A 70s acoustic folk-rock band that reformed after a chance encounter 30 years later is taking its annual January tour to Hitchin Folk Club.

The Bully Wee Band was created in the early 70s by brothers Jim and John Yardley. The band successfully toured Britain, Europe and America through several line-ups until the last members - Ian Cutler, Fergus Feely, Colin Reece and Maartin Allcock called it a day in 1983.

A chance meeting between Cutler, Feely and Reece twenty years later led to a spirited jam session at Faversham Folk Club, and a subsequent decision to put a three-piece Bully Wee Band back on the road in January 2004 ‘if only for the craic’.

The tour was so popular, Colin, Ian and Fergus decided to repeat the experience the following January, with the addition of founder member Jim Yardley. The group has toured every January since.

Folk club organiser Keiron Jones said: “The band have had no trouble proving that they are still a force to be reckoned with as one of Britain’s foremost exponents of acoustic folk-rock music.”

To buy tickets for the Sunday January 29 gig at The Sun Hotel, Hitchin email goodmusic@hitchinfolkclub.co.uk