Bob Forrester
Robert (Bob) Forrester (1913-1988)
Carlisle, Cumberland
Mouth Organ player and folk music collector
Born in 1913 near Carlisle, Bob lived in the city and worked as a commercial artist for the Metal Box Company. He painted and sketched all his life, exhibiting in London as well as in Cumbria. His best known works locally are his two large, dramatic mountain murals, one showing 'Ancient Britons' at Castlerigg stone circle and the other a railway scene at Carlisle's Citadel Station, which are both exhibited prominently at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle. His songs and tunes came to him from his grandfather Joe, a well-known fiddler in the Bewcastle area at the end of the 19th century. Joe apparently enlivened the proceedings at many a wedding, christening and kern supper in that remote part of Cumberland. Robert Forrester died in 1988. (Sue Allen)
Discography
- Pass the Jug Round - Traditional Songs and Music from Cumberland recorded in the 1950s Various Artists -Reynard Records RR002 (LP, UK, 1982) Veteran VT142CD (CD, UK, 2001) [1]
- Come All My Lads That Follow The Plough. The Life Of Rural Working Men And Women. (CD) Topic Records TSCD655 1998 Copshawholm Fair
- Ranting & Reeling. Dance Music Of The North Of England. (CD) Topic Records TSCD669 1998 The Wild Rover / Copshawholm Fair / Yon Flowery Garden (Waltzes)