The Farm – Touchdown Festival, Darlington 2025

Sunday 24th August 2025

Today we’re off to County Durham to play the ‘80’s Calling’ festival (part of the Touchdown Festival) which launches its bank holiday weekend celebration at Darlington Mowden Park Stadium.

80s Calling! is a new-wave and synth-pop all-dayer held in varying locations across the UK.
First taking place in 2024, the events have previously hosted performances from The Human League, Bananarama, Level 42, The Farm, Hue & Cry, The Christians, Bananarama, Holly Johnson, Toyah & Robert, T’Pau and more.

Ten o’clock start today as we have to be in Darlington for 1pm…

New driver Brad out on manoeuvres…

We’ll struggle to get to Darlington for 1pm especially as we’ve not allowed any time for a lunch stop off…

Not much chance of watching a film today😝…

We drove past the former Art Deco ‘Littlewoods Pools’ building…

In its day it was a prominent landmark…

Meanwhile, Peter found us a decent pub to have lunch…

The Three Coopers in Bedale…

Hopefully we’ll have enough time to stop off…

We were soon near Huddersfield…

Unfortunately approaching Bradford we hit traffic!

We hadn’t taken into account that it was a bank holiday…

It took us an hour to get to Wetherby…

We started to imagine what the pub may be like…

Warm and welcoming with excellent customer service is always our intention at The Three Coopers – a traditional style pub in a 17th century building with a glorious sun trap of a garden at the rear. We are located just off the high street but we are very easy to find. At the Market Cross look down the hill called Emgate and you will see us on the right with large original coaching lanterns on our façade. Bedale is a little gem of a place and being located just off the A1 we are at the ‘Beginning of the Dales’ which gives rise to the name Bedale (not Bed and Ale as suggested by some!). Bedale is packed with fantastic little independent shops selling just about everything you can imagine as well as a Tourist information Centre, Bedale Museum, Bedale Golf Club, Bedale Leisure Centre, and Bedale Park with a children’s play area and Car Boot Sales every Saturday during the summer.

And which beers they may be serving…

Pouring a rich golden amber with a decent white foamy lid, which continues to lace the glass as you drink. Delivering a mellow fruity aroma that plays with the nose. Below the surf, the taste buds experience a mild bitterness that is crisp and light. Paired with a modest but refreshing carbonation a fruit background creeps in for a rewarding finish.

And where we might sit to eat…

But…disaster – we were running out of time!

We’d already gone past Bedale and were approaching Richmond…

Nearly at the festival now…

We arrive bang on 1pm…

The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C.
With a seating capacity of 25,000, the arena rarely attracted large crowds, with the usual attendance being around 2,000.
The cost of the arena caused the club to go into administration and they decided to leave.
In 2012, after rumours that the arena could be closed down, rugby union team Darlington Mowden Park RFC purchased the arena for £2 million.

Time to get our wristbands…

Our dressing room was the Rugby changing rooms…

Standard, drinkable Euro Lager. Malt and noble hops in the aroma. Malty taste with notes of bread. Minimal bitterness. Clean and kind of boring, but not bad.

From the corridor we could hear T’pau on stage…

We had a quick look at the lineup…

First, the bar…

The Stonewall Inn IPA is a Citra-hopped session IPA. It features a hint of grapefruit and citrus peel on the nose, with a crisp yet mellow finish. We partnered with The Stonewall Inn to brew this beer to celebrate their history and to support the continuing work of The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative.

Altered Images were up next…

We’d arranged to meet a fellow blogger Jackie in the VIP area, she came to see us when we played in Newcastle City Hall last year and she reviewed our gig.

She messaged me to say she was coming today with her friend Angela who took this photo…

http://stitchesbythesea.water.blog/2025/08/31/last-of-the-summer-gigs-darlington-24-august-2025-part-1-the-music/

We’re closer to the stage here…

They were brilliant…

At this point, Carl had spotted Clare Grogan from Altered Images backstage…

Toyah was on next…

She was brilliant and finished with the Joan Jett song ‘I love rock n roll’…

Gillian came to see us – if you remember she also came to see us at Newcastle City Hall for the Interzone concert in 2024…

https://thefarm.blog/2024/04/21/the-farm-newcastle-city-hall-2024/

We were on next…

Blanket coverage?…

Photo of Angela with the Festival Fever Blanket made by Jackie

Great crowd…

It was a brilliant gig…

Back stage we were so pleased to meet up with the Christian’s drummer Lionel Duke who only two months ago had suffered a cardiac arrest on stage at the Liverpool On The Waterfront gig…