Andy Turner
@audinarymusic.bsky.social
Singer and anglo-concertina player with Magpie Lane.
He/Him. Lefty, Remainer.
Former librarian, recently retired from the University of Reading TEL team.
http://afolksongaweek.wordpress.com
He/Him. Lefty, Remainer.
Former librarian, recently retired from the University of Reading TEL team.
http://afolksongaweek.wordpress.com
If you're an ordinary, vaguely disorganised mortal, probably best to buy this now while you remember.
But if you're the organised type, add it to your Bandcamp Wishlist today, then come back and buy it on 5th December - that's a Bandcamp Friday, so even more money will go to Cancer Research.
But if you're the organised type, add it to your Bandcamp Wishlist today, then come back and buy it on 5th December - that's a Bandcamp Friday, so even more money will go to Cancer Research.
Grab yourself a bit of early Christmas cheer, and help raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Also features the glorious vocals of Sophie from Magpie Lane.
Also features the glorious vocals of Sophie from Magpie Lane.
Here's a first: I've just released a charity Christmas single.
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
November 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
If you're an ordinary, vaguely disorganised mortal, probably best to buy this now while you remember.
But if you're the organised type, add it to your Bandcamp Wishlist today, then come back and buy it on 5th December - that's a Bandcamp Friday, so even more money will go to Cancer Research.
But if you're the organised type, add it to your Bandcamp Wishlist today, then come back and buy it on 5th December - that's a Bandcamp Friday, so even more money will go to Cancer Research.
Here's a first: I've just released a charity Christmas single.
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
Shepherds Arise, by Andy Turner and a cast of thousands
track by Andy Turner and a cast of thousands
andyturner.bandcamp.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Here's a first: I've just released a charity Christmas single.
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
Recorded remotely in 2020 by a virtual choir including @jonboden.bsky.social @jackieoates.bsky.social @jimcausley.bsky.social
Costs £1.50 but you can pay more - all proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
andyturner.bandcamp.com/track/shephe...
Reposted by Andy Turner
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
A special commemorative edition of A Folk Song A Week:
50 years a folky!
or
The Wombles, their part in my downfall...
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/5...
50 years a folky!
or
The Wombles, their part in my downfall...
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/5...
50 years a folky!
50 years a folky? Well, that’s maybe not strictly accurate, but 50 years ago today, on 13th November 1975, something happened which not only changed my musical tastes, but fundamentally altered the…
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:51 AM
A special commemorative edition of A Folk Song A Week:
50 years a folky!
or
The Wombles, their part in my downfall...
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/5...
50 years a folky!
or
The Wombles, their part in my downfall...
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/5...
Reposted by Andy Turner
Our Christmas gig in Oxford on 13th December is now sold out.
There are bound to be a few returns, so feel free to join the waiting list
wegottickets.com/event/667363
There are bound to be a few returns, so feel free to join the waiting list
wegottickets.com/event/667363
Magpie Lane Oxford Christmas concert
Five-piece folk band Magpie Lane have been playing seasonal concerts at the Holywell Music Room every year since 1993, and these Christmas shows have become very much part of the Oxford musical landsc...
wegottickets.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Our Christmas gig in Oxford on 13th December is now sold out.
There are bound to be a few returns, so feel free to join the waiting list
wegottickets.com/event/667363
There are bound to be a few returns, so feel free to join the waiting list
wegottickets.com/event/667363
Reposted by Andy Turner
I see there are still tickets available for @magpielane-oxford.bsky.social at Royal Traditions Folk Club near #Sheffield on 6th December. It's going to be a fabulously festive night as we'll no doubt all do some singing afterwards too.
Get tickets at wegottickets.com/event/645679
#festive
Get tickets at wegottickets.com/event/645679
#festive
Magpie Lane @ Royal Traditions
At Sheffield The Old Band Room on Sat 6th Dec, 2025
wegottickets.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I see there are still tickets available for @magpielane-oxford.bsky.social at Royal Traditions Folk Club near #Sheffield on 6th December. It's going to be a fabulously festive night as we'll no doubt all do some singing afterwards too.
Get tickets at wegottickets.com/event/645679
#festive
Get tickets at wegottickets.com/event/645679
#festive
I'm off to Lewes tonight, to play the excellent Lewes Saturday Folk Club with Mat Green:
Elephant and Castle, White Hill, Lewes BN7 2DJ.
8:00 to 11:00
www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org
Elephant and Castle, White Hill, Lewes BN7 2DJ.
8:00 to 11:00
www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I'm off to Lewes tonight, to play the excellent Lewes Saturday Folk Club with Mat Green:
Elephant and Castle, White Hill, Lewes BN7 2DJ.
8:00 to 11:00
www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org
Elephant and Castle, White Hill, Lewes BN7 2DJ.
8:00 to 11:00
www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org
Reposted by Andy Turner
A reminder that our Christmas concert in Oxford has a new venue this year. After 30-odd years we felt like a change! We think you'll like the venue just as much as the Holywell, and the seats are definitely more comfortable!
Tickets from wegottickets.com/event/667363
Tickets from wegottickets.com/event/667363
November 2, 2025 at 10:24 AM
A reminder that our Christmas concert in Oxford has a new venue this year. After 30-odd years we felt like a change! We think you'll like the venue just as much as the Holywell, and the seats are definitely more comfortable!
Tickets from wegottickets.com/event/667363
Tickets from wegottickets.com/event/667363
Reposted by Andy Turner
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Log In
Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.
secure.cesvotes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:19 PM
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
A reminder in case you haven't yet voted in the National Trust elections
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 1:57 PM
A reminder in case you haven't yet voted in the National Trust elections
I seem to remember @johnfinnemore.bsky.social did a good sketch about the very same guy!
Full credit to Politico for continuing to employ a guy who usually does slightly off Disney characters on ice cream vans as their artist-in-residence.
October 29, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I seem to remember @johnfinnemore.bsky.social did a good sketch about the very same guy!
Reposted by Andy Turner
Everyone in this country is descended from immigrants.
Every single last one of us.
And many, like Mr Farage, will have very recent migrant ancestors indeed and not even know about it.
Every single last one of us.
And many, like Mr Farage, will have very recent migrant ancestors indeed and not even know about it.
September 22, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Everyone in this country is descended from immigrants.
Every single last one of us.
And many, like Mr Farage, will have very recent migrant ancestors indeed and not even know about it.
Every single last one of us.
And many, like Mr Farage, will have very recent migrant ancestors indeed and not even know about it.
Reposted by Andy Turner
Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’
Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’
JERUSALEM—In response to an independent United Nations inquiry concluding that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a defiant...
theonion.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’
Reposted by Andy Turner
Reposted by Andy Turner
Yes indeed, tickets for our annual Christmas concert in Oxford are on sale, and you can buy them from wegottickets.com/event/667363
Saturday 13th December, 2pm
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford
2pm start
Saturday 13th December, 2pm
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford
2pm start
September 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Yes indeed, tickets for our annual Christmas concert in Oxford are on sale, and you can buy them from wegottickets.com/event/667363
Saturday 13th December, 2pm
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford
2pm start
Saturday 13th December, 2pm
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford
2pm start
Reposted by Andy Turner
Worst day for crime in @metpoliceuk area as 857 people are arrested for writing seven words on pieces of paper and holding them up as new Home Sec gets tough bit.ly/3I9nwtp they face up to 6 months in jail, if space can be found. 33 arrested for other offences
September 8, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Worst day for crime in @metpoliceuk area as 857 people are arrested for writing seven words on pieces of paper and holding them up as new Home Sec gets tough bit.ly/3I9nwtp they face up to 6 months in jail, if space can be found. 33 arrested for other offences
Really informative post on the right's selective and misleading use of stats, and the threat that RefUK poses to us all.
Following Farage’s announcement that he plans to make “serious cuts to the welfare budgets” if he wins the next election, I’ve seen this claim being repeated from last year’s headlines again.
So let’s take a look at the the reality rather than the weaponised version
🧵
1/21
So let’s take a look at the the reality rather than the weaponised version
🧵
1/21
September 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Really informative post on the right's selective and misleading use of stats, and the threat that RefUK poses to us all.
Reposted by Andy Turner
The main issue facing any UK government isn't actually the number of people seeking asylum, in the grand scheme, proportionally, we aren't talking about huge figures, especially when compared per capita to countries such as France, but the constant images we see in the media. 1/
September 1, 2025 at 7:01 AM
The main issue facing any UK government isn't actually the number of people seeking asylum, in the grand scheme, proportionally, we aren't talking about huge figures, especially when compared per capita to countries such as France, but the constant images we see in the media. 1/
Reposted by Andy Turner
album covers but with muppets: thread
August 19, 2025 at 1:17 AM
album covers but with muppets: thread
Sweet Jesus. Imagine a museum telling people that slavery was bad. What a ghastly thought...
NEWS: Trump says the Smithsonian is “WOKE” and “OUT OF CONTROL” because they talk about “how bad slavery was,” and says he has instructed his attorneys to stop this at museums in D.C.
August 19, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Sweet Jesus. Imagine a museum telling people that slavery was bad. What a ghastly thought...
I cannot decide if this is just a bit of silliness, or deeply meaningful.
🧀Some (very Friday in August) polling. Does your favourite cheese affect how you vote? Reform have huge leads with fans of Stilton & Cheddar, but also people who don't eat cheese at all. Labour dominates among Feta fans. Tories best result is Brie & Greens with Camembert.
August 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I cannot decide if this is just a bit of silliness, or deeply meaningful.
Reposted by Andy Turner
It's Bandcamp Friday today, so a particularly good day to get your hands on any of the three most recent Magpie Lane albums - either as a download, or physical CD + download
magpielane.bandcamp.com
magpielane.bandcamp.com
Magpie Lane
Magpie Lane is a five-piece folk band from Oxford, specialising in traditional English songs and dance tunes. The band has been delighting audiences for over 25 years - and through 10 critically-accla...
magpielane.bandcamp.com
August 1, 2025 at 8:23 AM
It's Bandcamp Friday today, so a particularly good day to get your hands on any of the three most recent Magpie Lane albums - either as a download, or physical CD + download
magpielane.bandcamp.com
magpielane.bandcamp.com
Reposted by Andy Turner
Reposted by Andy Turner
#Reform Council in #Warwickshire claimed 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Mail reported 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Express reported 6,500 potholes.
So GBNEWS reported 6,500 potholes.
Actual number of potholes : 107.
THis is how it works now. #Facepalm.
So the Daily Mail reported 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Express reported 6,500 potholes.
So GBNEWS reported 6,500 potholes.
Actual number of potholes : 107.
THis is how it works now. #Facepalm.
July 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
#Reform Council in #Warwickshire claimed 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Mail reported 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Express reported 6,500 potholes.
So GBNEWS reported 6,500 potholes.
Actual number of potholes : 107.
THis is how it works now. #Facepalm.
So the Daily Mail reported 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Express reported 6,500 potholes.
So GBNEWS reported 6,500 potholes.
Actual number of potholes : 107.
THis is how it works now. #Facepalm.