Bridge Folk Club

Bridge Folk Club Open Mondays except Bank Holidays

Doors at 7.00 and the music starts at 7.30. Get our weekly update - send your email details to [email protected]

21 September 2026 at The Bridge Folk Club – Singaround: singers, musicians, residents, visitors and audienceAs always, t...
14/09/2026

21 September 2026 at The Bridge Folk Club – Singaround: singers, musicians, residents, visitors and audience

As always, there will be no pressure to perform. Get up and do a spot if you want or just sit back, relax and have a lovely night with good friends and great music

All we ask if you do a spot is that you contribute something that fits the spirit of folk music – and that doesn’t mean it must be ‘traditional’; plenty of very talented people are writing superb new material that we love to hear

Hope to see you there

Gan canny

NB: We don’t have a card reader – please be traditional and bring cash

_________________________________________

Future Events and Guests at The Bridge –

28 September 2026 – Steve and Kristi Nebel
Steve and Kristi from Washington State are long-time friends of the Bridge and it’ll be wonderful to have them here again after a much-too-long break

12 October 2026 – Anne Alderson

2 November 2026 – Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter

16 November 2026 – Pipe Dream

7 December 2026 – Our annual Singaround fundraiser in aid of Crisis

14 December 2026 – Salty Dog

21 December 2026 – Closed for the Christmas and New Year season

28 December 2026 – Closed for the Christmas and New Year season

*** All other Mondays are our usual Singarounds ***

_________________________________________

**************** Our Regular Reminders ****************

The Bridge Folk Club page and YouTube channel

New music is uploaded every day – Like us or Follow us on Facebook, or Subscribe to us on YouTube

_________________________________________

Let’s keep everyone safe and healthy

If you're feeling unwell in any way at all (even if you think it’s only a bit of a cold) PLEASE just relax at home and come back to see us when you're feeling completely better

_________________________________________

Driving to us

Parking outside of the club is free after 7.00 pm
If you arrive early the charge is £1.90 an hour up until 7.00 and the council very kindly offers several wonderful ways for you to give them the fee:
• Via the PayByPhone App. The location code is 808937
• Via PayByPhone online at paybyphone.co.uk
• Or by calling 0330 400 7275
• If you’d rather pay by card (contactless only) you’ll find the payment machine outside of the Vermont Hotel

The Clean Air Zone in Newcastle city centre doesn’t affect anyone driving to the club in a private car, and most vans are OK. If you want to make absolutely sure that your vehicle won’t be charged you’ll find the answers at https://www.breathe-cleanair.com/
and
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/our-city/transport-improvements/transport-and-air-quality/newcastle-and-gateshead-clean-air-zone #:~:text=A%20Clean%20Air%20Zone%20(CAZ,any%20vehicle%20until%20January%2030

_________________________________________

Things change

If you'd like to get the latest updates about what is happening at The Bridge send your contact details to us at [email protected] and you’ll get our weekly email

14/09/2026

Allan Perks at The Bridge Folk Club, 22 June 2026

The Cobbler (Trad)

This song is often attributed to Tommy Makem but there’s no evidence that he ever claimed to be the writer

For a fascinating discussion of the song’s history and its lyrics go to https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109339

14/09/2026

Sam Baxter and Merle Harbron at The Bridge Folk Club, 6 July 2026

Chaunting Bonny (Trad)

This is on Sam and Merle’s first EP. Their sleeve notes say ‘We found this tune in an excellent new edition of the John Rook Manuscript edited and compiled by Rob Say – an impressive book containing over 1000 tunes. John Rook (1806-1872 was born in North Shields but later settled in Waverton just outside Wigton in Cumbria. Chaunting is an archaic word for chanting’

13/09/2026

Rob Griffiths at The Bridge Folk Club, 6 July 2026

Fear À Bhíos Fada Gùn Phòsadh, Tha Bean Agam (Both Scottish Trad)

It’s always a real treat to hear Scottish Gaelic puirt-a-beul (mouth music) at The Bridge. These two songs are both about marriage. The first one warns that if a man waits too long to marry he will grow a great beard and be covered with heather and furze. The second concerns a married man (not a happy chappie) who wants to go out but his shirt is dirty

13/09/2026

Chris and Steve Wilson at The Bridge Folk Club, 9 February 2026

The Winter It Is Past (Trad)

This is on Chris and Steve Wilson’s CD ‘Fifty Years On’. Their sleeve notes say ‘The Winter It Is Past or Curragh of Kildare was collected, indirectly, by Dr Petrie from the singing of Betty Skillin in 1780. The Curragh, now a famous racecourse, was common land and an area where they used to rally Irish troops. This version is from Finbar and Eddie Furey

Chris and Steve are two of the brothers from the amazing folk institution The Wilson Family from Teesside, England. The family’s website is at
www.thewilsonfamilyfolkgroup.co.uk. Look for the Welly Folk Club tab for the current calendar at their superb folk club in Wolviston, County Durham. It runs on Thursdays and it’s always a fantastic evening

12/09/2026

Charlotte Staples at The Bridge Folk Club, 15 June 2026

The Banks Of Green Willow (Trad)

12/09/2026

Litany at The Bridge Folk Club, 15 June 2026

Braw Sailing On The Sea (Trad)

Litany are Ed McGurk, Nick Caffrey, Julie Proctor and Dave Howard

11/09/2026

Maureen Hannah at The Bridge Folk Club, 6 July 2026

Valparaiso In A Row Boat (Zeke Hoskin)

The over-the-counter price of liquor is mostly made up of tax. Unsold booze is often kept in a bonded warehouse, meaning the tax hasn't been collected yet but when it’s taken out of the warehouse the tax has to be paid – unless it's for export. This song explains the clever way some folks found they could smuggle tax-free ho**ch into the US from Canada during the Prohibition period

There was a bonded warehouse on the dockside in Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit river from Detroit, Michigan, USA. Men would bring a rowboat to the dock and check out a few cases of wh**ky
The Customs officer would ask, "Are you paying tax or are you exporting?"
They would answer “Exporting"
"Where to?"
Of course, they couldn't legally export to the US so they had to name some other destination and one favourite place was Valparaiso, Chile
The Customs man would nod and write it down in his book, and away they'd row, cross the river, and enjoy a handsome profit on American soil. Half an hour later they'd be back at Windsor and they’d all do the same thing again

Address

The Bridge Hotel, Castle Garth
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE11RQ

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bridge Folk Club posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Bridge Folk Club:

Shortcuts

Share