Antikhof Drei Eichen

It was only an hour and a half drive to Brockel. There are many storks living in this area and we spotted two in a field. We also saw a sign “beware of low flying storks” but we didn’t see any flying.

As soon as we arrived, we saw that this was going to be an amazing and unique venue for a gig.

The main building was built in 1650 as a lodging for pilgrims walking from Hamburg to Rome, a 2200km walk. There are occasional pilgrims who still do the walk and some cycle. An extension was added in 1738 and used as a pub which survived until 1980.

Torsten took over the site in 2009 and began restoring it and creating an antiques and arts centre, now with a music concert once a month. While it has many modern features, in parts it does feel like a seventeenth century building. The stairs in particular require very careful attention, especially in the dark. When we arrived, Torsten told us that on the previous night it “had rained cats, dogs and elephants”. Tonight the weather was lovely, warm and dry, and the seats were full for the concert.

There were many dedicated fans in the audience, some having driven over 50 km for the concert. As at many of Ray’s shows on this tour, he was called back for two encores. For the second encore, a big cheer went up as he picked up his cello and a woman asked him to play The Dark Days Are Over which of course he did.

As we were staying overnight in the pilgrim’s room, there was no need to rush to pack away the PA. This allowed plenty of time for us to talk with members of the audience. Amazingly, I met a lady from Bracknell which is somewhere I used to work. Apparently most people in Germany have never heard of Bracknell and so she has to say she comes from somewhere near Windsor.

After packing up it had got dark but still warm so a small group of us sat chatting over a glass of wine. It was the perfect ending to my last show on this tour.

On a tour like this where you stay with people rather than in a hotel, you never know who you are going to meet. We found out over breakfast that one of our hosts is the niece of Anton Karas who wrote and played the theme tune for the film The Third Man, also ‘Harry Lime theme’.