A 50th anniversary reunion concert for Spindlestone at venue in Morpeth

Multi-instrumental trio Spindlestone comes together for the first time since the Covid-19 restrictions at Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum.

Local brother and sister John Bibby and Kim Bibby-Wilson will join forces with Sunderland-born singer Ray Leonard, now living in Canada.

The group kept in touch through online Zoom folk clubs during the pandemic, but as Kim says: “We’re really looking forward to playing together again in the same room at the same time, especially as this year is the 50th anniversary of our first appearances as Spindlestone.”

The name comes from the Bamburgh dragon legend of the Laidley Worm of Spindlestone Heugh, giving the reunion concert its title: ‘The Laidley Worm Writhes Yet Again’.

The trio performed across the region and wider UK in the 1970s and 1980s and since Ray’s departure with his family to Canada, he has been a successful singer and actor in British Columbia – while Kim and John have continued to make music as a duo and with the popular ceilidh band the Border Directors, as well as leading the organising team of the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering annual festival.

Ray has managed four trips back for short tours and to record the band’s three CDs of their original repertoire and recent musical arrangements. All three discs will be available at a special price, along with John and Kim’s new CD ‘The Glinter Stone’.

Tickets for the concert on Wednesday, November 22 from 7.30pm, including interval refreshments, cost £9 for adults and £6 for children. Get them from Morpeth Chantry or directly from Kim (call 01670 513308).