IT is hard to describe what makes John Shuttleworth so appealing.

For two hours he rambles from one mundane subject to another without actually saying anything in particular.

He sings songs about fleece jackets, cups of tea and wasps and addresses the crowd as though on stage at a rock concert, when in fact he’s just a Yorkshireman with a dated Yamaha keyboard and a microphone.

Yet, and rightly so, the audience love him, and his visit to Huntingdon Hall with his Minor Tour (and Other Mythological Creatures) was no exception.

Of course, there is little mention of Greek mythology, a mix-up Shuttleworth puts down to agent Ken Worthington misunderstanding his request for a tour with few dates!

But, from taking the stage dressed in a bull’s head to conversing via mobile phone with Worthington and asking wife Mary for permission to appear in panto, the ‘currently unemployed’ Shuttleworth had everyone chuckling.

Fans were also treated to an excerpt from his new feature film Southern Softies, which saw him traipsing through a Jersey market asking punters what they thought of the north-south divide.

There were appearances from creator Graham Fellowes’ other alter egos Brian Appleton, a rockmusicologist from the Newcastle-under-Lyme area, and Goole-based concreter Dave Tordoff via a ‘satellite link’.

And no Shuttleworth experience would be complete without a medley of his greatest hits including Ambassador Y-Reg, I Can’t Go Back To Savoury Now and the legendary Pigeons In Flight, which had the audience rocking in the pews. Great stuff.