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Way back in the mists of Aunty Kitty I spent many long hours in the library of Cecil Sharp House, the headquarters of the . Like many young revival singers I was looking for material - in my case traditional Lancashire folk songs - and the library at Cecil Sharp House is without any doubt a true treasure house of material from original manuscripts by people like and Ìýto collections from more recent workers in the field.

I would see of Fairport ConventionÌýin there most days, books and manuscripts piled all around him mining the seam for material. The results of course were albums like Liege & Lief and the wonderful outpourings from which Ashley formed soon after leaving Fairport.

After Steeleye he went on to work with in the Etchingham Steam Band which in turn gave way to the Albion Band.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the impact the library at Cecil Sharp House has had on the musical life of this country and now I read that Shirley Collins MBE, Ashley's ex-partner, has been nominated as the president of the EFDSS with Eliza Carthy as her vice-president. Eliza has been a member of the EFDSS since she was in nappies and Shirley, as well as having worked with Alan Lomax, the great American collector of folk music, is one of the great voices of English traditional music.

So the EFDSS and its great library are in the hands of two great women. If had got her act together that would have been quite a triple.

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