The Pendlefolk

Well I guess anyone who was around the folk club scene in the 1960's will remember the Pendlefolk, who were the resident artists at Burnley and Accrington Folk Clubs. In those days the Burnley Folk Club was hosted upstairs at the Burnley Cricket Club on a Thursday night and was always full to the brim. The folk clubs were run by Ralph Smith whose day job was in the office at Huncoat Power Station.

Group members were: Roger Westbrook, Chris Westbrook, Peter Nash, Jean Douglas and Diane Whitford. Recently I found the LP which they recorded in 1970, taking pride of place in the window of Electron Records on Hall Street, Burnley. As one of the songwriters I was at the recording session which was set up in the Stordy swiss roll factory on the Nelson road out of Burnley. I apologise in advance if I am infringing anyone's copyright, however the LP is virtually impossible to obtain now and it's a shame if people cannot listen and recollect just how good this group were, so below are all the tracks for you to enjoy. They bring back many happy memories, (if not slightly inebriated ones) for me. Of course the leader of the group, Roger Westbrook, went on to record a number of other albums as a solo artist - 'Still He Sings' which was a studio album, 'Second Twelve Incher' which was recorded live at the 110 Club in Burnley, and finally 'Int E a Grand Lad' which was recorded live at the Carlton Hotel on Standish Street in Burnley. Chris still lives in the area and went on to join The John Bull Band, playing at pubs and venues across the UK. She has also achieved fame as a winner of Norwich Unions Quirkiest Collector competition for her extensive collection of cruet sets!

Track	Composer	Track	Composer
Lord Franklin	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk	Lancashire Lads	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk
Capes in View	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk	Wedding Song	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk
Streets of London	Ralph McTell	A Soldier A Sailor	Colin Ormston
Watercress O	R. Watson	White Cockade	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk
Early Morning Rain	Gordon Lightfoot	Lancashire Fusilier	Trad. Arr. Pendlefolk
Across the Hills	L. Rosselson	Old Pendle	B. Osborne