Folk Festival Fun

We saw St Albans Festival out last week with a folk night in St Michael's village - one of the oldest parts of town. I'd tell you all about it, but it would just be a rehash of this post from last year, with less sunshine and more rain. Actually this isn't officially part of the festival - it's organised by a different group and has been an annual event since the eighties, apparently!

Let me also share with you these festival pictures taken a couple of weekends back. The Old Town Hall hosted an all-day folk event, with craft stalls and workshop sessions upstairs...

...crime-and-punishment themed folk songs in the old courtroom...

 ...and even an atmospheric singalong in the cells under the building! I'd never seen down here, so I shunned the singing to go exploring instead...

 

These cells - and the courtroom - were in use until 1966, and the cells have just recently been cleaned up and repaired and made safe for viewing. The courtroom is sometimes used for lectures and theatre.

There were folk performances on the streets too, and we paid a visit to the clock tower at the end of the high street just in time to watch some of them from above!

This is the view from the top, looking right along the high street to St Peter's Church:

And in the opposite direction, here's St Albans Cathedral:

Look at that view! You wouldn't believe we're just 20 minutes by train from central London, would you?

Anyway, back to gardening, and I'm pleased to report that we're now eating our outdoor tomatoes, and enjoyed the first in this improvised mackerel-on-toast lunch yesterday. I remembered to take a photo just before I scoffed the lot!

I halved the tomatoes and warmed them quickly in a pan with some chopped spring onions, a tiny bit of crushed garlic and plenty of seasoning. Then I piled spinach and watercress onto my toast, added the tomatoes, and topped with the mackerel fillets. Yum!