Woodcroft Lane reel

I composed this one in 2012 and named it for a particular stretch of lane in Weardale, Co.Durham (NE England) that happens to pass a farm called Woodcroft. I spent a lot of weekend and holiday time in the dale when I was a kid in the 1960s, and indeed afterwards. The lane as a whole, AFAIK, doesn’t actually have a proper name. I’ve only ever heard it called "The back road from Frosterley to Stanhope" - which seems a bit cumbrous for a tune title.

The tune itself is a slowish rhythmic air that IMO goes best at or around the tempo of the song Loch Lomond, as the latter is commonly played. I personally like it with the first part played once, the second part twice. These preferences of mine in the preceding two sentences are not, of course, written in stone.

Though I say it myself, this tune can come over very well on the whistle when accompanied by a guitarist or other strings player who has got a good handle on it. 🙂

The midi playback on this isn’t playing as intended - I’ll have to get back to it. I have a session to go to…

Midi now sorted.

I like to play this one just a tad faster than the midi.

The first setting of this tune that I submitted hasn’t come out well as sheet music, maybe because I was using the longer note lengths - the tune is a moderate-paced air, not a reel. Accordingly I have submitted a second setting of the same tune, with shorter note lengths. This will make the midi play faster than the speed the tune is composed for, but I hope the sheet music comes out OK.

Still haven’t entered it/got it to work properly - back to the drawing board!

I have corrected the abc’s. This tune Woodcroft Lane and its sheet music are now properly up and running, not before time 🙂.