Saturday 6th June

Saturday 6th June saw the Suffolk village of Laxfield celebrate 800 years of being granted a market, the charter having been bestowed by Henry III in 1226. The East Anglian Traditional Music Trust was invited to provide a musical aspect and so several of us descended upon the village in some decidedly unsettled weather, in order to oblige. The setting was suitably historic as the marketplace sits alongside the sixteenth century Royal Oak pub, and is also sandwiched between the Guildhall, of a similar age, and the largely fourteenth century church.

The Unthank Irregulars’ repertoire is certainly not of that antiquity but we did work our way through a broad selection of country dance tunes, the great majority of which have a local provenance. Fiddle, dulcimer and banjo provided the sound, taking our cue perhaps from the iconic English Country Music recordings of Walter Bulwer, Billy Cooper, et al. Various stalls provided the backdrop, despite unhelpful squalls disrupting the proceedings to an extent, from time to time. There was much interest overall and quite a few youngsters delighted in having a go with a small melodeon or step dancing.

At 3.00, despite the threat of rain – which didn’t materialise at this point – we adjourned to the churchyard for maypole dancing (yes, not quite seasonal, but nearly!) Much enthusiasm for this, including from several adults – thus ensuring the continued fertility of the village for the future (hopefully!) Unfortunately another round of music in the marketplace was cut short by winds so fierce they blew the line of stall tents across the road and almost up against the guildhall. This ended the afternoon’s proceedings.

All was not over though, despite steady rain now beginning to fall. The venue changed to TheKing’s Head – The Low House – on the other side of the churchyard, for Rumburgh Morris to demonstrate their prowess, which they did very effectively and with spectacular display, in the covered area of the pub’s garden. Lavishly decked-out, they worked their way through a good selection of dances, to a fairly sizeable band; all was greatly appreciated by the considerable number of people seated around the dancing area.

In all, it was a very enjoyable way to help the Laxfield villagers celebrate their historic day, in some beautiful surroundings, despite some malignant efforts by the weather to try to wreck the proceedings; the various musical aspects seem to have been greatly enjoyed and appreciated by the locals and hopefully the Trust’s involvement in the event helped to further awareness of our local musical heritage and arouse some curiosity concerning it.

Chris Holderness June 2026