In June 1969, a group of young people met together at Spode House in Rugeley for a weekend of folk music and song with John Baker and Ken and Naomi Alexander. In August they met again to produce a "Folk Mass" for broadcasting on national radio. They enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to make it a regular event, and thus the "Spode Folk Weekends" were born.

By May 1970, Derek Style had joined the team and the program included singarounds, English and American folk dancing, sword and morris dancing and song swapping sessions (there were very few tape recorders around at that time).
Since then there have been weekends every spring and autumn - 30 years of laughter, music and dance - and the teenagers of '69 are now bringing their own teenage children along with them.

Spode House, a conference centre run by the Dominicans, closed in 1986, and the "Spodefolk" moved first to Sutton Coldfield, then to Dehon House on the Wirral, and now it is firmly established in Savio House in Bollington, near Macclesfield in Cheshire.

Why IGAS?

Over the years it has become a tradition to end our Saturday night ceilidhs (it's not hard to spell ceilidh if you practice deilidh) by singing the Leadbelly folksong "Irene Goodnight", and somewhere along the line we stopped being Spodefolk and became the "Irene Goodnight Appreciation Society".
The Society has no officers, no rules, no fees, meets once every folk weekend (in the inn next door to Savio house) and involves only one ritual, a solemn toast to Irene while holding up a drinking glass.

Newcomers are always made very welcome. We are a friendly bunch and the corridors of Savio ring with laughter (and singing) when we are there. The food is excellent, the beds are comfortable and the company is genial.

Email me if you would like to know more.