Books

After Colin Irwin’s hunt for the quintessential Irish ‘craic’ as documented in the best selling In Search of the Craic, his next trip takes him deep in to England’s hidden soul...

Offering a warm, amusing and insightful commentary on modern England, Colin Irwin seeks out the traditional events, festivals and gigs that are becoming increasingly sidelined in our rapidly changing era of instant communication, multi-culturalism and Pop Idols.  During his travels, Irwin drinks with eccentrics, sings with strangers and visits a succession of seriously bizarre events and rituals, such as a concert in Dartmoor Prison, sedan-chair racing in Lancaster, people flying in Bognor and swimming in the Serpentine on Christmas Day.

Irwin discovers that as the world shrinks, there’s na increasing tendency for communities to look inwards at their own heritage.  He finds that while the old ways may be in hiding they still thrive and, chatting along the way to iconic characters, that even English folk music is enjoying a resurgence.

Hardback.