Street Theatre, street music, and a birthday

Would you trust this man to guide you around Bristol riverside as dusk drew near, confiding the dreadful secrets of notorious local felons and their victims? About thirty of us did, and thoroughly enjoyed the street-walking saga of Blood and Butchery in Bedminster, another successful production from Show of Strength. Cunningly combined with a pub crawl, our guide Chris Yapp showed us the sites of violent deaths by hanging, lion assault, multiple shooting, concrete waistcoat, and - strangest of all- following trepanning (head-drilling) by a 19th century surgeon who then went on to dissect and tan the skin of the youth who took the blame. Poor John Horwood had his moment of fame though, when “40 thousand people came to see him swing,” as Chris told us with relish before moving us on to point out the Barclays Bank where £13,000,000 of melted gold bullion from the 1983 Brink's Mat robbery was laundered in weekly batches until the Bank of England stepped in - though they never found where the full stash was hidden... Next stop was  the Hebron Burial Ground, the final resting place of so-called 'Princess Caraboo' - as mysterious in death as she was in life as no-one knows exactly where she lies. Many more fascinating historical nuggets were revealed, as always on these history walks with a difference: meticulously researched, strikingly presented and highly recommended.

Moving on to the week in music, and Frome enjoyed its usual rich tapestry including a Wednesday session at the Grain Bar and other excitements that your correspondent sadly cannot illustrate having spent much of the week enduring ulticaria which is the posh word for nettlerash, and now polymalgia rheumatica, neither of which complaints have any place in an arts blog but are both on my mind at the moment.
Not all was forfeit: here's Leonardo's Bicycle at Three Swans, harmonically (sometimes literally) reviving the genuine best of 60s and 70s pop, and the sensational Hoodoos 'on the sofa' in a Saturday afternoon set for 'Humans of Frome', an occasional and very Frome-ish session on Catherine Hill organised & supported by the entrepreneurial Ciara Nolan.

And the Hoodoos were back in our midst again that evening, supporting Geoff Younger and Colin Ashley at the Cornerhouse on another of those nights that turn into a party, with singalong, dance-along songs from Beatles and Oasis eras...;

On Sunday, Nunney Acoustic Cafe celebrated its 12th birthday with no less than four featured guests: local favourites Fried, a strong duo of male voices with guitar,  and Maia who sings original and cover versions with keyboard accompaniment, plus Frome's extraordinary, outrageous, and multiply talented Otto Wilde and finally - all the way from Swindon -  peoples' choice Splat the Rat, hi-energy 'traditional folk' that sounds neither traditional nor folky. Also some great open mic sets, and excellent sound quality throughout the event. I'll leave you with 2 snaps that give some idea of the diversity - experimentalist Otto, and traditional dittyist Ken Lush - and I hope to be back with you soon.