Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday February 6th 2025

Our February session got off to a lively start as Emily launched us with some of the songs from our original song books - and encouraged that we sing these without reference to the lyric sheets in everyone's folders (with some allowance for singers not with us back in the day who may be less familiar with what had been learned then by ear).  Most were in any case known to us all from more recent use and, with paper prompts or without, we sang our way through them with gusto - "Country Life", "Sussex Hills", and "Ale Glorious Ale" - all produced a rich sound and set us up well for more.  

The "Bee Boys Song" and "One for the Rook" followed, before Alan suggested we continue focus on the changing seasons and the promise of spring and summer ahead - so next came "When Spring Comes In", "Searching for Lambs" and "Summer is A'Comin' in Again".  Before the break Emily reminded us a spring time round Alan had brought to us - "The Summer is Near"(which is on the rounds and catches page of the SDFS Blog) - known to some by its first line Rambling Rolling Downs.   

Our second half began with Alan and Emily revisiting a song still fairly new to us, "The Rambling Comber" - with Alan guiding a small group to learn the low harmony part.  High harmonies were also tried a little - and all parts deserve more attention at future sessions to perfect this lovely song.  More harmonies accompanied the "Oak Tree Song" which enriched an already beautiful song.  more requests followed with "My Downland Remembered", "Green Grows the Laurels" and last but not least, back to another old favourite (again without relying on our word sheets!) - "Fathom the Bowl".

Thanks to everyone - and see you at our next Barn session on March 6th. 

Lewes Local Group Report - Monday January 20th 2025 (with update from Monday December 16th 2024)

As our regular pub venue was unavailable for our last session of the year in December, eleven singers were instead hosted by Mac and Margaret at their home in Saltdean. We took turns in choosing from the “cold weather and winter” collection with nineteen carols, wassailing and other seasonal songs being sung, in between much convivial conversation and enjoyment of the very welcome mince pies and chocolates kindly provided on the house. Many thanks again to M&M for a lovely evening.

 

On the other side of the festive season, ten singers reassembled in January back at our upstairs room at the Lewes Arms. Despite it being Blue Monday, reportedly the most depressing day of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and this year also having Donald Trump’s return inauguration to cap it off (!), we were all in good spirits and shared cheerful greetings. There was a slight blip when the pub didn’t have our booking carried forward in the new diary so that we needed to wait for some diners, together with a couple of chess players who had spilled over from the club meeting downstairs, to finish up before we could start our singing. One of the chess players expressed an interest though and said she may return for a future session.

 

As in the December session, with no particular gig on the immediate horizon I went round the room for everyone to choose their favourites from the Christmas, wassail, winter and general songs. Since we have a couple of recently joined singers who are knowledgeable about music in general but relatively new to the folk scene, we spent some time, during introductions at the start  and also between songs, talking in detail about the history of SDFS and about the songs, song collectors and folk as a genre, along with some personal anecdotes and memories about the songs and previous events, and ideas for future events*.

 

In the first part of the evening, we sang “Here We Come a-Wassailing”, “Home Lads Home”, “Wassail the Silver Apple”,  “East Sussex Drinking Song”**, “The Magpie”, “Where Stormy Winds do Blow”,  “The Woodcutter’s Song”, “One for the Rook”, “The Boar’s Head Carol”, “Hard Times of Old England” and “Sugar (Sussex) Wassail”.

 

After a slightly prolonged break due to the queue at the downstairs bar, we kicked off again. To get round the circle twice we agreed to sing a bit beyond our usual finishing time and got through the following: “Parting Song”, “The Turnip/Turmut Hoer”, “Hares on the Mountain”, “Seasons Turn”, “The Oak Tree Song”, “Fields Lie Silent” and “Life of a Man”.

 

I then had the final choice of “Thousands or More” before we set off home at 10:15p.m. Another lovely evening with good company and good singing.

 

From next month we will begin looking ahead to spring and beyond and I will send out suggested songs in advance of the February, March and April sessions. 

 

Tina

 

*Fi and Rosie have suggested the possibility of singing at an apple pressing event at Wallands Primary School in Lewes in October and will obtain more information.

 

**One of our newer singers James works for a Lewes Brewery, and pointed out that there are now three, rather than one (Harvey’s of course) as in the original song which was written by our own Adrian Figgess in 2013 as a counterpoint to Hilaire Belloc’s “West Sussex Drinking Song”. Adrian was present this evening and agreed this change to his lyrics in verse 2: “They once had nine breweries – SIX more than they’ve got now!”(instead of eight more).

 

 

Farmer's Toast - A Shortened Version

Alan has offered a shortened version of Farmer's Toast, the lyrics of which you can find on the Main Page using this Link

Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday January 16th 2025

13 singers turned out on a cold January day to start the new SDFS singing year.  Alan confirmed that following the visit of a representative from the 2025 Chichester Fringe, the SDFS had been invited to perform in this event on 1st June 2025.  It had been decided that as this was a Chichester based event, and a limited number of places owing to venue size that singers would be drawn from regular attendees at the Chichester SDFS practices.   An early request for Chichester singers had produced 17 volunteers which was about the right number required.  The singers would be included in the advertising material for the Chichester Fringe and so the evening started with an attempt to obtain a suitable photograph!

Alan had worked out a possible draft programme which would drive some of the practices between now and June at Chichester.  Two rousing chorus songs – "Ale Glorious Ale" and "One for the Rook" with Alan suggesting possible harmony lines for those that found it difficult to reach particularly high notes.  Continuing with "On Sussex Hills" Alan reminded all that there were some good harmonies to this and they could be found on the SDFS website.  Although it’s due to be included in the programme, a "Country Life" practice was firmly declined!  Alan stated that harmonies were definitely required in "The Rambling Comber" which was tried next – again these could be found on the SDFS website.  The group had two attempts at "Searching for Lambs", taking extra care to stay in key with Julia providing the singing tip that holding in one’s tummy could well assist in this!  The ladies present then tried "Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun", the men coming in with the usual humming after the first verse.  It was decided that this arrangement should continue with the ladies taking the main tune as it was a “ladies” song.
 
After a well earned break, with much enthusiasm for Gordon’s Burn’s Night Poem and Dave G’s excellent rendition of the address to the Hagis in keeping with the theme, the second half of the evening opened with "Summer is a Coming in Again".  It was agreed that it was best to leave off the chorus at the end and finish on the last verse.  "Hal and Tow" was tried next with the idea that the group start singing it with the chorus and that clapping or a drum would help keep a good rhythm.  Continuing the Spring theme,  "When Spring Comes In" and "The Magpie" followed with a suggestion that several ladies joined in the harmony when it was next sung.  
 
In response to several other song suggestions, Alan explained that those tried this evening were just a handful of the final programme and others would be introduced in the practices leading up to the Fringe event.  
 
The whole group finished the evening with a joyful “Happy Birthday” to Chris, who was due a birthday at the weekend.
 
 
Anne S
 

A "Thank You" for our Singing

Thank you to the South Downs Folk Singers who came along (in fairly inclement weather) to sing for the Sompting Wassail in Tarring.

Despite some annoying drizzle, there was a good audience, and we managed to go ahead with the procession, the blessing of the apple trees, and the Mummers' play, all out in the open air. It was lovely to hear the sound of the Wassail songs as the     procession made its way into the Vine garden, and many members of the audience joined in the songs with enthusiasm.

Many thanks again and we hope that the South Downs Folk Singers will be willing to join the celebration next year, when the date will be Monday 5th January 2026.

Best wishes
Sompting Village Morris

New Items on our Miscellaneous Page

If you are interested in folk dances as well as folk songs and music - do have a look! 

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday January 2nd 2025

On the second day of 2025 and for our first Worthing SDFS session of the New Year, the Barn welcomed us again with its fairy lights and Christmas Tree, still there to see out the season's festivities.  18 singers gathered on a chilly evening, with icy roads out and about which had perhaps deterred a few of our 'regulars'.  Emily was needed at home so unable to join us for this session, but Alan nobly stepped up as our guide for an evening of wassailing songs ("Sugar Wassail", "Gloucester Wassail", "Here We Come A'wassailing", "Apple Wassail" and  "Silver Wassail") and other seasonal choices by request ("Sweet Chiming Bells", "The Field Mouse Carol", "Sussex Mummers Carol", "Moon Shone Bright", "Fields Lie Silent" and for a finale, "Thousands or More").  

Between times we enjoyed Lyn singing for us her version of "Hard Times" which she'd shared at the last Chichester group session (and it's now available on the SDFS Blog pages: "Other Songs to Try" and "Songs Created by Us") - and we followed it by all singing the original version "Hard Times of Old England" again.   Keith and Jean also entertained us with the version they knew of "Friendly Beasts" - similar to the one we've learned from and arranged by Amaryllis - but sung as a gentle lullaby.  Later in the evening Alan gave us "Where Does Father Christmas Go in the Summer Time", which prompted more cheery smiles and some folks joining in on the chorus.  

So all in all we enjoyed fifteen songs with a sociable break mid way (made all the better by the mincepies contributed by Suzie) - but with the chilly and possibly dropping temperatures in mind we concluded the evening in good time before taking to the roads again to wend our ways home.  We'll be back at the Barn on Candlemas Eve (February 1st), without fairy lights by then but still with good company and songs to cheer us - and a hopeful look towards the spring returning very soon!  

H. 

Findon Valley Community Orchard Wassail - Saturday January 4th 2025 - Podcast report

Some of our South Downs Folk Singers supported the first ever Findon Valley Community Orchard  Wassail held yesterday, and offered a few songs in celebration of the newly planted fruit trees to encourage them to grow and prosper in future years. 

You can listen to the Worthing Podcast article about the event here - which features an interview with our very own Alan Wheeler!

Many thanks again to Alan and the singers there for our first sing out of the New Year!  

A Song To Try - The Folk Songs of Old England

Here's an amusing alternative of the traditional song "Hard Times of Old England" written by Lyn Ford, entitled "The Folk Songs of Old England".

Lyrics

Season's Greetings All !

Our Local Group sessions and our programme of events for 2024 have now concluded and it's time to give "one big thank you" to all our Singers, our hosts at the various events and occasions we covered in the year, and to everyone who stopped to listen to our singing when we were out and about.  

We'll be resuming in the New Year with more songs, more local sessions and more events across Sussex in 2025.  Our Diary Dates page will have all the details as they emerge - and already on there is the Wassail in Tarring, Worthing, in the evening of January 5th - a great start to another year.

Wherever, however and whatever you may be celebrating during this season of festivity, as the year turns and the days gradually lengthen - we wish you happiness and peace, and if you'd like to join us or hear us at a future event, we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!