Josh Layne’s Harp Blog

When I last wrote I’d just arrived in the UK. Since then I’ve spent a week in Suffolk, starting with a solo concert in Wickham Market on Saturday, July 16^th. It was a real joy to perform again in front of a live audience. I’ll post some clips from the concert soon, but you can see me smiling away as I play :)

Then a heat wave hit, really quite brutal in some parts of the country. Fortunately where I was didn’t have it quite as bad as some parts of the UK, but at 33 degrees or so was plenty hot enough! Reminded me of the “heat dome” that affected BC last year (and caused quite a lot of deaths and forest fires…)

In this case the heat wave only lasted for about two days, and on the first day it even cooled down enough in the evening to do a bit of Harpist in the Wild adventuring – playing in front of 12th Century castle as the sun was setting!

A couple days later a morning adventure to film another episode. A spot of rain helped cool things down, and this time the location was under an oak tree by ferns and marsh grass…

And finally, an Arthur Ransome adventure! Arthur Ransome’s We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea is one of my all-time favourite books and I still re-read it every few years. In the book, a boat and four children go adrift and ends up floating out to sea (read the rest for more). The book starts with a journey from Pin Mill down to Shotley Gate and Felixstowe. My host in the Suffolks planned out a wonderful adventure following that path, with a walk along the river from Pin Mill to Shotley, and then a ferry across to Harwich and Felixstowe.

The weather was overcast and cool, with a wonderful breeze, perfect! A fantastic way to end my stay in Suffolk.

As I write this I’m on a train to Cardiff, Wales, headed to the World Harp Congress. Look for more blog posts soon!

Cheers,

Josh

July 12, 2022

And I’m off! Off on a big adventure. I’m planning to spend my summer and fall in Europe – something that was originally scheduled for 2020… :) Hoping that it all goes smoothly and excited to travel, perform, meet old friends and make new ones!

My first stop is the UK, where I’ll be in Suffolk for a week and then on to Cardiff, Wales for the World Harp Congress!

Coming from the West Coast of Canada, I’m flying Victoria to Vancouver, a very short flight, and then a 9 hour overnight flight from Vancouver to London. Hoping that the flights go smoothly without too many delays… :)

And in fact things all went pretty smoothly. A bit of a delay on both flights, but arrived at Heathrow only about 30 minutes late, with my luggage safely with me :)

Then a brief stay in London, including a walk through Kensington gardens, complete with some bird photography, before an early night to try and tackle jet lag.

Now as I write this I’m on a train to Suffolk, where I’ll be performing in Wickham Market on Saturday! So far, so good :) More later!

Cheers,

Josh