. Too true.

Thing is, ever since we planned this trip to climb up Mount Snowdon he's been advising and warning me; “You've got to get yourself a proper pair of walking boots”. Which I did. Mind you this is normal for Dan. Having known him for so long, worked with him for years at the Post Office and been drinking buddies for years, I'm well aware of his idiosyncrasies. The guy cracks me up.

With all day to get to Llanberis which is the town at the bottom of Snowdon we took our time, had a short stop at a roadside cafe on the M54 where we had our picnic and then rolled into Llangollen for a longer break and to take the opportunity to explore this idyllic town just over the border from England. I called in here once a few years ago and was telling Dan what I remembered about it, the river, steam railway, beautiful little place and saying that it would be a good place for him and Marie to visit. He agreed. They like traipsing around the countryside and walking over hills and discovering new towns.

The River Dee flows right through Llangollen and this stretch is perfect for rafting, rocks and rapids making it a terrific course for enthusiasts. As luck would have it, we were having a pint overlooking the river from a pub balcony when two rafts came bobbling down. First one with about eight people on board made light work of it, weaving through with great style. The second raft was having problems, became stuck on some rocks just up stream. “This looks interesting” I said to Dan.

They managed to free themselves and then lo and behold, became wedged between two big boulders right below us as we stood over them enjoying our beer. They struggled to get free and then next second, they were off again and the raft tipped right over, dumping all the occupants into the fast flowing river. Before we could do or say anything, the rafters bobbed up from under the water and were swept along in the current right under the road bridge and away. Amazing. Great fun! We really thought they were up the creek for a moment! It did look a scary moment though and I have to admit, there was no way I was going to dive in to help. Can’t bloody swim anyway so I wouldn't have been much cop.

After the excitement and drama we set off for our next pit stop which was Betsy Co-ed, just a short distance from our destination. My cellphone had gone tits up, the screen was blank and I couldn't open the damn thing. Taking the opportunity for another coffee out of Dan's flask, another cheese roll and a biscuit I asked the girls at the reception desk of the hotel we had parked in, if they had the wit to open up a mobile phone. It was subsequently passed around the boys in the kitchen and then with the help of a knife we managed to prise the thing open so I could re-set my sim card. What a performance though.

We finally arrived at the Glyn Afon Hotel in Llanberis just before tea time, sorted our rooms out and then went for something to eat and a pint and to discuss the plan for the next day’s adventure on climbing up this mountain that was dominating the skyline. And the more I looked at it, the more I thought, Jesus, bollocks to this! These thoughts weren't helped by a number of people casting doubt over our intentions. Nobody appeared to believe we could make it to the top and back again! Ye of little faith I thought whilst thinking they could be right!

Now I'm not one of these people that think 'right, I'll bloody show you'. Couldn't give a toss what people think actually. Doubts had been sewn and I was trying to figure an alternative way of dealing with this!
Get the train up! Yes, that would be easier and settle for walking down. Trouble was, we couldn't be sure of getting a ticket for the train. We would have to wait and see.

We then went in search of a pub or hotel to see if we could find one with Sky Sports; we were hoping they might have the England v Uruguay World Cup match on. The Royal Victoria Hotel looked a very grand place, was busy, there was a television on the wall, but no football match. Weighing things up, Danny took the bull by the horns and to the astonishment of the locals surrounding the bar, asked the barman loudly; “Excuse me, you not putting the England game on?” The response was probably expected up here in North Wales!

“What? England?” Many stopped drinking and looked at the two of us. The barman then made Dan’s jaw drop; “Get out! your barred!”
Well I could see the twinkle in his eye, he was only taking the piss. Danny looked at me in disbelief. “You must know what the Welsh are like Dan” I said, trying not to laugh. He wouldn’t forget it.

The television station was duly switched on and we sat down in front of the television to enjoy the match best we could. The only ones in there that wanted England to win!

Next door a Welsh choir was rehearsing which was distracting, good as they were. But to our dismay, during a break in their warbling, most of the choir came through to the bar, carrying their beer with them. The door was right by where we were sitting watching the football.

They saw us sitting there, eyes glued to the match, glanced up at the television, saw that Uruguay were beating England, and promptly all started laughing and smiling like Cheshire Cats!
Danny looked at them dumbfounded; “Twisted bloody lot the Welsh, what’s the matter with them?” he moaned. I loved it. Funny as hell I thought! 

After the game, which England lost 2-1 to the delight of our hosts, we retreated to our own hotel for a more peaceful drink. A quiet Guest House on the road out of Llanberris, the Glyn Afon was ideally situated for sightseeing and very comfortable. Danny had picked a good one, and surprisingly, the people here were very nice, even if they did appear to ignore us and talk in Welsh. Danny thought they were ignorant. I told him that as far as I was aware, everyone up here in North Wales talked in their native tongue, particularly around these parts. He was having none of it. “They hear us speaking in English and deliberately communicate in Welsh so we don’t have a clue what they are saying. They’re probably talking about us!”

Didn’t bother me in the slightest but Dan was wound up about it!

One thing that was pleasant was the congeniality of the two young barmaids. Polite, efficient, friendly, everything that the barmaid in our local, The Rock, back home in Corby wasn’t! I’ll spare her name but she was slow, unattractive, disinterested, bottom line, she was a waste of space! Thankfully the Landlord, Big Gordon realised this too and soon jettisoned her! Well, to be served by two young attractive women who really enjoy their work, talk to you in English, laugh at Danny’s jokes...the contrast couldn’t have been any more different!

We made an early start to tackle Snowdon, still unsure whether to walk up the mountain and get the train back or the other way round. I had a great view of Snowdon from my room and the more I looked at it the more doubtful I felt about achieving our goal! 

Discussing this as we set off we had only gone around fifty yards before we started moaning. A road we were crossing suddenly assumed rush hour proportions! Four, five, six cars..seven...“Christ Almighty! were these cars waiting for us to come out of the hotel? Where the hell have they come from!” It was only a small village yet suddenly it looked like it was on a major thoroughfare through the heart of Wales! Must have stood there for over five minutes.

“You couldn’t make it up!” I said to Dan. He agreed.
To be honest, as soon as we realised we’d only just left our hotel and we were moaning like hell, we both started laughing!

We made our way to the station at the base of the mountain, the train was warming up to make the ascent and we looked at each other and said “bollocks to it”. The ticket cost £27 which seemed a bit much but as the train took an hour to to get to the top of Snowdon it did appear to be the right option, £27 or not. Surprising too. A single coach, single track. At times I wondered if it was going to make it as it groaned away. This was the best way to discover Snowdon I figured! Great scenery, breathtaking. Had to be the best option and surely easier to walk down rather than up and there was no way I could have managed doing both. We were lucky that it was a lovely warm day as well, heaven knows what it must be like if the weather was grim.

The train eventually arrived at the summit, and we were pleasantly surprised to find a cafe and a shop here as well. We both bought a couple of souvenirs, a mug, postcard, cup of coffee, had a photo taken. There was still a short way to go and it looked a bit hairy, having to climb around twenty steps on the side of the mountain to get to the pinnacle. You don’t realise how high you are till you reach this point. The valleys below seemed miles away. We asked a girl who appeared from nowhere to take a couple of photos of us having a breather. Felt real good.

The walk back down was harder than expected, a good five and half mile trek. If we were feeling the heat we were to be constantly amazed by hikers coming the other way. Younger than us Ok but to be carrying a baby on their back? Older people marching up the mountain past us? They must be on steroids was all we could conclude! Even someone striding past walking their dog! There was me and Dan stumbling down, having to sit and rest our legs, have a swig of water. We were knackered!
It was fun though following the train track as best we could. At least by doing that we knew we were going in the right direction! Three hours it took us!

The weather was kind all the same, too hot to be truthful and we took regular pitstops. One at an enterprising cafe around half way up which again, was somewhat surprising. I mean how do they get their wares up here? Obviously by the train I assumed. There wasn't much on offer, you couldn’t get steak and chips for instance, or a chicken curry. A ham sandwich was arguably the best snack along with a Mars Bar. Plus a cup of tea which was welcome.

A rest at the hotel to recuperate was required after our trek before going out to celebrate our achievement. This last night was also spent admiring the landscape of Llanberis. Really is a lovely little place with lakes and mountains all around.

Heading back home next day it was agreed that while we were in North Wales we might as well go and take in the village with the longest name in Great Britain, if not the world,Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. There’s a knack in learning how to say this and I’ve tried a couple of times but its too much of a tongue twister for me!

Situated on the Menai Straits, Anglesey it was only a twenty minute drive or thereabouts from Llanberis. Most definitely a tourist attraction and if for no other reason it’s well worth a visit just to have your photograph taken alongside the ridiculously long name. That accomplished we headed for home through the Welsh countryside and back to Corby, sidetracking briefly for a beer somewhere near Telford. Memorable also for Dan buying a crap CD by an apparently local country and western singer off a market stall. Which he insisted on playing in the car. Bloody rubbish it was, and Dan did admit ‘it a waste of a fiver!’

The Boys Are Back In Town.

 

The 1966 Rising Sons

The Boys Are Back In Town

No, not Thin Lizzy, but the Rising Sons, back after 56 years. Pete Buckby, Jim Gaffney, John Hemmings and Dewi Toleman will be rolling back the years and strutting their stuff this coming Saturday at The Corby Cons Club on April 23rd. Also appearing will be Dewi’s sister Ros, who nowadays resides in Swindon, as guest vocalist. Dewi returned to these shores last week from Australia where he has been for over 50 years. John lives Bedford way and Jim in Wimbledon. Pete, after a career touring the world latterly with the famed Canned Rock, returned to his roots in Corby some 30 years ago and can often be found, along with his wife Sue, sharing a Coca Cola in The Cons lounge. Dewi’s return to Blighty was the inspiration for the band, who in their prime, supported Otis Redding no less, to get together for probably one final swan song. Promises to be a great night full of nostalgia and the chance to meet old friends. A limited amount of tickets are still available at £5 each with the proceeds going to Lakelands Hospice and the ‘Charity Pot’, an organisation raising money to provide defibrillators for every club and pub in the town. Make sure you ‘Baby Boomers’ don’t miss out on this one off treat as The Sons recall their halcyon days playing many numbers from their set list from way back which included hits from The Hollies, Beatles, Beach Boys, Impressions, Dusty Springfield. And to cap it all, the Cons have a wide range and great selection of ales and wine. What more could you ask for? Apart from chicken or scampi in the basket, which went out of vogue when I was still a smile in my old man’s wotsits.. no, not really, but you get my drift.

See you all there!

Rising Sons

September 1966, The Rising Sons share the bill with Memphis legend Otis.

A night of nostalgia is beckoning with the long anticipated reunion of The Rising Sons at the Corby Cons Club on April 23rd. Not the Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal California based version of the band, but the Corby based quartet of Pete Buckby, Dewi Toleman, John Hemmings and Jim Gaffney along with special guest Ros Menham.  As it happens, both versions of the Sons operated around the same period of the mid 1960s and, ironically enough, both are having reunions in 2022. Ry and Taj getting together for the first time in 57 years to record an album, ‘Get On Board: The Songs Of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee’, and Pete and the boys reuniting after the same time span to relive and revive their memories from when they were a regular support act around the country to such stars of the day like Otis Redding, The Yardbirds and The Hollies. 

Whilst Ry Cooders’ Rising Sons were a blues based outfit as reflected by their tribute to Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, Corby’s Rising Sons were a harmony and soul group, one of the best, their career only cut short when members left to go to university. Belonging to the second wave of Corby Rock, they had followed the successful careers of the likes of the Size Seven, The Crusaders and The Midnighters, leaving an indelible mark on the local scene and far afield. 

For those who thronged to the dances and venues back in those halcyon days of the 1960s, the Festival Hall, Crow’s Nest, Nellie’s Bin, The Welfare, this night at the Cons Club in Cottingham Road on April 23rd will be one of pure unadulterated nostalgia. Tickets are priced at £5 with all proceeds going to the fund of the Lakelands Hospice and also the ‘Charity Pot’, an organisation raising money to provide defibrillators for every club and pub in the town. 

Steel Memories of the Counterfeit Stones

 

Posted By: Nick Dagger Corby, The Willow Arts Centre Saturday November 20th 04

After a fitful night in the Peterborough Travel Inn we set off at midday for Corby. It had been absolutely freezing in Spalding and although not quite Monkey balls weather this morning, it was still taters.

We've played Corby twice in the past, once in the Nags Head in August 96 and then the Festival Hall in Spring '98. Both gigs were very different and I didn't remember too much about the town. I knew the history of the place and that it had been a major steel town heavily populated by Scots who'd been brought down to run the mill. With the closure of the works in 81 the usual problems arose that such total upheaval brings.

It's the buildings. They're grey, decaying corpses. I visited East Germany in the early seventies and that was a country that specialised in soulless architecture but this was Northamptonshire. To my mind the greatest sin you can perpetrate on any civilisation is dull erection. We found the Willow Arts Centre. A square leperous building standing majestically opposite the precinct.

As we were led through endless corridors, Des the manager profusely apologised for the lack of heating. The boilers were not working. It was the second coldest day of the year and with 7 hours till show time, it looked pretty grim. Des, bless him had found a large dressing room and with two blow heaters was doing his best to make life comfortable for us. They'd freshly mopped the floor and combined with the hot air from the fan heaters, we had our very own weather system.

I was surprised to be told that this was indeed the Festival Hall but I hadn't recognised it. Two years ago the Council closed the venue and it was due for demolition but local protests prevented its demise and it has been taken over and run by volunteers. With lots of enthusiasm and private finance, the venue has been temporarily reprieved.

We had a substantial lunch in the Theatre's lounge bar. Certainly very big on portions, the takers of the, "all day breakfast" , soon found themselves staring at a heart attack on a plate. There was very little to see in the precinct other than the usual household names and so the rest of the day was spent in our temperate dressing room.

The main concert hall was freezing but alive with busy helpers building the stage, setting up lights, labelling seats. Eventually the hall heating arrived in the form of two Tristar engines. These giant calor gas heaters can heat a hall very quickly but they can also send the inhabitants into a stupor. So that was what we faced. Asthma in the dressing room, pneumonia in the corridors and gas poisoning on stage.

Actually there was one boiler working and it managed to get on stage and plant her rancid gob onto mine. It was worse than any "Bush Tucker Trial."
" I'm not a celebrity get [me] out of here!"

The audience was rowdy, a large number of whom went absolutely potty. It may have been the Calor Gas but we all came off stage with a slightly strange grin.

Pizza was munched and beer drunk in the lounge bar after the show and we finally set off for home at about 12:30.

Bye Bye Corby, Corby Bye Bye....

Nick Dagger (from Geezer to wheezer)

Atchooo

The Rising Sons Reunion

 The Sons Rise Again

For those of you too young to know, and for those who have a memory as long as I have, back in the mid 1960s one of the most popular local bands and arguably the finest of that era was an outfit called The Rising Sons. A harmony based group their repertoire was largely culled from the Beatles, Hollies and Beach Boys plus a sprinkling of soul from the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and The Impressions. 

The recognised line up of the Sons was Pete Buckby on drums and vocals,  Jim Gaffney guitar and vocals, .John Hemmings guitar and vocals and Dewi Toleman on Bass guitar and vocals.  On April 23rd this esteemed line up are reforming for a reunion at the Con Club in Cottingham Road, Corby. The first time they will have played together in 55 years! Since 1967, the fabled ‘Summer of Love’.

The Sons were formed in 1964 and cut their teeth playing gigs at local venues which included ‘Nellie’s Bin’ and the Crows Nest, slowly building up a reputation with their renditions of Beach Boys, Beatles and Hollies hits, as DJ Bip Wetherell, who’s own career includes vocalist and keyboard player with local bands Friction, The Rhubarb Tree, Granite and later the Tornados, recalled all so well on his Corby Radio Show in 1998: 

“I remember the first time I heard ‘Good Vibrations’ on Radio Caroline and like many others, it knocked me out. Such intricate and magnificent harmonising! A week later my band Friction was on the same bill as the Rising Sons at Corby Civic Centre and they came on and floored everyone with their rendition of Brian Wilson’s masterpiece! They peed me off! They were brilliant. Made me feel like jackin’ it in there and then!!” 

Dewi Toleman was the only Sons member with previous experience having started his career in the 1950s with a band called The Vikings and he later formed The Electrons with whom they gained prestigious bookings supporting world famous stars The Ronettes and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. 

Dewi recalled those halcyon days of the mid 1960s with the Rising Sons for a feature in the local magazine The Pilot when home from Australia in 1999.

“We played all the usual chart stuff like the Beatles’ ‘I Feel Fine’, the Hollies’ ‘Look Thru’ Any Window’. We also indulged a little by playing obscure stuff like Little Anthony and the Imperials’ ‘On the Outside Looking In”, The Impressions’ ‘Sad Girl and Boy’, Astro Gilberto’s ‘Girl From Ipenema’. I’m obviously biased but I believe the Sons of that later era were close to being the best band that Corby or the surrounding area ever produced.” 

The band soon progressed from playing local dances to appear, like The Electrons before them, as support to many of the top names in the business. 

Pete Buckby; “By late 65’ we were playing more and more out of town at  American Air Bases and Corn Exchanges in the region where all the big names were playing. The Stones played at Wisbech Corn Exchange believe it or not. We played with The Yardbirds (Heart Full of Soul) and The Ivy League (Funny How Love Can Be) at the Peterborough Corn Exchange. The Overlanders (Michelle), The Tornados (Telstar) and Alan Price Set at Ramsey Gaiety Ballroom. Spencer Davis at Banbury Winter Gardens. The Kinks at Grantham, Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours (Mirror Mirror) at Kettering Granada. We supported The Fortunes (You’ve Got Your Troubles, Here It Comes Again) and after the gig their manager Reg Calvert who was also founder of the pirate ship Radio Caroline, tried to get Dewi to join them. 

Most exciting of all was undoubtedly with Otis Redding at Boston Gliderdrome, a fantastic venue with a revolving stage and sky high ceiling with thousands of fairy lights. Otis was brilliant, sadly it was just a year before his fatal plane crash in Wisconsin. I was only sixteen at the time and playing with these people who I was a big fan of was unbelievable.” 

Thrilled with the band’s progress, Pete was thus disappointed when his suggestion about going full time was greeted with less enthusiasm by the rest of the band.

“The Otis Redding gig went really well and I was buzzing. I brought up the suggestion about us going full time because I felt we had something going and thought it was time, either to make a go of it, or leave it. The response sadly was negative. I could see it took them by surprise. Dewi was keen but both John and Jim were planning to go to university and I could hardly blame them.”

Pete’s ambition had been to become a full time professional musician. Even if his dream was met with cynicism from a school master. 

“I remember being asked what I wanted to do when I left school and when I told him ‘I want to be a drummer’ he replied in that most patronising tone that school teachers have, ‘you can’t be a drummer, there’s no jobs like that’, intimating that I should consider a career in the steelworks or something like everyone else.”  

The Rising Sons duly announced their retirement to a disbelieving Corby public in 1967 with a farewell gig at the Strathclyde Hotel which was reported by a distraught Alex Gordon in his Corby Leader column, with the headline, ‘Another nail hammered into the coffin of Corby Rock.’

After the break up, Dewi Toleman was soon in demand to step in at short notice for a number of bands, including The Midnighters and The Size Seven in Cambridge when bassist Alan Black was unavailable the night Celtic played Inter Milan in the European Cup Final which was being shown on television!

Dewi emigrated to Australia in 1967 and continued to play, joining Oz rock and roll outfit, American Graffitti. Over the years he has since played in numerous Oz bands, including some time with fellow ex Corby patriots Pat and John Casey of the Midnighters.

Pete meanwhile, whilst waiting for a call, became a trainee chef at the Hunting Lodge in Cottingham “earning £3.50 a week” and also harboured thoughts of joining the Merchant Navy. It was while contemplating a life on the ocean wave he received a phone call from New Formula singer Mick Harper telling him about an opportunity to audition for a Sheffield band called The Endeavours which would earn him around £19 a week. A life changing moment it was. Pete was successful and achieved his goal of becoming a full time professional drummer for over 20 years with The Endeavours who later morphed into Canned Rock and became one of the hottest bands around in the 1970s and 80s. Which is another story for another time.

Two years after this reunion was originally planned, all going well, covid wise, Dewi will be home for a couple of months to meet up with sister Ros who incidentally will be making a guest appearance on vocals, visit his birthplace of Llanberis, and to renew acquaintances with many of his old friends from the 1960s. And to perform once again those classic numbers with the boys in The Rising Sons.