Stony End

         Let's start at the very beginning; a very good place to start. I was 29 in 1977 and wanted to write and appear in my own full scale musical before I was thirty. I was always a late developer. I'd been involved with music for a while, starting with a trio called STONY END with my two cousins Steve and Den. We had a regular booking at The West Somerset Hotel in Watchet, where in a moment of Rock&Roll madness, we were once accused of stealing the butter portions.

Way out West. Fred, Den & Steve

Lennie Langdon, somebody who looks like Ronnie Barker,
Kim Beecham and Stony End

A new folk club opened up at The Old Ship aground in Minehead, and Steve and I, looking for a break from the butter rustling decided to give it a go. Steven pulled out at the last moment and I ended up going on my own. I was so nervous I had to sit with one foot on top of the other to stop my leg from shaking. Still, I survived and Steve and I became regulars, eventually meeting Miss Jenny Keyes, who I later married.

The Folk Club's entry in Minehead Carnival
Me, John Powell, Paul Mills & Rod Fleckner.

Most performers at the folk club were singing songs about gathering herbs and daisies or emulating Bob Dylan; I was singing "The Way We Were"; must have been about 1974 or 1975 then. Fellow performer Paul Mills was involved with The Williton Players; an amateur theatrical group formed by my old English teacher David Beach. The group were short of men, as usual and so I was co-opted to play a gay robot in some play, with a title I can't remember, I also joined them on a daytrip to Rotherham to see a production of a musical called "Tran-Atlantica" that David had written and directed as part of his tenure as Artistic Director of the civic theatre there. I think we played charades on the bus for five hours or more. It pissed down incessantly and I have a vague recollection of mushy peas!

It was through Williton Players that I met Joan Passmore, Malcolm McNeill and Pat Daley; the latter becoming the bass player with our expanded band. We now also had Steve's brother Richard as a drummer.

Stony End - The Village Hall Years

Thirty was approaching and so I began to write a musical.

Me, approaching 30 and writing a musical.

I had no experience in either producing or directing and so approached other local amateur theatre companies; all of which turned me down, because the venture was too ambitious. So I asked Paul Mills for assistance and together we set about doing the job ourselves.

Budding Impresarios