The start of my Easter Break last week found me doing something DEEPLY WEIRD: I went to Sheffield WITHOUT my guitar!
It felt STRANGE all the way there, knowing I was heading to somewhere which has so often felt the power of my ROCK but this time lacking the TOOL of its allocation. Myself and The Knives In My Cutlery Drawer were heading that way to see The Landlady, who has moved NORTH and bought a house. She came and met us off the train and then we walked back over the station where ANOTHER common event became WEIRD - we got on The Supertram, as I have so many times, but went in the OPPOSITE direction to usual! My very being screamed out in PANIC as we headed AWAY from the centre of town, but I soon relaxed into a highly pleasant assisted trundle out to Gleadless Valley where she is now situated. There turns out to be a lot more Sheffield than just the bit in the middle with PUBS and Universities - who knew?
We had a good look around the new house, ate an M&S PICNIC, and then set off for a WALK. As anyone who lives, has lived,or has just BEEN in Sheffield will tell you, it is surrounded by Beautiful Countryside, but it also appears to have a fair bit of Picturesque Landscape stored within it, as we walked back down from the suburbs via ANCIENT WOODLAND. You could tell is was Ancient Woodland because there were Wood Anenomes everywhere don't you know, it is a SIGN.
It was GORGEOUS, with old trees, looming hills and trickling streams, so it felt ODD to emerge into 60s housing estates, especially such UNUSUAL ones - instead of building huge blocks stacked on top of each other the architects of this one had gone for blocks of FOUR houses, one on each corner, scattered around a field. I've not seen anything like it before, it was like being in a SCI-FI film, although not necessarily a particularly SCARY one!
We got the bus back into town, where The Landlady's stories of her adventures in her new town were gradually taken over by MY stories of adventures in the same. We nipped into the Cathedral for a quick NOSEY and then headed to The Blue Moon Cafe where I DELIGHTED everyone by going on about all the places in Sheffield what I have done gigs (including the cafe itself). It's a LOVELY veggie cafe, where we had some ACE grub, much as I had done when I played there that time - did I tell you about all the places in Sheffield I have done gigs?
And then it was time to head home (via The Sheffield Tap OBVS - some things you HAVE to do) with our first trip of The Easter Break completed successfully. As I say, it felt WEIRD not to have done a gig, but I think Sheffield rose to the occasion magnificently - next time though, I'm bringing the AXE!
