The Homend Poets (& musicians)

… are a bunch who meet in Ledbury on the last Tuesday of every month from September to May inclusive. We have a regular gig & an al fresco performance as part of the Ledbury Poetry Festival, which gives us an aura of respectability that many would otherwise deny us.

We meet at Ice Bytes, halfway down The Homend, Ledbury’s main street. It’s hard to miss, being painted bright yellow, & is a superb cybercafé-cum-ice cream parlour-cum snackery run by John & Shoko, who have information on almost everything of note happening in the town. The postcode is HR8 1BT if you have a satnav, though it still is even if you haven’t.

The group is open to all comers, be they poets, musicians or camp-followers. Starting at 6:30pm, the first hour usually has a theme running through it, chosen at the previous meeting. After a short interval (when we avail ourselves of the marvellous crêpes & other goodies), the next hour is a free-for-all, when pieces with any theme or none are unleashed. Carriages may be called for 8:30. You are welcome to read/sing your own or other people’s work: what’s important is to have a good time in good company.

We also prepare an annual anthology of the best of our home-grown poems. These sell out very quickly during the Ledbury Festival, & the previous years’ volumes are already collectors’ items.

For more details of meetings & themes do contact me, or have a word with our friendly skipper Nick Halligan, on (01684) 563281.