crest2
BuiltWithNOF
Dunkerque 2001

This was my first visit to Dunkerque with Otway. First, the pictures can be viewed using the buttons on the left of the screen.

  1. Les Quatres Ecluses
  2. La Salle Glaces
  3. Some Other Stuff

Despite being Otway fans of long-standing, Roger and I were both virgins as far as the Dunkirque experience was concerned.

When we arrived at the Red Lion at 9:00 a.m. to find hordes of would-be co-travellers already at the fermented juices of the hops that Kent is so famous for, we knew at once that something special was in the offing. The first thing we did after parking up was to crack a couple of cans ourselves to get in the mood already attained by everyone else. We could feel the anticipation in the air.

Despite all this, boarding the coaches was relatively fuss free as Mac & Tracey booked us on to coach A. We were dead chuffed to find that 'The Band' were on board as well, and they, as well as the rest of the coach, all proved extremely sociable. Another treat was the man himself getting on our coach at Dover station, complete with bagpipes, and then giving us a few squeaks.

There are some more comprehensive reviews of the Saturday and Sunday night gigs by some 'old hands' on Otnews:
www.otnews.net , so I doubt that I can meaningfully add much more, except that the thugs at the front in Les Quatres Ecluses (does anyone know what an ecluse is?)* could have spoiled it for all of us, but fortunately, nobody seemed to get hurt. All the performers gave it everything, and the Sunday session had a real party atmosphere. Food was good, too.

We were lucky, as well, to have two extremely smooth Channel crossings (I'm not a good sailor), especially as only today (6th November) the French seamen (nearly spelt that wrongly) have gone on strike again.

So what's left to say? Only thanks to all concerned - to the bands for exceptional performances, to all of our co-travellers for breaking us in gently, to Karen & Liz for introducing us to Otnews and the John Otway News Group (see below), & to Richard Cotton for putting the whole thing together.

See you all again next year, or some of you maybe sooner.


* I have since found out that an ecluse is a lock on a waterway.

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