Hazel’s Blog — 2025
21 entries from 2025, newest first.
The Royal Oak (The Dicky), East Bergholt
Back To the ‘Dicky’ this afternoon, one of our regular haunts where the barman has four legs, floppy ears and licks you instead of pouring pints! Angie was depping for Jo and we had a lovely audience…
German Christmas Market, South Woodham Ferrers
The festive season is now upon us with a couple of gigs where we get out the Christmas songs and have a lot of fun. (My favourite is ‘Must Be Santa’, and I am in awe of Martin who sings it so…
Hullbridge Social Club, private party
It’s always a pleasure for us to help celebrate the milestones in people’s lives, and this time the party was for Debbie and Len’s 20th wedding anniversary. We always promise to learn a new song for…
Gateway Club, Braintree
It’s that time of the year when we visit our old friends at The Gateway, Club, Braintree; a gig we always look forward to. Seven years ago, we made a video together in Braintree High Street…
The Royal Oak (‘The Dickie’), East Bergholt
Another trip over the border to Suffolk this week to the historic pub, affectionately known as ‘The Dickie’. We were cosily indoors with a good crowd, as the rain beat down on the windows outside…
The Woodcutters Arms, Leigh-on-Sea
I love gigs at new venues; people who have not seen us before, ideas, preconceived or otherwise, about the ukulele, unconvinced that it can leap, in minutes, from the gentle rhythm of ‘Only You’, to…
The Royal Oak (’The Dicky’) Pub, East Bergholt
It was back to the ‘Dickey’ on Sunday for an afternoon gig today. The music was not only appreciated by the human punters, but the pub dog got very excited during the ‘pig solo’ as he obviously…
Wivenhoe Funny Farm 20th Anniversary
This was definitely a ‘first’ for us, but a very enjoyable one. We were invited to play a set following an excellent array of comedians who were celebrating 20 years of making people laugh. It meant…
Two Sisters Arts Centre, Trimley St. Mary, Suffolk
It was a real treat to be invited back to this thriving arts centre by the local branch of Amnesty International, and it is well worth a visit, as it was once a village church and still has its…
The Norton, Cold Norton
Another regular for us, but this time we were outside, where we had a good crowd and two cats, who were obliging enough to join us from time to time on our balcony; yes – we had our own balcony! We…
The Black Buoy, Wivenhoe
We were back at one of our regular venues tonight, outside in the summer sunshine with a happy friendly audience joining in the singing and dancing, or just relaxing with a drink. I was on the…
Jane’s Party
If you think this post looks familiar, you would be right. The original gig we were booked for, some years ago now, seems to have morphed into a regular event, which is fine by us! We have known Jane…
Purleigh Fete
This is a regular for us, only this time we were hoping the weather wouldn’t be too hot! The stage was impressive, with a silver foil tinsel curtain along the back which, when the wind blew, gently…
ICEFEST, Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens
Music festival time! And what could be better than playing at a very special one, in Braintree, celebrating 70 years of Mencap? The stage was impressive, as was the line-up of non-stop music. It was…
The Black Buoy, Wivenhoe
We are now into the realm of gigs in gardens under sunny skies, with a return to the historic Black Buoy in Wivenhoe and its welcoming customers. The weather couldn't have been better, very warm but…
Bardswell Social Club, Brentwood
We were pleased to be back at Bardswell with some now-familiar faces in the audience and some first-timers not knowing quite what to expect! We shook up the set by beginning with ‘Duelling Banjos’, a…
Priory Park Bandstand, Southend
A warm, sunny day with a light breeze. No, I’m not making it up, we had beautiful weather for our annual gig at Priory Park Bandstand, Southend, and its lovely enthusiastic audience. And… we had new…
The Herald, Harlow
It’s always good to venture into a new venue once in a while. This time it was The Herald in Harlow, a welcoming traditional pub with beautiful historic features and friendly punters. It also has a…
Queens Theatre, Hornchurch
What better way to celebrate World Ukulele Day than to take the stage at the Queens Theatre in the company of many now very familiar faces, new ‘recruits’ and friendly staff who made sure we had…
Millhouse Social Club, Dagenham
This was our third visit to the club so we know the members pretty well by now and they know what to expect from us. Last time someone was disappointed because we didn’t include ‘Duelling Ukes’, in…
The Norton, Cold Norton
What a great reception we got on our first gig of 2025 at The Norton tonight! We have been gigging there for about 13 years now and the new manager Hannah, made us very welcome. Our set included…