It is Thursday morning, the back door is open, the birds
are singing, and the sun is shining. I am listening to an album called Each Little Thing by Sharon Shannon. I bought it in the Oxfam
shop in Bath yesterday afternoon. Sharon is a wizard on the accordion. I heard
someone say once that she is to the accordion what Jimi Hendrix was to the
guitar. I wouldn’t go that far, but she is great. I have seen her play quite a
few times at Glastonbury and she is the perfect music for festivals when the
sun is shining. Sharon is playing in Frome soon, so I must try and get a
ticket. Incidentally, the late great Kirsty McColl sings on one track on this
album.
I had a topping time in Bath yesterday, everyone was out
and about enjoying the Spring weather. After I left Oxfam, I had a look in Topping & Company which must be the
best bookshop in the west of England and it is obviously run by people who love
books. They have literary events on all the time, where authors read and
discuss their work and sign books. Consequently, they have hundreds of
beautiful signed books for sale. It is the kind of place that makes me wish I
lived in Bath. I was in there for at
least an hour just browsing and looking at books that I didn’t know even
existed. I could easily have bought a dozen books but in the end, I was
sensible and just bought a signed book by Paul
Durcan called The Art Of Life. I have
liked Paul Durcan ever since he worked with Van
Morrison on The Days Before Rock
& Roll.
He has always spoken very highly of Van and I read once
somewhere that he said the two greatest Irish poets were Patrick Kavanagh and
Van Morrison. If I ever went to a Paul Durcan reading, I would ask him who Justin was. I bet he is sick of people
asking him about that though. Another reason I bought this particular book was
that several of the poems mentioned County Mayo which is where my family
originated from. Anyway, if you love books and you are ever in Bath check out
Topping & Company. It’s just around the corner at the top of Milsom Street.
After that I had
a bit of a sit down near the Abbey and listened to the buskers and then caught
the 4.35 back to Westbury.