CHESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL'S MUSIC
8th July 2009
8th July 2008
How it works
The Music Train uses one of the regular hourly services on the Mid Cheshire line. It is arranged by the Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership. The band plays on the train from Chester - we take over a carriage. At Plumley everyone alights to visit The Golden Pheasant for drinks and good food - and there is a further session from the band.
Chester Station is accessible. Parking on the station car parks costs £4.50. Parking outside the Queen Hotel and on City Road is free after 18:00. Plumley Station is accessible. The walk to the pub is 150m. The footway alongside the road from the station to the pub is narrow and not continuous, with poor visibility over the railway bridge. The pub is fully accessible.
There is no charge for the event - just the price of your ordinary train ticket. Your 'admission' is the train fare. Other than drinks and food, there is nothing else to pay. On the return journey there will be a collection on the train for the musicians.
The Music
Gus Glynn and Friends play music that ranges ‘from stomping rhythms to sad sweet ballads and atmospheric experimental interludes with deep roots in folk, country, blues, classical and world music.
‘This fine blend of acoustic ingenuity comes alive'. They perform ‘a vast collection of finely crafted original songs intricately woven in strings and percussion with guitar, fiddle, mandolin, slide, triangle, an early kick drum played somewhat like a bodhran and tubular bell. Heartfelt vocals with resonant lyrics make live performances something of an emotional rollercoaster'.
Originally from Galway, now in the North West of England, songwriter Gus Glynn has 'the soft Irish vocals' yet his music swings along at a speedy tempo, very catchy, very enjoyable, often emotional, absorbing and great entertainment. Friends are Iain 'Top Hat' Taylor (percussion), Terrence Carey (fiddle) and Jozeph Roberts (resonator and mandolin).
This is a fringe event of the Chester Summer Music Festival which runs from 2-18 July. The Chester Summer Music Festival's mixes choral works and solo voices while celebrating the anniversaries of Handel, Purcell and Mendelssohn and commemorating the life of Richard Hickox, former Artistic Director of the Chester Summer Music Festival from 1989-1992.
The Pub
The Golden Pheasant is a traditional pub in the heart of rural Cheshire serving fresh, quality food and well-kept J W Lees's real ales. It is close to the station (it was originally the Railway Inn) and has recently been refurbished by new management.
It is a popular dining venue with an attractive beamed interior. It serves traditional bar food alongside some great homemade dishes at lunchtime and in the evenings on weekdays and all day at weekends. The normal menu is extensive and runs alongside a fantastic selection of regularly changing blackboard specials (which use the best of seasonal local produce) to choose from. For the Music Train there is a special selection of dishes as well - The Music Train Menu.
Train Times and Tickets
Train times from Chester to Plumley: Chester 19:07, Mouldsworth 19:18, Delamere* 19:23, Cuddington 19:27, Greenbank 19:32, Northwich 19:37, Lostock Gralam 19:40, Plumley 19:43 (*request stop)
Train times from Plumley to Chester: Plumley 22:03, Lostock Gralam 22:07, Northwich 22:12, Greenbank 22:17, Cuddington 22:22, Delamere* 22:26, Mouldsworth 22:31, Chester 22:45 (*request stop)
Buy your ticket from Chester at the station: Off-Peak Day Return £9.20 (with Railcard £6.10) or Northern Duo (two people travelling together) £6.90 each.
At other stations just board the train and buy your ticket from the conductor.
Example fares from Cuddington: Cheap day return £4.30; Northern Duo (two people travelling together) £3.20 each; with Railcard £2.85.
The Mid Cheshire Railway Line is operated by Northern Rail and provides rail links to the national rail network at Manchester, Chester and Stockport and with the Metrolink Tram network at Altrincham.
More Music Trains
1 July 2009 - Altrincham-Chester - to Alexander's Wine Bar
8 July 2009 - Chester-Plumley - with Gus Glynn and friends
(Chester Summer Music Festival fringe event)
22 July 2009 - Manchester-Plumley
19 August 2009 - Chester-Plumley - with Accoustak
23 September 2009 - Chester-Plumley
Contact
Click here to contact Michael Ross, the Music Trains Organiser for the Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership.
Click here to print full details including the Music Train Menu
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