Words by Richard Thompstone

An evening with Richard Digance might have been titled An Evening of Nostalgia when he visited the Alexander Centre, Faversham, last Sunday to look back at how life, and England, was when he – and most of his audience – were children in the 1950s.

Having turned 76 last February, he admits that his knees cause him gyp but he continues to turn out comedic songs and spin funny stories, which he’s been doing successfully for more than 50 years.

His humour is self-depreciating and his style matey. It shone through on a song about the sweets Love Hearts, the ones that carry innocent, short, love-related messages. He imagines what messages might be if targeted at OAPs.

Other old-time sweets, such as fruit salads, black jacks and sherbet lemons, also figure in the song 200 Remembers, a tour-de-force list of 200 childhood memories.

He got serious when talking about the Post Office scandal and unveiled a new song, Don’t Give Up, his contribution to a recording of 15 songs by various artists that’ll be released soon to raise money for the sub-postmasters’ and mistresses’ legal fees.

The show’s surprise hit was Richard inviting Nobby, an audience member, on stage to perform the music hall song He’s Moved to a Bigger House Now. Nobby explained that he used to sing it as a threat to his three-year-old (now in her 30s) daughter – the song’s pay-off is that the subject is hanged!

Ending with a Last Night of the Proms sing-along sent the audience home happy but, personally, it seemed a strange choice. However, I hear Richard will be back at the venue next year.

Meanwhile, the same evening, a few miles down the road at the Colyer-Fergusson Hall, Canterbury, another 76-year-old, my [nearly] namesake, Richard Thompson and his wife Zara Phillips were giving an acoustic performance to a full house in a concert organised by Folk in the Barn.

An icon of folk-rock and one of the best electric guitarists around, Richard can delve into an extensive catalogue covering more than 50 years.

His wide-ranging and powerful set of 22 songs ranged from Singapore Sadie, which he wrote about Zara, and the Old Pack Mule, both from last year’s acclaimed Ship to Shore album, to Withered and Died and, for encores, Down Where the Drunkards Roll and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, that date back to 1974.