Mr Forbes Legato is at the Warwick Folk festival

The other day I wrote about Pilgrims' Way and their first album, Wayside Courtesies, which I liked very much. So it was good to run into Lucy Wright and Edwin Beasant very soon after arriving at the Warwick Folk Festival - about an hour ago.

They're here for their official album launch, which is tomorrow. And Edwin is also here working in the tent belonging to The Music Room instrument company.

However, so far it's been a slightly bitter-sweet experience for me.

In my review of the album I said something about what I thought the producers, Forbes Legato and Jon Loomes as identified on the CD cover, had been up to in the studio. So when Lucy and Edwin's friend, Gill Loomes, asked if I'd like to meet Forbes Legato I said yes.

She scurried off and I wondered briefly whether she was expecting me to follow her or whether I should stay put. It turned out she'd gone to fetch Forbes.

Yes, that's right. Forbes is a stuffed toy, developed by Jon Loomes as a means of avoiding difficult conversations. "I'd love to be able to help you, but unfortunately Forbes won't let me..." That kind of thing.

And if that sounds slightly bizarre, you should hear Gill being Forbes.

I'm wondering whether this qualifies as a legitimate management technique, cos I once worked in an office in which a colleague went off to do a course called "How to have difficult conversations" and what he came back with wasn't noticeably less sensible than the stuffed cat idea.

A legend is born.

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