Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday October 15th 2026

Seven SDFSingers attended this session, our number reduced by the holidays and other commitments of other regular participants - but it was boosted by four new faces, students from West Dean college, who had met one of our group at a Fishbourne Mill Morris event and she had invited them to attend.

The evening proved to be mix of songs suggested in preparation for the SDFS sings due at Fishbourne Roman Palace on Saturday December 5th, and the lunchtime concert at Christ Church in Worthing on Tuesday Dec 8th. - with word sheets shared to include our guests. These were interspersed by spontaneous contributions from our guests of songs they knew (not necessarily South Downs ones and titles not supplied) for our enjoyment and engagement if we knew them. 

From the SDFS collection we started with "Masters of this Hall" - which had become a little rusty since last used in 2025, but improved with a second go.  Then, "In the Bleak Midwinter", "Holly and the Ivy", and the "Sussex Carol", before discussing then singing "Gaudete", with the original Latin words.  Latin scholars amongst us did best in this but we all managed to keep up. Suggestions were made about splitting verse lines or choruses between men and women' voices - and agreed the chorus should begin with male voices. To avoid confusion for our SDFS singers not present, we avoided a verse featured on some copies of the lyrics - to leave only the four reproduced on the SDFS Blog's songs page.

From there we went back to more familiar pastures with 'Fields Lie Silent", before "Pentonville" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" - with an interlude for "Dark December" a lovely song, sung by David accompanied by his guitar and the rest of us joining in the choruses. (Permission has been sought for this much enjoyed seasonal song to be used by us - although admittedly it's origins are in the North Country.).

"The Coppers' Christmas Song", new to our guests, came next before a song we all knew well, "Country Life", sung together before the break.  "Rosebuds in June" was briefly mentioned as another song known to us all - but one of our new singers reported having learnt it to a different tune in his home county of Dorset.  During what passed for a break - our guests contributed some songs they liked and knew well, with others who also knew them joining in - and Alan presented the readings he is planning to included in the programme for the "Christ Church" event in December. 

When all were ready to, we used the remaining time together to sing "Sugar Wassail". "Wassail the Silver Apple", "Oak and Ash and Thorn", "One for the Rook" - and last but not least, not a South Downs song but definitely adopted by us in the SDFS Chichester group - "Rolling Home"…. before we duly did just that.

We'll be back at The Inn on November 19th - see you there!

New "Miscellaneous" post

If you are a musician interested in joining a Morris dancing side in the Chichester area - check the "Miscellaneous" page on this Blog for more details.  

Lewes Local Group Report - (from Monday September 21st 2026)

This was a very lively and convivial session with ten regulars, four new singers and a baby – a Morris dancer/musician brought along her five-week-old daughter who somehow managed to sleep through the first half of the evening. 

We sang our way through both sets for the event next weekend at Alfriston Clergy House. I chose the first two songs: we warmed up with “East Sussex Drinking Song” and then tackled a new number that we definitely needed to do – “Harvest Moan” set to the tune of “We Plough the Fields and Scatter” by the spoof Kipper Family from Norfolk (my home county) as it is replacing “Life of a Man” at this event. After that we took turns as usual to decide the order of the others but managed to sing all twenty in any case. During the rest of the first half of the evening, we sang “All Among the Barley”, “Old Adam”, “Fields Lie Silent”, “Oak Tree Song”, “Woodcutter’s Song”, “My Downland Remembered”, “Lammas Carol” and “West Sussex Drinking Song”.

 

In the break we admired the youngest visitor some more before she was taken home, chatted about our different experiences and other groups we sing with and arranged lifts to Alfriston (except for the member who lives there and just needs to stroll across the Green).

 

Suitably refreshed we carried on with “Oak and Ash and Thorn”, “One for the Rook”, “Home Lads Home”, “Country Life”, “Sussex by the Sea”, “Parting Song”, “Oldland Mill”, “Ha’nacker Mill”, “Brisk Young Ploughboy” and ended, as we often do, with “Thousands or More”.

 

Our next session will be on Monday October 19^th. New members are always welcome for a free taster session, whatever your previous experience or knowledge. Just bring yourself and your enthusiasm.

 

Tina

 

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday October 1st 2026

The South Downs Folk Singers Annual General Meeting meant an early start at the Barn - but once the agenda had been covered and (for now!) discussions done, tables and chair were reconfigured and after a short break we began our singing with time enough for a dozen songs (and another discussed) to complete the evening.

Before the session Amaryllis had suggested a selection of songs, for enjoyment of our winter season repertoire and in preparation for the events we have planned in November and December.  To interrupt and conclude the post AGM and break-time chatting, a few voices launched with their first choice: the "Boar's Head Carol", with everyone else soon joining in. This was followed by the joyful "Sweet Chiming Bells" before the gentle but also joyous "Field Mouse Carol".  Other aspects of the winter season were described in the "Woodcutters Song" and  "Where Stormy Winds Do Blow".  It was agreed the verses of the latter should be brisk and determined, and the choruses rendered robustly and not too slow - in the character of stormy winds (and likened by one singer to a speech by King Lear!). 

We moved on to seasonal greenery with "The Holly and the Ivy", before a brief departure to the round "I heard a Bird Sing" which was lovely and fun, until unfortunately it lost its way towards the end.  By contrast "Poor Froze Gardeners" described the hardships of winter, before "Friendly Beasts" provided some cheer and warmth in its depiction of animals at the Nativity.  The 'dooby-do's' added last year between the verses of Amaryllis' tune for the latter were reviewed, and it was generally agreed to remove them in favour of the verses flowing on after just a brief silent pause.  

The beautiful and popular "Fields Lie Silent" was our next choice, before "Ideo", and then discussion of "Gaudete" (which had previously been offered, and has now been suggested again, by singers in the Chichester group).  We managed the chorus, but not everyone was familiar with the verses, in Latin. So it was not ventured in full this evening, but may be given more time at another session. That left us with just enough time to sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" - using the tune we prefer which differs from the one most of us learned at school or in church.  So with that uplifting herald of Christmas and other seasonal songs to come, a busy evening closed. 

All our songs can be found on the Songs pages of this Blog - and you can hear some of them them at our public performances in November and December.  If not already in the "South Downs Folk Singers", you can also sing them with us by dropping us a line if you are interested and joining us at one, or all, of our local group sessions.   All the details you need are on the pages of the Blog.  

H.

Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday September 17th 2026

There was a small gathering at the Chichester Inn this month - with holidays and other commitments keeping some singers away.  Nonetheless there was plenty of sociable chat - and of course songs to sing.  All songs were by request from within the group and layered between talk of song collectors, other musical events, ideas for future SDFS events and general reflections on the past year and the one to come. 

The changing seasons inspired the first songs chosen - "Fields Lie Silent" (which prompted another customer in the pub, sitting nearby, to compliment us saying how the words and tune were very evocative of the season) - and then "Field Mouse Carol".    Drawing back from as far ahead as Christmas, "All Among the Barley" reset the autumnal mood.  A change of tack followed when we revisited a song Alan sang to us a while ago - his arrangement of "St George the Knight".  This guest song has permission from its writer of the original, John Kirkpatrick, for us to sing it at sessions.  

There was a brief conversation to review the plan to perform at the Chichester Fringe 2027 - the plan being to offer a programme centred on folk songs collected in the Chithurst area.  Progress with preparations for this has been limited, and current circumstances continue to inhibit it, so it was agreed by all not to proceed with this project at this time - but it may be revived for another year.  Nonetheless the work done so far has enabled us to become more competent with a few of the 'Chithurst songs', many of which are quite wordy with numerous verses, and we proved this by managing all of "Valiants All" without a pause.   Back on more familiar ground we then sang the "Sussex Wedding Song" (aka "Come Write Me Down") - with men and women sharing the lines even though we were so few in number.  A couple of fun songs brought us to a refreshment break - "Juicelem" in celebration of apples (to the tune of 'Jerusalem'), which prompted another humorous number, "Batter My Cod" (sung to the tune of 'Fathom the Bowl'). 

With glasses refilled conversation turned to discussing an idea Alan has of sometime doing a walk with songs - perhaps around Rusper village or at Leith Hill, where some well-known song collectors (the Broadwoods in the village and Ralph Vaughn-Williams at Leith House) resided.  Alan will explore both options and report back, with spring or summer 2027 in mind.  Lyn also suggested a new event for the SDFS, a pre-Christmas sing-out in Littlehampton to entertain folks at a cafe there.  She too plans to get more details to feedback - and in due course Henny will share details with colleagues in all our local groups, and recruit singers to support these events if they go ahead.  These chats took us nearer to the end of the evening - but we still had time for three more songs by request before concluding - "Three Drunken Maidens", more humour with "Harvest Moan" and fittingly to finish, the "Parting Song".

Thanks to all the loyal fellows present for this month's sing, and we look forward to other comrades returning for the next session at the 'Chichester Inn' in October. 

H.      

Lewes Local Group Report – (from Monday August 17th 2026)

Following a flurry of last-minute apologies (due to the usual holidays, work, illness, competing other musical groups, Morris dancing etc), a small but well balanced and enthusiastic group of six singers (three women and three men) made it to the Lewes Arms this month, including a new singer from Alfriston. 

We took turns to choose songs from the autumn, harvest and remembrance seasonal list and managed eighteen of the twenty I had suggested. We also had some lovely harmonies and made a good sound considering the number present.

 

During the first half of the evening, we sang “Brisk Young Ploughboy” (with a brief discussion of the Copper Family for our newest singer); “Country Life”; “Ha’nacker Mill” (with an explanation about Hilaire Belloc and a recommendation to listen to his own very old recording of this song); “Life of a Man”; “Oak and Ash and Thorn” (with information regarding Rudyard Kipling, the places he had lived and the poems set to music by the late Dave Bellamy); “Old Adam”; “Oldland Mill” (Ray discussed how his friend Stuart Leon had written the song and given it to us to perform, which we do at the mill at least once a year); “Sussex by the Sea” (our County song, the original military version this time); and “Oak Tree Song” ( a beautiful modern piece by local Sussex songwriter Anna Richardson together with Oran Ash and River Jones taken from “The Children’s Forest”.

 

During the break we mainly discussed the coming event at Alfriston Clergy House (our new singer lives in Alfriston and will come along, joining in whichever songs she feels comfortable with by that time), and the AGM, along with other groups and events that singers are involved with.

 

With voices only half rested after all the chatting, we continued singing with “West Sussex Drinking Song” (back to Belloc); “All Among the Barley”; “Lammas Carol” (by Alan Wheeler from our Chichester group); “Home Lads Home” (the remembrance song of lost lads and horses from a Hampshire village in World War I); “Fields Lie Silent”; “My Downland Remembered” (another from Alan Wheeler about a Sussex man who was transported to Australia); “East Sussex Drinking Song” (the modern 2013 response to Belloc’s West Sussex version, by Adrian Figgess from our own Lewes group); “Parting Song”, (sung appropriately near the end this month!) and ending with another old favourite from the Coppers “Thousands or More”.

 

Our next session will be on Monday September 21^st. New members are always invited to come along for a free taster session. Old hands, complete beginners and anyone in between are all welcome. The stars of the show are always the songs which are the reason for us coming together to learn, enjoy and share them. Just bring yourself and your enthusiasm.

 

Tina

More Sunny Singing Out - at Fernhurst Furnace September 12th 2026

And here we are again - at the 'Fernhurst Furnace' open weekend for another "Jolly Good Sing".

Many thanks again to our hosts for inviting us back - and to David (the singer behind the camera) for this photo - and for the group picture he also took (so was again missing from!) when we sang at the Weald and Downland Museum last week (see previous post).

Singing-Out in the Autumn and Beyond

Our public performances over this long hot summer concluded with a rather wet, but nonetheless enjoyable, finale when we sang for the good folks at the  Amberley Chalk Pits Museum during the "Taste of Sussex" event there on August 29th.  A big thank you to the Museum's staff and visitors for the space offered in the cafe to shelter us from the elements!

Now September has arrived, with its promise of mists and mellow fruitfulness, and our first public performance this month was at the Weald and Downland Living Museum on September 5th - on what felt like a glorious summer's day!   (See photos below of our sunny smiling faces, and another small face found nearby amongst the cobbles around the Market Square - perhaps surprised by our singing!)

Then, still in West Sussex, we'll be singing at the Fernhurst Furnace again on Saturday 12th, during their annual Heritage Days open weekend - and on Saturday September 26th you can hear us at the National Trusts' Clergy House in Alfriston in East Sussex for a return visit there.  

We look forward to visiting and singing in these interesting and lovely locations again, to support the ongoing work done there to preserve, protect and share the history and heritage of the South Downs - as we also try to do with our songs.  

After a quiet October, we'll be back at the Weald and Downland Museum on Saturday November 21st for their pre-Christmas Market (held over the weekend of Nov.21st/22nd.)  (More details are available on the Diary dates page of this Blog, and on the Museum's own website.)

And we'll be singing at the Fishbourne Roman Palace Museum again over the weekend of December 5th or 6th (day to be confirmed) with a mix of autumn into winter songs, and no doubt some festive ones too, in support of the seasonal event they have planned. 

Then we'll be back to Christ Church in Worthing on Tuesday December 8th for another lunchtime concert there - with more seasonal songs and maybe some musical interludes too.

There may yet be more events to sing at before the year turns - so keep an eye on our Diary Dates page for any extras, and for our plans as we move into 2027.

(Our songs can also be enjoyed at our regular Local Group sessions each month as usual - so if you'd like to join us just email first and come along!    Dates and times are on the Diary Dates pages - and details of their venues can be found on our Welcome or New Singers pages.) 

Here we are at the Weald and Downland Museum.....

Here's the spooky stone! .......

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday September 3rd 2026

We welcomed two new faces to the circle of singers who gathered in the Barn for this September session - and we also had the pleasure of having Amaryllis, Alan and Tina with us too.  In and around our catch-ups and chats at the start and in the break, we managed to cover the 10 songs proposed or suggested by the group.  These included one or two in readiness for singing out at public events this month - but most were choices by request from those present.  

Amaryllis led the evening with support from others whenever helpful.  We opened with Alan's thoughtful song "Lammas Carol", followed by the late summer into autumn seasonal tale of "Tommie" - a lad scrumping apples, sung to the tune of 'Fathom the Bowl'.  The theme of trees and harvest s continued with 'The Oak Tree Song" and "Farmers Toast".  The "Smugglers Song" described an illicit harvest of a different kind, before we returned to the fields with the humorous song "Harvest Moan", sung to the tune of the hymn 'Plough the Fields and Scatter'.  It describes the struggle farmers have to achieve a worthwhile crop, fun to sing but a seriously difficult task these days with more extreme weather becoming the norm.  Amaryllis and Tina have plans to use this in their sets at the public events they will each soon lead - Amaryllis at the Weald and Downland Museum the following Saturday (Sept 5th) and Tina later in the month at the N.T. Clergy House in Alfriston (Sept. 26th).

After the mid-session break we resumed with "Home Lads Home" a Remembrance song and another evoking the autumn season. Then we tried the "The Jolly Woodcutter", first learned by some of us in the 'Belloc and Broadwood' Songs Project but unfamiliar to others.  We used just the first four verses, with advice from Alan to keep the pace bright; we hope to use this song more often in the future.  "Run of the Downs" was our penultimate song before we closed with a song for the cider-making season, celebrated in a new verse added to "The Worthing Grower" by its author Barbara S who also introduced it.  We enjoyed singing it, using the same tune as the 'Turmut Hoer' which had inspired it - and Alan suggested we add it to the set he is planning for our sing at the Fernhurst Furnace open day on September 12th.

Thanks to our leads and contributors to this session, and to everyone in this evening's singing circle - we hope to see you next time on October 1st - which will include our S.D.F.S. AGM.  

(Please note - we will start earlier, at 7.00pm, to accommodate the AGM - and our singing will begin at about 8.00pm)

Another opportunity to Sing

 There's a new item on our "Miscellaneous" page - take a look for all the details ....