About The Baldock Bard.

In 1997 a scruffy untalented poet started to write verse for the Baldock Car Boot Sale adverts in the local papers on a four week trial. Before long his attempts at verse was being discussed in bars across the South East of the UK. A regular buyer at the car boot sales was in his local pub in Barnet when he heard two men at the bar discussing a car boot poem they had read in the local paper by someone they called 'The Baldock Bard' (after the town where the car boot sale was held). From this moment on, the un-named verse-writer was known far and wide as 'The Baldock Bard'. He lives in a cave carved into a hill just outside Baldock in Hertfordshire, living off the land. He is addicted to Cheeselets, Twiglets and Cola and has a long-suffering wife, a granddaughter, a daughter, a son-in-law, two dogs, geese and chickens

The Spider’s Web

Posted on September 15, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

The other night I almost walked into a very large spider’s web. As I shone the torch the intricate construction was displayed and I grabbed my trusty I-phone hoping against all odds to capture the beauty. Then I realized that it was designed purely for killing…

“Welcome to the Web,”
said the spider to the fly,
“ask it anything you want,
you’ll learn the ‘what and why!’

Learn all the latest news,
some may or not be true,
learn about yourself,
you’ll find the real ‘you’!

Learn about digestion,
and how the web is fine.”
The spider then ate the fly,
“The digestion part was MINE!”

Take care out there; all that is beautiful is not necessarily good for your health!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
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Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
STILL HERE AFTER 25 YEARS!
It is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Feed your hungry sat-nav with SG7 6RD

2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY MORNING!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

The Dog and Drone!

Posted on September 13, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

Readers of my recent random scribblings will realise how little influence I have over the behaviour of our naughty ‘puppy-that’s-not-a-puppy-anymore’. Yesterday it got through the garden gate and ran up the drive towards the road. It found great humour in seeing me puffing and panting after it. Suddenly she got bored with the game and returned past me, through the gate and back into the garden. Later I flew my drone from the garden path and I suddenly realised she was mesmerised! When it landed she sat without a movement as if properly trained…

“What’s this thing,
that I can see?
Coming out of the sky,
will it vaporise me?
It’s cycloptic stare,
watches my every move,
if I sit still,
will it disapprove?
I haven’t twitched,
not even a leg,
it’s lights have stopped flashing,
perhaps it’s dead!”

The latest dog-training aid – a DJI Mavic Pro UAV (takes great pictures too)

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Gardener’s Bonfire!

Posted on September 12, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

The other day I changed out of my ‘farmer’s uniform’ of checked shirt, tweed jacket, wellies and cap into an old pair of corduroys, much-used baggy jersey, green anti-thorn gloves and a dirty old floppy hat. I had to change as I was about to do something that, as a farmer, is verboten. I was going to light a garden bonfire! As I was now officially ‘a gardener’ I had no need to await November 5th, or the festival of Eid, and had no need to apply for a derogation from a government department…

There is nothing that announces:
‘Autumn is almost here!’
than the smell of a garden bonfire,
around this time of year.
The cremation of dead tree branches,
too small for our sitting-room fire,
the sizzling of green holly leaves,
on the bottom-of-garden pyre.
As I stood staring into the flames,
I remembered things I’d seen,
how we used to set-light to stubble,
nature’s fire kept seedbed clean!

Have a good day and keep filling up the brown bins, you know it makes sense.
Please don’t complain about the smell it makes when they spread it on the land, you’re only getting your own back!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

Appropriate Conveniences!

Posted on September 11, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

Many many years ago Mrs Bard and I went on a camping Holiday in a tent with another couple. I learnt a valuable piece of advice as every time we stopped at a French campsite the female half of this other couple would do a thorough inspection of the ‘facilities’ to check their cleanliness. If they weren’t up to her standards, onward we’d travel until we found suitability elsewhere. Unfortunately it has become one of my irritating habits and I now score (out of 10) wherever I go…

When you are busting,
you have to be trusting,
that facilities offered are clean.
But when you have time,
you need more than pit-lime,
and cleanliness like never seen!
The loos are a guide,
to what greets you inside,
will the hygene make you feel green?
So go out for a meal,
check the loos are the deal,
your visit will be fit for a Queen!!

The loos in today’s photo (10/10) are from a wonderful eatery now sadly closed. The Hole in the Wall, near Cambridge was an example to all! Have a good week and may your conveniences be up to standard!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

Forecourt Daze!

Posted on September 9, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

How absent-minded can you be? Yesterday morning I went to fetch milk. As we have no milking cows on the farm, it meant a trip to Tesco petrol station. I parked my wife’s black Volvo away from the pumps and behind a Nissan 4×4.

“Good morning no fuel,
I’ve just a bottle of milk,
not tempted by donuts,
or anything of that ilk!”

“Thank you so much,
and have a very good day”
I walked back onto the forecourt
so I could drive away!

Almost run over,
by a big white van,
driver gave me the finger,
what a very irritating man!

Mrs Bard’s car is keyless,
keys stay in your pocket,
pull the door handle,
and you magically unlock-it.
The door wouldn’t open,
this was most bizarre,
was then that I realised,
it was someone else’s car!

I hung around and explained my stupidity to the lady owner who said it had made her day and that she couldn’t wait to tell her husband!
This morning’s verse is dedicated to the staff at the Tesco petrol station in Baldock who are the finest bunch you could ever meet.They make filling up a pleasure.

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

My Heap of Stress Relief!

Posted on September 8, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

What do you do when stressed? I tend to find a job I hate that requires some (but not too much) physical effort. For me, one of those jobs is sweeping out an oat bin in order to transfer the grain to the barn for loading. It is the perfect stress relief…

I have a large heap of oats
piling up in the shed,
“That’ll keep folk in porridge!”
somebody said!
and when things start
to stress me right out,
I go sweep a bin
(behind my dust mask I shout!).
Dust swirls in the bin,
I’m covered in chaff,
but when I get out,
once more I can laugh!

Wishing you a stress-free Friday, or if not you’re welcome to come sweep with me!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Farm Inspection!

Posted on September 7, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

Once a year we have an inspection on the farm. The result of a pass is that we can call ourselves ‘Farm Assured’ and buyers can buy our crops with confidence knowing that at any stage of the process from gate to plate the origins can be traced. It also shows that we have followed the myriad of rules we have to obey. Gone are the days of Farmer Fred simply having to obey the weather, his wife and the bank manager…

I had a snap inspection yesterday,
even though all the wheat had gone away,
the inspector checked around the farm,
finding nothing amiss to raise an alarm.
Then it came to the paperwork that’s needed,
for every acre of farm that’s seeded.
For this Mrs Bard is firmly in charge,
as my filling skills wouldn’t satisfy the Sarge!
She has a folder she likes very much,
labelled “Farmer Giles – Don’t You Dare Touch!”
All the inspectors we’ve ever had have been firm but fair and we’ve always managed to pass (something I could never manage at school). So thanks to Matt, we’re once again Farm Assured.

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Beer Guardian!

Posted on September 5, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

We have a puppy that’s not a puppy anymore! Because of her size and deceiving angelic looks, people naturally think she’s a puppy and say “Aaaaaah! How cute!” This is unfortunately wrong on many levels as she excels in naughtiness. If she were to sit ‘A’ Level in Naughtiness she’d be assured an A* and a place at the university of her choice. This weekend she decided to guard a bottle of beer and challenge anyone to remove it…

Mati sits guarding a bottle of beer,
“It’s mine so go get your own!”
and then with a growl
and a contorted scowl,
enough to frighten St Joan!

Later we manage to wrestle it back,
from where she lies on her grassy knoll,
by underhand tricks
and ‘Best Doggie Mix’,
and the clatter of her supper bowl!

Bribery, corruption and a promise of food – a winning canine combination!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

Droning on at the Boot Sale!

Posted on September 4, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

Last Saturday in unusually glorious weather, I overflew the car boot sale with my trusty Mavic Pro drone (following the regulations to the letter of course as my licence is more precious to me that a good photo). Afterwards I received varied comments from “Playing with your toy again I see!” to “You checking up on us from a different angle!”. I struggled to explain that I use it mostly for work and so gave up and agreed that it was great fun as well as being useful (it also helped that it was sunny and the field was full)…

Saturday, September the second,
summer has reached us at last,
Farmer Giles has his drone in the sky,
if it crashes he’ll say “Damn and blast!”

A few sellers have noticed,
they point to this thing in the sky,
others approach with a question,
“Tell me: What or Where or Why?”

Then come out the stories,
“A mate once had one of those,
it chased his girlfriend round the garden,
until she tripped and fell on her nose!”

“There’s one came over our house,
it won’t be coming no more,
I scored a direct hit with the hosepipe,
it came down on the roof next door!”

I did a perfect landing in the car-park,
away from all bar me,
“I wanted you to crash it!”
a seller said with great glee!

“You call yourself a pilot,
I have no wish to be rude,
but you ain’t a proper live pilot,
‘cos there’s no stewardess serving food!”

Have a great day and if you’re going flying make sure there is a drink and food available and stay safe!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

Wheat Gone!

Posted on September 2, 2017 by The Baldock Bard.

Yesterday I rounded up the remaining wheat into a manageable heap, swept the floor and waited for the lorry to take it away. It’s always a gamble when you have a ‘clear-up load’ as to how much there is in the heap. This time I knew I was going to pay a penalty for a half-empty lorry. In the end it went away with a load of ten tons rather than it’s maximum of twenty-nine. All that was left was to get ready for the next crop to go…

The last of the wheat has left the farm,
leaving me with an empty barn,
Once the lorry has gone down the road,
it’s engine thankful it’s a third of a load,
I can relax once more there’s no more rush,
and sweep again with the purple barn brush!
Have a great weekend, we’ll see you on the other side!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above 
Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

Baldock Bard

Verse and Worse from the Baldock Versemonger

Author Archives: The Baldock Bard.

About The Baldock Bard.

The Spider’s Web

The Dog and Drone!

The Gardener’s Bonfire!

Appropriate Conveniences!

Forecourt Daze!

My Heap of Stress Relief!

The Farm Inspection!

The Beer Guardian!

Droning on at the Boot Sale!

Wheat Gone!