Sophie Matthews playing English bagpipes and the flute, amongst other things, provided the melodies. Chris Green on stringed instruments and accordian put in the driving rhythm. The result was a super evening of music.

Add to that the clear calling from Bob Morgan – and we had a terrific evening of dance in a packed hall. It was cold outside but that was very quickly forgotten as will filled the hall to capacity.

I hate comparing callers and bands. That doesn’t mean I don’t do it though!

The Climax Ceilidh Band – we had a terrific night with over 100 tickets sold. That is a record in recent months so statistically it was a climax. The 100 tickets included a load of new faces who looked to be having a wonderful time. A climax on that score too.

The music was great all night in spite of a couple of little audio issues – we managed to miss one of Anna’s singing spots – a shame.

Keith Leech, the caller. I loved him because all the dances were pretty straight forward and there were a few of my old favourites, like Cumberland Square and Nottingham Swing. He did keep the calling to an absolute minimum. It seemed to me that he hadn’t quite explained what was going on and then he stopped calling altogether quite early in the dance.  It seemed to early to me but there was no set that failed in the whole evening, so I guess he must have got it just right.

Some of the experienced dancers will have hoped for some more unusual or complicated numbers I’m sure but this is part of the mix. Every ceilidh is different and each has its moments of genius.

The newborn ‘Bernie and Imo’ band with added Eddie turned out to be a cracker. Lovely tunes and playing all through the night.

Yet again Phil Bassindale prompted comments like,’can I take him home?’ and ‘Isn’t he a good caller?’

Given we were on the same day as Wales v Australia and Wales v Bosnia and Strictly we were delighted with the turnout.

A good time was had by all.

Just to make it plain that we’re not all the same.

I really loved the music in our ‘Zesty Playford’ night. The violin sound was gorgeous and there were musical jokes and twists scattered around. For me it turned nice dances into a joy.

Imagine my surprise then to be told ‘I think it would have been the same with recorded music.’

Do let us know what you think.

It did look like a somewhat Heath Robinson concoction and it certainly posed challenges for the sound engineer (thanks Dave) but it really did work well. The Thingumijig Enormous Band turned out a lovely set of danceable tunes.

Pete Hendy patrolled the dance floor making absolutely sure everyone but everyone was happy and dancing. He kept us dancing with scarcely time to catch breath between dances – that’s not a complaint – and achieved the brilliant feat of bring us many new dances that were also easily achievable.

The Widders are hard to contain in a brief comment. Whatever it is they do they did it strong and they did it loud and they did it with a great deal of enjoyment for us all. Who they are we may never know but we will surely be asking them back before too long.

I’m glad to say that we seem to be building our audience (thanks to you all) and we can book into 2016 with some confidence.

Some of you that remember the Ruff Ceilidhs from years ago – they started over 30 years past – will remember a time when you had to book in advance to be sure to get in! I still look forward to  seeing that happen now. 

Back in 1995 the result of these crowded and joyous events was that the Ruff were able to make a donation of £1000 to the Ty Hafan Childrens’ Hospice. Does anyone have any photos from back then?