UK Road Trip, June 2026

London / Penrith. Wednesday/Tuesday 10/16-June-2026.

This whole road trip was triggered by a biannual face-to-face meeting of the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths. Video meetings are all very well but there is no substitute for meeting in real life. So we booked ourselves a flight and train to come back for a short trip. Originally planned as a five day trip it was extended when we learned that Keb' Mo' was appearing in London the day before we were due to fly. Full write up of that gig on the blog at Keb Mo at Union Chapel 2026.

You couldn’t call it a relaxing trip - we had a packed agenda for the week and it was a great opportunity to catch up with lots of friends.

Wednesday 10th:

Drive to Bari: given the cost of a taxi to and from the airport, it was much cheaper to book ourselves into long-stay P3. What we had not counted on was their over booking policy. We arrived to find that every single slot was occupied. Fortunately, a Fiat 500 is such a dinky little car we were able to do some creative parking on the end of a row. There was another guy circling the car park and then phoning the office to complain about what the hell was he supposed to do?

Flying from Bari to London: we had allowed plenty of time because we had heard horror stories of long delays due to the new EES system. However, we could not drop off our luggage until two hours before the flight so arriving early was pointless. As it turned out, the airport was very quiet and the automatic gates were not working so we had to queue anyway and were quickly seen by the border guard, no problems.

The train from Gatwick to London was uneventful. We dropped our bags off at the not-so-budget Premier Inn near St Pancras and went for a delicious, light supper at Morr in Islington. Recommended.

Keb' Mo' concert at Union Chapel: 

The concert was excellent. Hardly surprising as Keb Mo is one of our favourite artists. This was the sixth time we had seen him and I really like his laid-back Americana style. 

Thursday 11th:

Because our original flight was for the Thursday, we had booked a train for early evening back to Penrith. The cost of changing the train time was so exorbitant that we decided we would spend the day in London and fit in a number of other activities. 

M. C. Escher exhibition at Somerset House: First was an excellent exhibition at Somerset House featuring all Escher's greatest hits well curated with explanation boards and interactive exhibits plus examples of his influence on other artists, filmmakers and pop culture. 

Interactive exhibits included this one where your could put yourself in Escher's place and take a selfie.

An optical illusion thanks to sloping walls and floors.

Classic M. C. Escher.

When you get up close the detail is astounding for something carved by hand into a wooden block.

One of his impossible buildings.

Mary took the opportunity, as she often does when we are passing through London, to visit Fiona at Hebe in the Strand for a trim. Mary has known Fiona longer than she has known me! On the way to the hairdressers we passed another Paddington so there had to be a photo.

My siblings and I like to meet up for a meal several times a year, sometimes just the three of us, sometimes with partners. A habit that we started when dad and mum were getting old and in care homes and needed coordinated care from the three of us. I am so grateful and so lucky that we all get on so well and are so supportive of each other.

We then went shopping for clothes for Mary and on the way we passed Bedford Street Wines that were offering two-for-one on glasses of champagne. How could we refuse?

We then went up to Euston in good time for our pre-booked 18:30 train back to Penrith. Multiple cancelled trains on the board was not a good omen. It turned out that a vehicle had hit a bridge somewhere in the midlands dislodging a great lump of parapet. Inspections were required which meant no trains were running on that line. We did eventually board our train which set off 45 minutes late. It then was forced to do two detours plus some other delays. 

At Preston we were informed that, due to the very late running of the train, the staff at Penrith would have gone home and we would not be stopping there. We overshot and detrained at Carlisle well after midnight and were taxied back to Penrith where we eventually fell into bed at nearly 1am. The journey normally takes just over three hours, on this Thursday it took more than six! 

Friday 12th:

We had been wanting to do the Settle to Carlisle train journey for sometime. They occasionally run steam trains excursions along this route but at an exorbitant price. Then Northern Trains were offering a deal and we got two returns for £9.10 in total. It’s all about the journey, not the destination as the line passes through some beautiful countryside. 

It was just a shame that it was the day after our nightmare journey up from London. Despite not fully catching up on our sleep, we had to get up early in order to get the train up to Penrith to pick up this journey. It was worthwhile though - lovely scenery and cute stations all along the line.

When the trolley came round I ordered a cup of tea and a biscuit but the lady persuaded me that I had to have parkin as we were in Yorkshire and very tasty it was too.

We have friends who we met in Cisternino and live in Skipton. They drove up to Settle to meet us for lunch. After lunch they kindly took us to the amazing Courtyard Dairy cheese shop (and adjacent Natural Wine Company wine shop). We came away with several lumps of cheese and a couple of bottles of wine.

The smell was amazing as was the selection of cheeses. They have a slick operation. You are assigned your dedicated assistant who makes recomendations and lets you taste every cheese.

We then drove over to Malham Cove for a short stroll. I last visited this cove in 1990 when working in Bingley. It reminded me of our first cat, Cleopatra who we acquired in 1990. The company immediately assigned me a project at Bradford & Bingley Building Society. To avoid disrupting the kitten’s life I relocated up to Skipton with Cleo and Mary came up most weekends. 

Since I was staying in “the Gateway to the Dales” I thought I would try this walking malarkey and bought my first ever pair of hiking boots thinking they would last me a lifetime. How wrong I was! They were Brasher boots, much lighter than the traditional heavy leather variety, and the write up from Chris Brasher said “the first time I tried these on I gambolled like a Spring lamb“.

We parked up in the village and walked up to the cove.

Close up it is an impressive cliff. Halfway up there is a little red dot which is a climber.

Looking a bit windswept.

Back on the train to Carlisle we missed the connection to Penrith by about a minute. It was sitting on the adjacent platform, but its doors were already locked for the off. Plan B the 104 bus back to Penrith followed by a relaxing supper of our just-purchased cheese and wine at home.

Saturday 13th:

Saturday was parkrun as always. Mary was feeling tired and possibly coming down with the lurgy so volunteered as Marshall.

Penrith 13/06/26 31:09 [256/365]

Lunch with friend Ann. We went to Tebay services which has a great café and we got a window table so we could look out over the pond and the occasional duck.

In the afternoon Mary had a Chiropodist appointment in between rearranging the furniture in the house to optimise the dining room. This meant a full domino effect as bookcases and hi-fi systems were rearranged to suit.

To relax after the furniture disorder, we had a couple of beers at Fell Bar and an Italian meal with friends Andrew & Sarah

Sunday 14th:

Finally the social event which was the trigger for this whole trip - BBQ and meeting with the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths. It was well attended and it was great to meet our fellow volunteers in real life, have a chat and get an update on the progress that has been going on behind the scenes. All very encouraging!

Home for a couple of beers at Fell Bar with other friends followed by more cheese and wine at home working our way through our purchases from the Settle cheese and wine shops.

Monday 15th:

Various health & beauty appointments for the both of us followed by coffee and a catch up with friend Nigel. The afternoon was cleaning the house ready to receive guests whilst we are away.

Tuesday 16th:

A long but uneventful trip - Penrith > London > Cisternino. We had bought an Itsu picnic supper to eat on the plane but ended up saving it until we got home and ate it with a couple of glasses of wine.

And so to bed. [Pepys].

Keb Mo at Union Chapel 2026

Islington, London. Wednesday 10-July-2026.

Is it really 10 years since we last saw Ken Mo? The blog does not lie: we last saw him at Union Chapel back in 2016. He is one of our favourite artists and a regular on our playlist. We missed a couple of previous gigs in London because we were in Italy. This year we had already booked a flying visit back to the UK when we discovered this concert scheduled for the day before we were due to fly. So we brought our flight forward by a day and booked ourselves a Premier Inn so we could make the gig. 

The support act was a very creditable Robbie Cavanagh who played a relatively short set including a slightly bizarre interlude where he made himself a cocktail when he could have sung one more song. He commented on the fact that the audience were there for his set as normally they are in the pub until the main act comes on. This was a sold out show with unreserved seating which was obviously an incentive for people to get there early.

Keb came on to a rapturous reception and proceeded to to perform a solo set; no band unlike last time, just him. He played for a good hour and a half with songs we knew well including the encore of “Put A Woman In Charge”. He kept the roadie busy by swapping guitars for almost every song.

The audience also knew the songs well as they were singing along to several of them which I find slightly irritating as I go to a concert to hear the artiste not the audience. Fortunately they generally kept the volume down. However Keb clearly appreciated the feedback with the audience and was lifted by it.

As we had been up early for our flight we skipped the usual beery nightcap and went straight back to the hotel to catch up on our sleep.

Elles Bailey at Islington Assembly Rooms

London, England. Thursday 19-March-2026.

This is the eighth or ninth time we have seen Elles and obviously we keep coming back for more. This concert was the start of a tour to promote her latest album “Can’t Take My Story Away”. 

As always Elles is very supportive of other artists and used this tour as an opportunity to promote a band we’ve never heard of Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast a band from South Carolina. Normally they play with a full line-up but just the two of them flew over for this tour. They will be returning in the autumn with the full band. They played a half hour set and got an enthusiastic reception

After a short break Elles came on with her band now augmented by trumpet and sax. The latter definitely added a richer sound to the band and it was all sounding like they were ready for the big time. The venue was packed - it definitely looked like a sell out. Surely they are ready for stadium size venues.

The set list was evenly split between songs from the latest album and a selection of tracks from her back catalogue.

Elles looking the part in her trademark sparkles, rocking the rhinestone cowboy, Americana look. I once went to a gig where the band all wore grey suits, looking like a bunch of accountants. I like a bit of visual pizzazz from my entertainers. It’s not just about the music. It’s also about the entertainment, the show they put on.

As with many of Elle’s gigs, the lovely and talented Demi Mariner was on stage to provide additional vocals and play a range of percussion in addition to guitar.

At the end they got a well deserved standing ovation.

Milkfest 2026

Halifax / London. Friday / Monday 27-January / 02-March-2026.

A two part weekend. We bought tickets for Milkfest some while back and were thinking of a weekend in London, but then comparing diaries to arrange a visit to our parkrun friends Tim and Sue in Halifax we hit upon the triangular trip solution.

Friday 27-January-2026. 

Train down to Halifax followed by a meal with live music from the Landlubbers singing sea shanties. The pub was rammed so we only got a distant view of the band.

Saturday 28-February-2026.

As always Saturday is #parkrunday. Halifax parkrun was always the plan. 

Halifax 28/02/2026. 32:07 [104/187]

We got there early as Tim was doing the first timers’ briefing.

“Halifax is Hilly” said the sign and it was not wrong. Definitely not a PB course. But then these days for me that is true of all parkruns.

The crocuses are out and looking lovely.

Then we went into Halifax to see the town’s number one attraction: the Piece Hall, a Grade I listed building built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced.

Evening was a delicious supper at Tim and Sue‘s.

Sunday 01-February-2026.

After a great cooked breakfast at Tim and Sue’s we caught the train down to London, straight to the hotel to dump our bags and then on to the Indigo at the O2 for the festival. 

We laughed this at this Traffic Light Tree on the route from the tube to the hotel. Mary had booked a Radisson Blu hotel believing it to be close and convenient for the O2. It was close as the crow flies but not convenient on account of the fact that the Thames was between them!

The entire event is organised by The Milk Men as a charity event, this year in aid of Dementia UK. There were Dementia T-shirts and a raffle for a guitar signed by all the band members performing that evening. They modestly put themselves as the opening act rather than the headliners at the end of the evening.

2pm - THE MILK MEN. 

We missed The Milk Men, but were in time for the start of Mississippi McDonald…

3pm - MISSISSIPPI MACDONALD  

Having recently had the pleasure of seeing Mississippi MacDonald at Blackpool performing two sets, acoustic and electric, we were pleased to be able to arrive in time to catch the whole of his set. In a different venue and all seated, it felt very different to Blackpool but still hugely enjoyable.

4pm - ERROL LINTON  

We first saw Errol 10 years ago at the Green Note Café and enjoyed his set then, a blend of blues and reggae, the latter a nod to his Jamaican heritage - his parents were part of the Windrush generation. Today he brought the same up-tempo energy to the stage. Very enjoyable.

5pm - ROBBIE & STEVE  

Another blast from the past. We saw Robbie McIntosh a decade ago at the Half Moon in Putney and enjoyed his blues driven set. He played with The Pretenders for a number of years and as a session musician for a roll call of famous names This time his planned oppo Hamish Stuart was indisposed and his place taken by Steve who did not pass my “fast fingers on the fret board” test. He mainly strummed chords to accompany Robbie.

6pm - ALICE ARMSTRONG  

We just caught a snippet of Alice at the UK Blues Festival 2025 and were impressed. This time getting to hear a full set from her she rose significantly in our estimation. We appreciated her song writing skills and she belts out the songs with great joy and enthusiasm. Reminding me a little of Janis Joplin but not so raspy. Partway through her set, as an extra treat, she was joined by one of our favourites, Elles Bailey, for several numbers. 

Elles then graciously stepped back to become a backing singer for the last couple of songs allowing Alice to showcase her talents. 

Will definitely be looking out for her in the future.

7pm - BRAVE RIVAL  

Another favourite band who we saw in Blackpool in February. More rock than blues but hugely enjoyable. The bass player has a serious case of hipster beard!

8pm - CLIMAX BLUES BAND  

We enjoyed the Climax Blues Band on the previous occasions we’ve seen them but we did need to fit in supper at some point so choose this set as band to skip and go for a curry. We did get back in time to catch the last couple of numbers. The lead singer is starting to grow on us the more we get used to the fact that the lineup has changed - not better or worse, just different.

9pm - CHRIS DIFFORD 

I would not have recognised the name of the headliner but Chris Difford was guitarist and composer with Squeeze responsible for such classics as “Up the Junction”, “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” and my favourite “Cool for Cats”. His set was entirely composed of the Squeeze back catalogue which, truth to tell, is what the audience want to hear and he delivered along with a modicum of banter.

Then it was back to the hotel for a nightcap. We couldn’t be bothered to summon an Uber and wait for it to arrive so treated ourselves to a black cab from the rank. It may have cost a little more but we were tired enough to decide we were worth it. 

The only slight disappointment of the event was that each band had a strict 45 minute slot so there was little time for the banter that we usually enjoy. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and evening. 

Roll on Milkfest 2027!

Dom Martin and Blue Nation at The Clooney

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear. Saturday, 15-November-2025.

A weekend trip to Newcastle upon Tyne to see two bands that we have seen before, three times each individually, but now together as a double header. As before, at this venue, we dined at the excellent Cook House close by.

Apparently on this tour Dom Martin and Blue Nation take it in turns as to who goes on first or second. This particular night it was Dom on first and he plays a really mean guitar! I would put money on one of his guitar heroes being Jimi Hendrix, he definitely had that skill and style. Another of his heroes is Rory Gallagher who he mentioned several times.

At one point, Dom came down off the stage and did a walk amongst the audience so we got a close-up view. We have several of his albums but he is definitely an artist to see live. His shows are much more rocking and upbeat than most of his studio albums.

After the interval it was Blue Nation. The lead guitarist does a lot of chat and there is great banter between the two guitarists. At some point one of them always makes an appeal to the men in the audience to take care of their mental health. An excellent set of blues-influenced rock  

For an encore, the two bands team up with two guitarists and two bass players on stage, but I don’t know which drummer was on duty.

It was clear that they greatly enjoy each other’s company and playing as an ensemble.

An excellent evening with some class musicianship. After the gig, it was a quick Uber home and so to bed.

City Break - Glasgow, October 2025

Glasgow, Scotland. Thursday/Sunday 30-October/02-November-2025.

Another action packed M&M weekend, this time in Glasgow. 

Fulfilling the corporate mission "To Eat, Drink and Have a Good Time!"

Thursday 30-October. 

Since the 30th is our wedding anniversary we decided to extend our weekend in Glasgow and go up early, on the Thursday, for a nice meal there.

A friend recently shared a couple of photos from his album of our wedding that we had never seen before.

We had hired a couple of double-decker buses to ferry our guests from the church (Saint Paul’s Cathedral) to the reception venue on Wimbledon Parkside.

For our anniversary dinner we went to Six by Nico which had been recommended by several friends. Their USP is that they only offer a six course tasting menu (with the option of a matching wine flight). The menu has a theme which they change every few months. That night the theme was Space. Somewhat tenuous connections with some of the courses but the first course was a flying saucer: a levitating spinning dish.

Friday 31-October. 

The morning was a tour of some of the fantastic Glasgow murals. Fortunately, Mary was able to provide some social context for these two murals. At a disco a lad wanting to ask a girl for a dance might approach her and ask using this phrase “Are ye dancin?” to which the reply might be “Are ye askin?” as popularised by Scottish comedians Rickie Fulton and Jack Milroy as Francie and Josie [youTube].

A collage of the best. Unfortunately, a number of the murals have been defaced with tags by graffiti artists.

This cultural walk was followed by a late curry lunch and drinks with old friends Geraldine and Alasdair at Obsession of India.

After lunch, we headed off to the Hydro to hear the multi-talented sisters that make HAIM. Full gig report here Haim at the OVO Hydro.

Saturday 01-November. 

Victoria, Glasgow 01/11/2025 29:11 [272/430]. .

Saturday morning was parkrun (of course). There are many park runs in Glasgow to choose from but this one gave us a “V” for our second alphabet. It was also my 300th parkrun. While not an official milestone it is worth celebrating so I emailed the RD and got a shout out.

SIL Sandra came and joined us and then drove us back to see their brand new house in Killearn, half an hour north of Glasgow. Then back to Glasgow for a rest.

Saturday evening's entertainment was a pre-dinner drink at Vroni's then dinner at Sarti's which again came highly recommended and lived up to expectations. Over a final glass back at Vroni's we got chatting to a lad from Belfast and now have lots of great recommendations for a planned trip next year. 

Sunday 02-November. 

A not-too-early train back to Penrith and a relax. Phew!

Haim at the OVO Hydro

Glasgow, Scotland. Friday 31-December-2025.

We cannot remember how we were introduced to Haim but their third album, Women in Music Pt. III, has been a regular on our play list. They are three sisters who play melodic tunes and sing in harmony. My favourite track on that album is “Don’t Wanna”, closely followed by “I Know Alone”.

We bought these tickets way back in April as soon as we learnt about their tour. Glasgow was the obvious venue which is easy to get to for us and which happens to be the last night of their UK tour.

I’ve got so used to going to smaller more intimate venues that it was a bit of a shock to be re-introduced to a cavernous stadium.  The standing arena area is massive and was only partially filled when we arrived but soon was packed to capacity.

The support act was Nell Mescal who we had never heard of but must be an established artist as she is on her third EP and has a dozen singles to her name already. As we have found with previous support acts they are incredibly grateful to have been selected, in this case at very short notice, and the mutual admiration and support is heartwarming to see.

Haim then took to the stage preceded by a ticker tape of “I Quit…” messages; “I Quit” is their latest album which this tour is promoting. We had listened to “I Quit” in preparation for the concert but live it came across as much more rock. The bass was ramped up to 11; it set my rib cage rattling.

The three girls Alana (guitar, percussion), Danielle (lead guitar) and Este (bass guitar) - actually all play multiple instruments and took it in turns to take the spotlight. They are all supported in the background by a drummer and a keyboard / sax player. 

They played mostly songs from the new album plus a couple from Women in Music Pt. III. Full set list at setlist.fm. It was a much livelier and more rock-n-roll set than the more mellow studio album sound.

Being unsure of the best way to get home from the venue we snuck out before the encore and thus were able to snag a taxi before the mass exodus without queueing and were whisked back to our apartment.