VALLEY Folk Club welcome back an old friend to the Swansea Valley this month.

John Alderslade started performing in folk clubs in 1968, at first fronting various groups with long time friend Pat Drinkwater. During the 1970s he formed the well travelled group Stonegallows with Pat and Alan Briers.

The group lasted quite a few years with different personnel, John being the only constant.

Then after balancing solo performance with a puppet and live action folk group The Old Will Folk Entertainers Company, he formed a couple of duo acts with Joffre White and Tony Batten.

Long time organiser of folk events he was in at the start of the Village Pump Folk Club which is running successfully again after a break.

He was chairman of the committee that set up Trowbridge Village Pump Folk Festival which he helped run for more than 35 years, and he was one of the main movers in reawakening this giant in a new format.

John is still happily doing things in his own inimitable fashion and continues to captivate his audience in folk clubs and festivals with songs collected from friends over the years, side splitting humour and a nearly 50 year wealth of stories.

He performs solo again for a January guest night, accompanying himself on various stringed instruments. A perfect choice of guest to help welcome in the new year.

You can watch John Alderslade at the Ivy Bush Hotel in Pontardawe on Friday, January 20 at 8pm. Tickets are priced at £7 and are available by contacting 01792 425231. Visit www.pontardawefolkclub.co.uk for more information.