A get together of Caught by the River contributors made the landlord of a central London pub very happy last week. Hands were shook, pints were bought, greetings were traded and Robin, Andrew and myself thanked everyone present for playing a part in the development and progress of this site over the last three years.

After a pint or three of dutch courage it was time for me to introduce John Andrews (of Arcadia) and Luke Jennings to the room and they proceeded to discuss Luke’s recently published memoir, ‘Blood Knots’, a big favourite of ours at Caught by the River. John did a fine job leading a fascinating conversation and Luke followed up by reading several extracts from his book to a rapt audience in a pin drop silent room.

John and Luke also discussed the ‘Pike’ column that Luke wrote in the London Evening Standard in the late nineties. They were a big inspiration for John – to his fishing and his writing – and I’m pleased to say that we will begin running these on the site from next Friday.
And then there was music. Glorious folk rock in a bluegrass style from Danny & The Champions of the World. Joining Danny on the night were Hannah-Lou & Trevor Moss and it was perfect. Danny’s songs of the Wandle played on banjo and mandolin with the most soulful three part vocal harmonies. These guys are appearing on our stage at the Port Eliot festival on Saturday July 24. Have a listen to ‘Parakeets’ off of their latest record, ‘Streets of our Time’.
[audio:https://www.caughtbytheriver.net//wp-content/uploads/2010/05/09-Parakeets.mp3|titles=09 Parakeets]
(all the photos above are by Nick Moore)
(this pic by Tom Sheehan)

It was a lot of fun and we plan on making it a regular event, open to all, after the Summer. Before that there’s Port Eliot to look forward to.