The Farm – Bristol Thekla / Sheb Festival, August 29/30 2025

This week we’re off to Bristol and then Devon for our final gigs of the summer.

Friday 29th August 2025

Thekla is a converted German cargo ship moored in Bristol’s harbour, that is now home to an award winning nationally renowned live music venue.

9.30 start for us as we have to be in Bristol for around 2pm…

We were determined to have a stop-off this week so we set the controls for the heart of Gloucestershire…

It’s the Silver bus this week so not much legroom…

Off we go…

We were glad that the video player was working so we watched a violent thriller…

We’re liking it up to now…

Although Keith and I had to watch it as a mirror image using Roy’s laptop camera due to the rear screen not working…

We motored on…

After a while we arrived in the village of Forthampton…

Forthampton is a village in Gloucestershire, England. The village is located three miles from the market town of Tewkesbury and features “a great number of interesting buildings”, fine views, several duck ponds, a church, a collection of thatched cottages and farmsteads, a village hall and a village club.

It was of course the location of our pub of choice, ‘The Lower Lode Inn’…

A Traditional Public House dating back to the 15th Century, the Lower Lode is set in a picturesque location on the banks of the River Severn, not far from the historic medieval town of Tewkesbury.

Excitedly we parked up…

You could sense the anticipation😆

Inside we all ordered something different…

Roy went for the dark ale…

Ledbury Dark Ale is a dark-colored real ale known for its balanced notes of chocolate and coffee with hints of marmalade and honey. Brewed with a blend of five different grains and local hops like Goldings, First Gold, and Pilgrim, this cask-conditioned beer is a local favourite.

Carl went for the Piffle Snonker…

A straw coloured pale ale. Aroma is sweet and almost jammy with honey and a little malt and hop. Taste is well balanced with a slightly hoppier aftertaste.

Could be a band from the 70’s, I went for the Pure Ubu…

Pure UBU is a distinctive, full flavoured beer with a sweeter finish and dark fruit notes. Brewed with Pale, Crystal, Black and Wheat malts, with Pilgrim, Jester, UK Chinook and Godiva hops.

Taking the drinks outside, Peter can be seen here holding the limited edition Fuggles & Goldings…

A Hook-Norton custom brew with a light flavour but dry hopped bitterness to it. Cracking spot to drink by the riverside.

And what a view of the river we had…

The mighty river Severn, famous for its tidal bore, is Britain’s longest river.
It flows for 220 miles from its source in the Welsh Cambrian mountains before finally emptying into the sea in the Bristol Channel.
The estuary forms a physical boundary between England and Wales and the river meanders in and out of the English counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

We’d ordered food earlier and our table was back inside the pub…

The pub is only about one mile to the west of Tewkesbury but involves a five mile journey to get there by road. The Severn was once fordable at this point (‘Lode’ is an old English name for Ford) and it is said that the river was crossed by troops fleeing the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. A ferry was established between Lower and Upper Lode in the late 19th century but the service was eventually withdrawn.

Keith was hungry…

Ploughman’s…

Pies…

Fish and chips…

After those delicious main courses, we fancied some dessert…

Time to leaf…(sorry)

…as we’re running a bit late!

Looks like we’re not going to get to the venue before 4pm…

Off we pop…

Eventually we arrived at Bristol Harbourside…

Once a busy dock where sailors and merchants would trade goods and set sail for voyages of discovery, Bristol’s Harbourside is now a vibrant area filled with restaurants, bars, shops and hotels.

Our boutique dressing room…

We had a quick look around the boat…

Decent set up…

Time for a sound check…

Then off to find our hotel…

As it happened it had a pub in the grounds…

We took the advantage…

Butcombe…

We had a quick half in the hotel bar then headed off to The Hole in The Wall pub which was opposite the venue…

We’d arranged to meet up with our mate Andy and friends to try out the Timothy Taylor beers they sell here…

The drinkers’ favourite, a 4.3% classic pale ale with a complex citrus and hoppy aroma. A recent survey revealed that Landlord has the highest proportion of drinkers who call it their favourite ale. And it has won more awards than any other beer, winning both CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain and the Brewing Industry Challenge Cup four times. The ABV in bottle is 4.1%.

An enjoyable time was had but it was time to head off to the venue…

Inside we found more interesting beers…

A session IPA for all, supercharged with new-wave hop energy. Taking you from the New Mexico mountains with Sabro’s iconic tangarine & orange to Cryo Pop’s tropical blend hop glory.

Research over, it’s time to get on stage…

What a great audience!

After the show we headed over to the Fleece club to watch a friend performing a DJ set…

Then back to the hotel for a nightcap before bed…

What a brilliant day in Bristol we had!

Saturday 30th August 2025

Today we’re off to Devon for Sheb Fest 2025. Established by the Skinner family in 2015, Sheb Fest is North Devon’s very own family-friendly, independent music festival. Two days of live music across two stages, as well as local food and drink, makes for the perfect way to end the summer. Having started in 2015 with just 500 visitors, Sheb Fest has grown dramatically over the last nine years and now has over 3,000 visitors each year.