The Kipper Family - The Third Course
Two more wax cylinders from the the foremost family of Norfolk traditional music, this time provided by the man who discovered them and first served the Kippers up to the general public - Mr.Richard Digest.
He kindly invited the pair onto his Radio 4 show to talk about the Trunch Tradition and discourse on the familiy's unique musical style.
Included here is another rare photograph, this time of the Kippers caught mid way through the very rare Knapton variation of that famous Norfolk dance - "Strip the Widows"
As a very young man, I once nervously approached Mr.Henry with this picture, to see if he would autograph it. The old boy seemed quite overcome when he looked at the snap, and in his confusion took out his pen-knife instead of his pen and accidentially shaved off a piece of the shot!
I managed to patch it up, but if you look clearly you can still see the join.
Old Henry was very upset about this incident, and though I assured him it did not matter, he was still agitated; muttering something like 'It will if Dot sees it'
When I spoke to Sid later, he explained that his Mother(he thinks) did not approve of 'forine inflooences' into the Trunch tradition, she herself having never stepped outside the village since her honeymoon. Sadly no recording of 'Strip the Widows' survives, and we must console ourselves with this precious document.
Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.
Images for this show: