Catherine White

Catherine was born in 1958 in Harpenden. She lived in the leftmost three-storey house on the Green. She knew Rod Hall because she babysat for him. Her family were involved from the start: helping set up, providing toilets (with the sign ‘2p for 1 pee’) and light refreshments to organisers and performers, and taking round buckets for donations. The power for the haycart stage came from a socket in her bedroom. She sang 3 songs (including ‘Mr Tambourine Man’) at the first event; she also performed at the second and a couple of others. All the events were on the Green, although the local paper called the first one ‘Folk in the Open’. There were about 100 in the first audience, including performers and their families. That rose to about 5 or 600 by the time she left in 1983. The early events were advertised. There were never programmes, but she printed the first posters at an estate agent on the High Street where she had a job. There was rain a few times and then some performers would not touch the microphones. She always loved Rod’s group. Her favourite memory was the event itself and how people put so much into it.

The 1970s folk scene included the Black Horse Folk Club at Linford organised by Sue Malleson, the Fox & Hounds, Matt Armour at The Song Loft and a pub at Whittlebury. She didn’t attend much because she babysat for four families and then her interests moved on.

She returned for the 2024 event and met Rod and his family. It was more electric than the early ones, with more stalls and food, and good in different ways.