South from The Green Gathering to Dartmoor Folk Festival - via The Sidmouth Folk Festival

I was reluctant to leave the Green Gathering where I'd had such a wonderful time, I definitely hope to run workshops there again next year! My next working festival was to be down in Dartmoor in the lovely small village of South Zeal. Firstly a little time out playing music and singing songs at the Sidmouth Folk Festival.
Dartmoor Festival.

The Dartmoor Folk Festival ran from August 9th, 10th and 11th and is a friendly traditional festival, with the highlight being the Dartmoor Step-dance and Broom-dance Championships!
The Craft area, Craft tent, Sideshows, Demonstrations, Dance Displays and Children's Entertainers are all held in the local playing fields where the general feel is of one of those rare days out in the 1900's when all the family dressed in their Sunday best and attended the annual fair - a truly lovely weekend is to be had here!

I was fortunate to have a prime view of all the events and to be situated next to a small stream that could be heard tumbling over the stony river bed. The tuffet-making workshops were well attended, I had a particularly memorable time with a lovely family, mum, dad and two teenage boys that all came along together to make a family collection of tuffets!

Photos to follow!

I would like to extend my thanks to the lovely gentleman that produced some beautiful Welsh Black fleeces for me to use, from his own locally shared Welsh Black flock!

Welsh Black: www.farmonacard.com

Budding  'tuffetees' have been busy in Devon and Dorset making their own Tam Tuffets in the  festival craft workshops at the Pennymoor Song and Ale fest and the Wessex Festival. The  natural craft workshops have been said to have brought a relaxing 'time-out' from the hub bub and fast pace of life! Young and old have enjoyed participating in this traditional craft creating their own tuffets from the choice of fleece available.

The absolutely best thing about making tuffets is that tuffets make you smile! Sitting on one, making one or just handling them on the stall - everyone smiles! Liam, above, bravely sat with older folk and worked really hard to create a woollen tuffet to be proud of, a brilliant moment of the festival. The biggest problem was holding dad back as he couldn't stop himself trying to help - definitely a 'wannabe tuffetee!'

The Travelling Tuffeteer is giving you the opportunity to buy Tuffets at Lostwithiel Produce Market

The Travelling Tuffeteer is over the moon as there is now an opportunity for you to come and view and 'bottom' test a range of the deliciously sheepy, eco-friendly rustic tuffets. What better place  to buy a christmas gift such as the tuffet that is original, practical, luxurious and local?

The Lostwithiel Local Produce Market  that is held  at the Lostwithiel Community Centre  is run by the Cornish Guild of Smallholders. The market has been running since 1998 and has gone from strength to strength with  goods ranging from home-grown vegetables, fruit and fruit juices, plants, flowers, herbs; Local cheeses to excite the palate, chutneys, jams, marmalades, pickles and so much more!!!! Bread, cakes, savouries, free range meat, poultry, fish and eggs, home made sausages, ham, and bacon - I'm so excited about this absolute fest of local Cornish goods and there is more ...................... Home-made cornish cottage crafts plus a wonderfully friendly atmosphere!! Be there or miss one of the best places in Cornwall to enjoy local produce.
So why is this market so unique?? All goods on sale at the market have been produced within a 35 mile radius of Lostwithiel and it is only the producers themselves that are allowed to sell at Lostwithiel Market - no goods are sold by middlemen. This allows customers to find out details about the method of production, and purchase at a fair price with no middlemen taking advantage of local producers!

So come along on Friday 11th at 10.00am for the chance to find 'bottom heaven for that perfect christmas gift - Cornish hand-made tuffets, luxury, sustainability and suitable for vegetarian use!!

Tuffets at Bampton!

 
Eco-friendly tuffets for sale at Bampton were appreciated by the many, for use on the typically hard wooden seats offered for the endurance test of the many folky musicians present! What a wicked weekend at Bampton Folk Festival "which seems to be getting more and more popular just by word of mouth ... So ... Pssssst ... Keep it a secret ..."  to take the words of the great festival guru Rob Hopcott!! Music was pouring forth from a few of the finest pubs in Devon, the Bridge House Hotel, The Swan and Blackberries Hotel - musicians and singers alike bounced off each other to produce wonderful tunes creating a fine festive atmosphere. Songs of  deep meaning and of triviality, sea shanties, traditional folk lore and other new found nonsense were abundant in The Bridge, with the trad music sessions being performed in the other two venues.
Hours of drumming on the Cajon box drum produced such a numbing experience for one key player that the Tuffeteer was called upon to come to the rescue -  the rustic wool  tuffet atop the Cajon drum gave forth true 'bottom heaven' providing a soothing and comforting experience to the weary derriere!

Fun in the Swan - Photo by Rob Hopcott

Lowender Peran review!

The Tuffeteer had a grand array of deliciously sheepy tuffets on display throughout the weekend. There was a steady background dialogue of 'oohs' and 'ahhhs' as many a festival goer lowered their derrieres into a state of bottom heaven whilst perched on a three legged milking stool!! Tuffets are travelling, even as I write, as far afield as the Lizard and beyond to the Carribean! The Tuffeteer's wool tuffets were evident around the festival as a local harpist enjoyed the perfect combination of relaxing tunes and relaxing sheepy comfort!

Although the tuffet is renowned for it's delightful sustainable comfort whilst in the sitting pose, the benefits of warmth and soothing relaxing qualities have reached new heights - as the new head piece - cheaper than your average wig, definately a 'baaa'gain and viewed below - a chinstrap of the finest string may be added to enable the wearing in stormy conditions!!!

The festival was superb, excellent bands and workshops, celidhs to keep you reeling all night long from all celtic nations. The highlight for me was the very exciting young Cornish Launceston band, The Crowns, playing full on  punked-up folk, taking traditional folk tunes and rearranging to their own unique and vibrant style. The dance floor was full, young and old alike all aleaping to the driving rhythms - many a wet shirt went out that night!
The Tuffeteer can sleep well knowing that many folk from the celtic nations have now had the opportunity to  buy a  tuffet and enjoy the well deserved deliciously sheepy and rustic bottom heaven experience in the comfort of their own worlds!

Tuffets, Pouffes, Ottomans, Stools??

The word tuffet has been derived from tussock a small grassy hillock and has been used since the 16th century - hence the famous Little Miss Muffet  - you all know the story. Type in 'Tuffets' into the search engine and what a confusing array of goods are laid before you, tuffets, pouffes, ottomans, stools - all bandied about under the same label. The tuffet is purported to be a small stool with legs so small that they should be all but hidden under swathes of cloth to create a small article of beauty - but to sit on it becomes a very strange beast indeed!  One has to crumple ones legs with knees about ears -

far too low and to raise it to a sensible height - have you ever tried to balance a footstool on a bench to gain total comfort?  A most dangerous pastime, akin to balancing on one leg at the top of the crows nest - not for the faint hearted! This scenario can only lead to one conclusion, the footstools, pouffes and ottomans would all require the sustainable comfort of the deliciously sheepy tuffet created by the Travelling Tuffeteer to provide that wondrous sensation of Bottom Heaven! When considering the practical comfort one can visualise the added luxury that may be gained from the use of a wool tuffet, perhaps the Titan Talan or the Trusty Jacob, or any other of the wonderfully rustic varieties, adding a certain suave yet rural sophistication to either the most basic or luxurious sitting furniture.

Suddenly the seat feels bigger and so much more................
Practical, comfortable, delightful and affordable, perhaps the perfect gift for that certain someone who has everything - what better than enriching your loved ones lives with the soothing caress of 'Bottom heaven Since 2011'

Making Waves Festival - Looe

The scene is set and what a great first festival - all the ingredients of a winning weekend, free Friday, stage on the beach, traditional cornish music in West Looe, alternative stage in the Rose Garden Marquee, what could be missing? Bands such as The Selector, Ade Edmundsen and the Bad Shepherds, Dalla, From The Jam,  Roy Wood and his Rock & Roll Band, Reg Meuross, Cornwall Youth Jazz Orchestra, Penndrumm, Jessica Sweetman, Unstrung Heroes, Keltique, Pentorr, Kath and her Bluegrass Boys, plus  choirs from Looe, Polperro and Pelynt, Sheila's School of dancing, Big Man Bubba and many more, all combined to make a wonderful diverse festival! Please go to http://www.ilovelooe.co.uk/photographs/events-innear-looe/looe-music-festival-2011 for more great photos of the festival taken by Chris Halls for the festival!

Roy Wood and his Rock and Roll Band on the main stage

So where was the downside? The uncomfortable hard wooden and plastic seats were in abundance and could have led to being the one downside of the festival until The Travelling Tuffeteer arrived to provide the necessary 'bottom heaven' for the twelve hour marathon sung by the shanty singers in The Jolly Sailor on West Looe. As voices were sounding strong and brave, buttocks were slowly becoming numb and disillusioned - the wool tuffets were tested and cares rapidly soothed away as the experience of bottom heaven transformed the basic chair to a seat of luxury. Singers and musicians can all embrace  the wonders of 'Bottom Heaven since 2011'

e.mail contact: tuffets@hotmail.co.uk