Dr. Peter J. Knaggs: Hobbies

Traditional Song

Much that I dislike classifying people, I am now going to classify my music collection...

• English: The Wilson Family, The Waterson Family (in various guises including Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson, and Waterson:Carthy), Artisan, Coope, Boyes & Simpson, Pete Coe, Brian Peters, Kate Rusby, Cockersdale, Strawhead, The Young Tradition, Peter Bellamy, Les Barker, Sid Kipper, Vin Garbutt.
• Scottish: Tannahill Weavers, Battlefield Band, Silly Wizard, The McCalmans, Dick Gaughan, Janet Russell.
  I have also been a partner in the record company Ceol Mor Productions which was founded in 1999 with the aim of producing high quality traditional music. We only ever produced the one disk (To Be The Nation Again).
• Urban: Tom Robinson, 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant, Billy Bragg, Kirsty MacColl.
• Others: The Beatles (John Lennon and George Harrison), Queen, Squeeze, Jim Steinman, etc.

There are many I have left off, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Traditional Dance

I have been involved in Traditional Dance (ie, Morris and Rapper) and danced with Richmondshire Streethouse Morrismen.

Real Ale

Beer brewed in the traditional style by small brewers. I prefer to drink in a good pub (i.e., non open-plan, or plastic), with the beer at just under room temperature. My particular taste is for the Porter style of Ale, a dark, slightly sweetish but hoppy ale made with roasted barley, exemplified by Timothy Taylor's Porter. It is the predecessor of the Stout most people know (and some call Porter) today. In particular I enjoy a pint of Orkney's Dark Island to name just one.

It should be noted that Real Ale does includes largers that have been brewed in the traditional style, and Largered. Unfortunately there are no largers brewed in this style in the UK.

Forth

Yes I know this is a bit odd, but Forth is a lot more than a programming language, but more of a philosophy to programming. Thus, I find working with a Forth system both entertaining and rewarding.