Folk at the Grey Horse

The folksy open mike nights at the Grey Horse have quickly become a regular part of my social scene for several reasons. The evenings provide a relaxing mix of good companionship, light music delivered with enthusiasm, respect and some panache, decent if unoriginal beer (London Gold this time) and a mix of people that gel to make an atmosphere that is lively but never raucous.

The pub was a little quieter than usual this month as the students had been let home to get their clothes washed over the holidays but that did little to dampen the spirits or the entertainment.

Oddly, it was also a very male evening with a succession of solo men playing guitar and singing folksy songs.

But that belies the variety of the music on offer and we had, for example, some traditional Richard Thompson, some youthful self-penned songs and even a version of the T Rex classic Hot Love.

The evening eased along nicely and with no apparent effort a couple of hours slipped by allowing mental batteries to be recharged ready for the rigours of the next day.