Started Friday August 28 by playing at the funeral of the former landlord of the Bramford Cock, Bill Stoddart, a much loved and respected member of the community; Bramford Church was packed and I walked the route from the pub to the church playing The Gael, at the family’s request…. Played him out of the church at the end of the service with Flower of Scotland. On the Sunday Jim Jarvie and I played in Bramford again at a charity football game to raise funds (£1,300 in the end) for the Somersham Cancer Ward at Ipswich Hospital, where Bill had been a patient at the end. Sad story; he had only recently retired – I met him when I played at his son’s wedding in Bury St Edmunds in April.
And then on Friday afternoon I played again; at a secular funeral service by the banks of the River Deben in Melton – a farewell to a younger man who had lived locally and whose family organised a wonderful celebration for him in a private clearing in the woods. Poems, readings, tracks by The Clash and Bruce Springsteen and group singing of Abide with Me led by the pipes…. Very moving and special. I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for a long while, who lives in a beautiful barge on the river just by where we were. Great how this piping lark gets me to interesting places and fascinating people.