East Garston

Saturday the 8th of March saw the return to East Garston Social Club, of Gloucester's answer to the Wurzels. "Mart Conners and The Carrot Crunchers." The boys played to a delighted and responsive audience that had packed the hall to the point where, by the second set there was standing room only. For the first part of the evening, the group, dressed as country bumpkins played a whole host of their famous ribald West Country songs about country life. Songs such as "Blame the Breathalyser" and " I'm Jealous of the Farmyard Cockerel"

I arrived quite near to the end of the first act and as a consequence, there are no photographs available. Probably just as well really as I well remember my attempts to photograph the Wurzels many years ago. Boy did I suffer a ribbing from Pete Budd and Tommy Banner. That was bad enough in front of a room full of strangers : Imagine the same thing happening in front of a hall full of people that I know well . No, the camera stayed in its case because it was plainly obvious that Mart Conners was more than capable of giving me as equally hard a time as those Wurzels did.

Part two saw the group return to the stage dressed in normal attire and launch themselves into a 60s style rock 'n roll session that had people off their seats and dancing in the aisles. But the Carrot Crunchers can't stay serious for long and Mart Conners peppered the session with a variety of jokes and stories that made your sides ache through laughing.

This was an evening that reminded me of the early functions I, and many others often attended at East Garston many many years ago. Brilliant entertainment by a very talented set of musicians and enjoyed by people right across the age spectrum. "Fantastic stuff"