Jack in the Green

On a cold, wet, windy morning, we all met up near the fisher men's huts. As people stood around, drinking tea, trying to shelter from the rain, and looking miserable, we began drumming.

Very soon we were surrounded by an appreciative, cheerful audience, and we started to warm up too. Suddenly a huge cheer went up as the Jack appeared. We took our place in the procession, which included several teams of Morris dancers, a couple of giants, and lots of other musicians, and off we went.

The streets and houses were decorated with greenery. Green ribbons hung from railings, and many people in the procession had greened their faces. Thousands of people lined the streets, some of them had green faces too, some blew whistles,and everyone cheered as the parade passed by.

We went up a very steep hill, down the other side, and into George Street, where we had a short break. After that it was along the seafront, past the fountain, and through the little subway into the town centre, drumming all the way. Drumming in the subway sounded fantastic, as the echo made us sound like a band ten times our actual size. Then it was through the town and up a horrendously steep hill to the castle.

Once inside the castle walls, we took off our drums, and had a rest.Across a rickety wooden bridge to the next field, were lots of stalls. Their awnings flapping furiously in the high winds, like giant birds of prey trying to get airborne. Stall holders chased escaping t-shirts across the muddy field, while others held on to either their goods, or the awnings, and hoped desperately to remain earth-bound.

By the time we were due on stage, some of our team were so cold and wet, that they had to go home. Section 5 had the same problem, so we joined together. The stage was tiny, but we all squeezed on and just managed to fit. The rain had stopped, but the wind was so fierce that it was hard to stay upright. Despite that we gave a great performance.When it was over, some of us went home to get warm and dry. A few stayed on, and jammed with other drummers to the delight of a very happy audience.