Hazel’s Blog — 2024
20 entries from 2024, newest first.
Meadow Croft Garden Centre, Battlesbridge
It’s that time of the year again when we bring out the festive jumpers, don the antlers and dust off our Christmas songs and what better place to celebrate the festivities than the German Market at…
The Two Sisters Arts Centre, Trimley, Suffolk
We have been venturing into Suffolk quite a bit lately and this time it was a fund-raiser with Amnesty International. We always get to play such fascinating venues with them. This time it was the Two…
Bardswell Social Club
Our first visit to Bardswell was interesting, not least the decor, then I realised they must have been in Halloween mode already - where else would you be greeted by a piano-playing skeleton and…
Gateway Club, Braintree
Our annual visit to our friends at Mencap has come round again – they are such a friendly bunch of people and it’s a delight to spend an evening singing and dancing with them. Of course, it wouldn’t…
Black Buoy, Wivenhoe
Another one of our regular summer gigs, and this time it was on singer Jo’s own doorstep, so we had her friends and family in the audience as well as an enthusiastic crowd of Black Buoy regulars. We…
The Angel, Lavenham
Back again in this delightfully historic pub as we continue our summer residency. We have experienced rain, and chilly nights, but this time it was a perfect summer evening, heavy with the scent of…
The Royal Oak (The 'Dickie')
What better place to be on a mild summer evening than at a beautiful, historic pub in the middle of Constable country, surrounded by an audience enjoying themselves? Angie was depping for Jo and we…
Old Hall Community, GOld celebration, East Bergholt
Now, as our audience knows, we D’Ukes usually dress up for the stage in black-with-a-touch-of-red, but today, to celebrate 50 years of the Old Hall community, they asked us to wear as much gold as…
Royal Dunton Mobile Home Park
We were up bright and early – well early anyway – for our first visit to Dunton mobile home park and what a lovely reception we got! Very enthusiastic residents gave us a warm welcome, and…
Evening. The Angel, Lavenham
Busy day! Our next gig was the second of our summer residency at the Swan. This time we were back in the garden, and although it rained a bit, the skies cleared enough to let us play outside, and…
Afternoon. Bures Music Festival
We’re back at Bures! We love this festival; it gives us the opportunity to play on a very big stage in a spectacular tent, in front of a lot of people who haven’t seen us before. They were a great…
The Angel, Lavenham
And so we continued our first summer residency, at the Angel Pub in the medieval village of Lavenham, where we recently celebrated the King's Coronation, the Platinum Jubilee, and many wonderful…
The Archer Pub, South Ockendon
This is the tenth year we have played here for the annual party thrown for the pub regulars and it’s quite an institution now. We also get fed – a big spread of food, including for veggies – and…
Priory Park Bandstand, Southend
Did the sun come out? Of course it did! Unlike some years, when we had the audience racing for the trees (for shelter), we had blue skies for the whole of the gig. It was great because it meant we…
The Royal Oak, East End near East Bergholt
Another fine evening, another historic venue and another great audience, this time at the Royal Oak, affectionately known as the 'Dickie'. We had our usual fun finale of 'Duelling Ukes' and 'New…
The Black Buoy, Wivenhoe
Continuing the delightful mix of pub gardens, punters and puppies, we arrived at the Black Buoy for a beer festival in the early evening sunshine. This was our second visit to this beautiful…
The Angel, Lavenham
This evening we exited Essex and sailed into Lavenham and our summer season in the beautiful garden of the Angel Pub, close to where we played at the Christmas Market and celebrated the Queen's…
The White Swan, Wickford
It felt really good to be back gigging after a short break, and at a new venue: The White Swan - videos available on their Facebook) page. A large part of the audience hadn't seen us before but…
Hadleigh Conservative Club
Not to be confused with Hadleigh, Suffolk! A first for us at this club, and considering this was Easter Saturday with so many competing activities, we had a very respectable audience. They were not…
The Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch
It was great to be back at The Queens, a theatre we have played every year for some time now. From the pink neon signs to the beautiful bar - which means you can get your drinks without leaving the…