Clannad and musician Martin Carthy are to receive honorary accolades at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards next month.

THIS morning, dawdling knee-deep in the water at the edge of the port beach at Valle Gran Rey on the Canary Island of La Gomera, I remembered standing in the same spot many years ago with a skinny boy, now a giant of 30 years, and looking at a big manta ray lying in the sand at our feet.