It is said that two things bring people together more than anything else - a common enemy and a common purpose. The only common enemies we have are greed and selfishness, but our common purpose, to make music and dance together, to share our cultural heritage, made a bond between us which was more than the simple cords of friendship when the The Folklorna Skupina Jurij Vodovnik Skomarje dancers visited Sedbergh.

The Slovene and English folk musicans and dancers are the proud bearers of their traditions and it was a great treat for me to bring together these representatives of a living tradition.

So what happened? What was the flesh that fitted so neatly onto the bones of the months of preparation?

Walking Tour of Sedbergh

Where to start? The knees perhaps as I can still feel them! After leaving George Handley's house on Sunday where the group had been entertained with an account of George's life in the house (along with tea and scones), we walked down past the old auction market past Guldrey terrace - and almost every house I pointed out to them had someone who had been to Zrece: like Jan, and Mark, and Martin Lewis, and Emma and Dave, - and then down to Milthrop where I showed them Garth's house, and Paula Ambrose's house - and then back via the river for lunch and Scottish Country dancing.

Scottish Country Dancing - and the Three Man Dance

We had a good turn out at the Scottish dancers with about 20 English dancers very well led by local teacher Lesley Alban - the Slovenes loved learning the dances. I had also invited my friend Alan Nowel and his wife Hazel who played the flute for a dance he teaches called the Wyresdale three man dance. Three Slovene men learnt it and for the rest of the tour I saw them doing parts of it - and their accordionist learnt the tune for them to dance. We joked that next time we come to Slovenia it will have become a traditional Slovene dance.

Lake District Tour

On Monday we went into the Lakes - they danced outside the Brittannia Inn in Elterwater where we passed a hat around the very generous drinkers who were there. Then a picnic down Easedale and dancing on the verdant terraces outside my friend Robert Whittington's Country House Hotel - preceded by cream tea under the chandeliers in the dining room - Urska said she felt like a princess.

Then a visit for shopping and cafes (and pubs) in Ambleside and on to meet the Crook Morris Dancers at the Strickland Arms in Sizergh and the Masons' Arms at Strawberry Bank - which was wonderful as it ended with the Slovene men dancing with the Morris women and vice versa which looked very colourful with all the flowery hats, and bells, and headscarfs and hankies!

Lancaster

The concert in Lancaster on Wednesday evening was very good - if somewhat delayed by the traffic jam on the motorway. We met several Slovenes who live in Lancaster who came to the evening, and the vsiting dancers had their first taste of English beer. I was very proud of the choir I sing with, The Gladly Solemn Sound choir, who sang for the Slovenes who had arrived on time in my car - but everyone was delighted when the Slovenes appeared in their traditional costume and did their dances. There was cheering and whistling and even today people are ringing me up to say how much they loved seeing them.

Sedbergh and District Sightseeing - and Settle

Thursday was sightseeing and we visited Farfield Mill (many thanks to the trustees) where they danced and sang before going on to Dent. A look round the village and village shop and church and on to Settle via Ribbleehead viaduct.

Following their first taste of fish and chips, they went to join the evening of music at the WEA Summer Music School in Giggleswick - their accordionist joining in the session with the English folk musicians. At the end of the evening they did a performance which was probably the best of the tour and very well received by everyone. Urska was on a special high having introduced everyone (I told her what to say and who to thank!)

Alnwick International Festival - with the Seaside and City.

Friday, we left early and went to the Alnwick international festival with them dancing in the market place along with dancers from Poland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Scotland, Slovakia - and in the fabulous new gardens with water sculptures and a huge tree house, and then dancing for the Duke of Northumberland in Alnwick Castle.

It was a fabulous day - and we rounded it off with a visit to the beach at Alnmouth where they paddled and collected shells and watched the waves.

We thought to end there - but no, they insisted on going on to Newcastle where I had got a street entertainers' licence for the evening. A totally different class of drunk in Newcastle - many of whom manage to wear what appear to be pelmets in place of skirts! They danced at the Monument where we passed a hat around before walking down to the Quayside to see the Millenium bridge and the Tyne Bridge and all the lights - I think they were in awe as it is very different from Skomarje!

Slovene Dance Workshop and Concert

Then back to Sedbergh - a few hours sleep (they party very late into the night - or rather morning) and a very good workshop which they did on Slovene dance with about 20 English people joining in -before their concert in the evening. I had arranged for tea in the interval and thought they understood but in Slovenia their intervals are at the end of the concert which caused some confusion! People in Sedbergh came in their droves to see them - some of them following the dancers to the Bull Hotel for a lively night of revellry in the pub.

Post-Tour Reflections

It was extraordinary hard work with many days starting at 5am and not finishing until 1am the following day - and several weeks of hard work arranging the tour, all of which was provided on a voluntary unpaid basis, (as it was with everyone else involved in the tour) - but highly rewarding to see so many happy faces and such a rich exchange of cultural significance.

This is what singers and dancers like - to meet others with a similar interest and to perform in places where there is a good audience who are interested in what they do. Long may the friendship and camaraderie between our two towns prosper, and may the proud bearers of the tradition continue to thrive in our two cultures......And may we go singing to the fashioning of a new world.

David Burbidge