Lewes Local Group Report - Monday March 16th 2026

There were eight of us tonight, including the return of the two new singers from last time, with five apologies received from others prevented by illness, dog sitting and Morris dancing. We started with seasonal spring and outdoors songs and worked our way alphabetically through those likely to be on the set lists at Stanmer Apple Blossom Day, Oldland Mill and Alfriston Clergy House. Some of these were repeats from last month so we could check and practice harmonies. 

  

First was Kipling’s “Bee Boy’s Song”, then “Birds on the Spray” from the Copper Family’s collection and “Country Life” with my usual reminder that the vibe we are looking for is more Poldark and less Songs of Praise. “Ha’nacker Mill” was sung after a discussion about Hilaire Belloc (not known to all present) and a recommendation to look out for his own poignant rendition of this online. Similarly, with “It is the First of May” we mentioned the charming video online featuring the woman with her guitar. To take us to the break, we turned to a general favourite popular at any time of year, David Dodds’ “Magpie” and we recounted for the newer singers the story of how he wrote it after being in a car with an old lady who greeted a passing bird in the traditional country way “Good morning, Mr Magpie, how’s your wife today?”. This led to a discussion of the TV series “The Detectorists” which featured the song, and then to the more recent “Small Prophets” by the same writer. 

  

During the break there was further wide ranging discussion regarding the social for all three groups on April 11^th; the suggestion from the committee regarding other events such as a canal barge trip e.g. at Chichester (welcomed); anyone else willing to join me as a Lewes rep on the committee (no); a possible harmony workshop in Lewes (generally keen, perhaps a Saturday combined with a trip to Lewes Folk Club in the evening); a suggestion for a singing tour of local “painted churches”; who could lead a session if I were unavailable at any time (3 people tentatively agreed to give it a go); a reminder to bring new local songs to teach others; and the discovery that one of the new singers knows the man in the red jacket who was at our Brighton Unitarian Church event and invited us to the Brunswick Festival (she gave me his mobile number to take this forward). 

  

Back to the singing we carried on with others from the probable set lists: “May Day Carol”, “Oldland Mill”, “On Sussex Hills”, “Pleasant and Delightful”, “Run of the Downs”, and ”When Spring Comes In”. The remaining time was then filled with singers’ choices of “Green Grow the Laurel”, “Hal an Tow”, “Loyal Lover” and ending, as we often do, with, “Thousands or More”. 

  

Our next session will be on Monday April 20^th, and more singers are always welcome. Come along for a free taster session any time, just bring your voice and your enthusiasm. 

  

 Tina

Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday March 19th 2026

Some confusion over dates, a tyre puncture on the way to Chichester, and assorted other causes or commitments somewhat limited the number of singers meeting for our March sing at the "Chichester.Inn".  Nonetheless it was good to share the evening and some songs (chosen by request) with those able to be there.  

Although he was having a busy week, Alan was there to advise and assist (thanks for this Alan) - and the first request was for one of his songs "Lammas Carol", not chosen by him but benefitting from his expert direction.  "England For Me" was next, followed by "To Be a Farmers Boy" which has been rather neglected and not often sung by us.  Alan spoke about "Bold Reynard", another song we haven't used.  He noted that a dislike of fox hunting has deterred its use - although the song's narrative is actually about an old and unwell fox seeking his own death. A sad song either way… but an interesting perspective to maybe reconsider, and then adopt it after all.

With invitation and encouragement from the group, Julia and Nicola revisited for us their beautiful duet of a song (written by Julia) used at the Chichester Fringe event we did last summer - "The Holly King and the Oak King" - which was much appreciated.  With a refreshment break incorporated at some point, the rest of the session continued with "Love and the Ball"; "Loyal Lover"; "Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun" and "Fields Lie Silent". A look towards the return of spring cited at the end of the last of these prompted the next request, "It is the First of May". 

Nearing the end of our session we went back to a song from our early South Downs Songs repertoire, "Old Adam", before a song added in the recent past,"The Rambling Comber" - and to conclude our mixed bag of choices, we managed the "Song of the Sussex Downsman" before heading our ways home.

A Special Item is now available via the Miscellaneous Page

Chris Hare, who led the South Downs Songs project, has sent us a link to some film from the celebratory event held to mark the end of the Songs project in 2013.  It well describes the origins and 'roots' of the "South Downs Folk Singers" - which we are still trying to honour all these years later!

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday March 5th 2026

Emily led us through a list of songs proposed for the session that had been shared with singers before our gathering; this advance notice was generally appreciated.  Without any public performances due in the very near future the list was free of any specific event related 'song set' to rehearse, and gave us time to sing a song or two from our extensive SDFS collection which deserve more attention, revival and then future use.  It also gave us a chance to look beyond the grey end of winter skies and sing about brighter seasons ahead.

We began with "The Cuckoo".  We now include the fourth verse, rather than just repeat the first to finish with as we used to do. Emily offered a fifth verse to finish the song in cheerful mood; we look forward to hearing it again at a future session and to adding it to this otherwise 'trad' song.  We continued with "Ebernoe Horn Fair"- earlier than its usual summer airing, but to revive it in good time after having not sung it for a while.  Emily congratulated the few men present for the quality of their singing in this conversation song - with the women's voices making a strong response, as the narrative requires!  Using the Copper family's version of the lyrics we sang "The Lark in the Morning" with, as ever, some comments about the words, including whether or not larks rise or fly from their nests! Next was the majestic sound of "The Oak Tree" song, enjoyed by all, as were the gentle tones of "Searching For Lambs" before, by contrast, "Three Drunken Maidens" picked up the pace, and "England for Me" carried us to a break after brief repetition of  a few lines to correct and confirm the scanning.

As well as chats and quaffing, the break gave time to consider plans for our public events this year (plus the SDFS private social "Springtime Revels" on April 11th).  Sign-up sheets listing our draft programme for 2026 were available for singers to make their choices and volunteer to sing out.  (All the proposed events are listed on the Diary Dates page of this Blog - and singers from all three of our local groups are invited to let us know if they'd like to sing at any of them - and also, if they'd like to attend our "Revels" on April 11th - RSVP asap!)

Amaryllis brought a new song to us, "The Lost Lover", with lyrics written by her to the tune of "The Cruel Mother", but relating a less tragic tale. This was welcomed but it also prompted some humour in response to the rendition of a line reporting the lost lover had "gone up north". This humour reminded Emily of other songs which have intentionally raised a smile - primarily the witty "Three Moles" song written by Gordon from our Chichester group.  She hoped Gordon would be present to entertain us with it at our Revels social evening - and it was also suggested that we should all learn and use it as a SDFS group song.  

From there we welcomed the coming seasons with "Summer is A'Comin' in Again", before trying a song new to many, if not most - "Love and the Ball".  This lyric, from an old poem set to a tune by our own Alan W, tells of a couple teasingly competing with and for each other in the traditional  Sussex game (and played elsewhere too) of stoolball.  Alan introduced us to this song a while ago and it has been regularly sung in our Lewes group sessions but less so in Chichester - and not at all in the Worthing group.  When reminded of it and then tried, with guidance from Alan and Emily, it was liked and we agreed to use it more.  Discussion ensued about whether it should be sung in unison as a group or shared between male and female voices - to be tried again and concluded at future sessions.  Description and discussion about stoolball itself prompted Emily to suggest we try a small scale soft ball version of it for fun at the Revels social in April - watch this space!

As we approached the close of the session, we sang  "Come Stranger Come Friend" - and (although not in the SDFS' 'official' repertoire) followed this with a request for an old favourite, "Rolling Home", to finish.  Thanks All - and we'll be back at the Barn on Thursday April 2nd.

H.

 

Lewes Local Group Report - from Monday February 16th 2026

On arrival I found a gaming group in the upstairs room and, after checking with the landlord, found our dates had not yet been confirmed for the year. We decamped instead to Sandria’s house (many thanks to her, and to her partner who had planned a quiet night in alone with the Winter Olympics!). Some of us went on ahead to set up while others waited to taxi latecomers. There were nine of us, including two new singers from Brighton and Lewes who said they had been nervous about coming along for the first time but felt very welcomed and enjoyed the unexpected adventure!   

I’d brought along word sheets for 26 songs, mainly concerning spring and the outdoors, plus a few from the general list that I keep on rotation throughout the year and a couple of newer items. With no imminent events we took it in turns to choose. 

  

The first three were old favourites “Hares on the Mountain”, “Oak Tree Song” and “Searching for Lambs”. Somebody then chose from the list a song we had not done at Lewes previously but which I and others had sung at the “Belloc, Broadwood and Beyond” project a few years ago – the whimsical Hilaire Belloc song “Delicate Flower” which has nothing to do with flowers and a lot to do with the alleged treachery of women!  In a similar courtly vein, next was “Love and the Ball” concerning stoolball, the predecessor of cricket, which in Regency times was played on the green outside “Ye Olde King & Queen pub” where some of us attended the Brighton sessions of the original South Downs Society project. We have singers in the group who played stoolball at school in Uckfield and at Woodingdean in Brighton (one of tonight’s new singers) as well as someone’s friend who still plays it in Plumpton. The jaunty tune (by Alan Wheeler from our Chichester group, based on an earlier poem) seems well suited to the quaint language and the love story in the poem. 

  

As we started later than usual, we had a very brief tea and comfort break then carried on, leaving any notices to be dealt with later via email.  We continued with two more seasonal songs, “Birds on the Spray” from the Copper Family and the traditional “May Day Carol”, then “Nightingale” (again, nothing really to do with the bird, but about an apparently married soldier, his fiddle and his sweetheart), and another outdoors song “Run of the Downs” with words by Rudyard Kipling describing several prominent local heights, set to a tune by Amaryllis Gunn from our Worthing group. We rounded off the evening with “Oldland Mill”, a recent song from 2009 by local singer-songwriter Stuart Leon concerning the restored mill at Keymer, where we frequently perform this song. This led to a discussion about folic acid being added to flour before we said our goodbyes and headed home. 

  

Our dates have now been confirmed at the pub for March to November (we will discuss options for December nearer the time). The next session will therefore be on Monday March 16^th when we will continue with mainly spring songs. More singers are always welcome, regardless of experience. 

  

 Tina 

 

Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday February 19th 2026

12 singers attended the February 26 Chichester Inn SDFS singing session, led by Alan. 

At this session, the group would be considering some of the new material that was being proposed by Steve A for the 2027 bid to take part in the Chichester Fringe.  All being based on lesser-known material collected in the Chithurst area by Dorothy Marshall and Clive Carey. 

To start, Alan led the rousing England for Me (Dave Toye) which, with slight adjustments to the chorus, went pretty well.  Steve W agreed to adjust the words on the website to ensure that it matched what had been agreed.  This was followed by "Rambling Comber" with Alan reminding the group of the various harmonies available.  Stephen A then introduced the first of the potential Fringe material "The Young Recruit", following line by line practice, the whole song was worked out and sung.  Alan suggested it be introduced to the Worthing sessions as well.

There was discussion at this point about the necessity of attempting to keep all three groups of the SDFS (Worthing, Chichester and Lewes) singing the same versions of the SDFS songs and where possible working along similar practice lines for each session.  Tina from Lewes had sent Alan her proposed practice list and Alan undertook to do the same for Chichester.  Henny also agreed to let the Worthing group know in advance of the sessions, which songs, decided by Emily, Alan and Amaryllis, were to be practised or learned, so they could, if necessary, listen to the recordings on the SDFS blog before the practice

With this in mind, Alan then led the group in "Love and the Ball" which had been practised at Lewes but not much at other sessions.

The second half of the evening started with another of the potential Fringe songs, "Stedham Oyster Man’s Donkey".  Stephen A again demonstrated this (which is apparently a true tale from Stedham!)  There was some discussion about the length of the song and the importance of hearing the words. The group felt that it would be good to perhaps have different individuals or pairs of singers for each verse, the whole group to join in the choruses and the last verse.  Following a quick try, this idea was confirmed and also the thought that an instrument to accompany it would ensure the key was maintained!

The last part of the evening was devoted to requests.  Dave G suggested "Loyal Lover" which the group tried and then again with just the ladies who were encouraged by Alan to keep the rhythm going.  "Our Captain Cried All Hands" followed – as a song not often sung and in view of the season "When Spring Comes In" was the penultimate song of the evening before a rousing "Rolling Home" to finish. 

As a footnote to the Chichester Fringe material, Steve W is creating a new page on the blog called “The Chithurst Songs”, where lyrics and recordings will gradually be assembled. 

Anne Sartain

There's Something New on the Miscellaneous Page ...

Lyn F has let us know about a ticketed event due to be held in Goring on May 30th. 

Have a look at the Miscellaneous Page and use the link there to find out more.

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday February 5th 2026

Although the miserably wet weather on a winter evening again probably deterred some folks, we still mustered 21 singers for our February gathering.  We began with notices about possible dates for a SDFS social evening at The Barn in April or May - then a summary of the public events likely to be on our calendar this year - and last but not least, ideas for managing our song repertoire to help keep more in circulation, for our pleasure in singing them and to be ready to share them with others at our public performances.

With Emily's support and guidance we began our singing with a few songs from those chosen by Tina (our lead in Lewes) for a lunchtime performance in Brighton some of us would be singing at the next day.  Foremost was  "The Brave Eleven", which uses a traditional folk tune and the words of a poem commemorating a shipwreck off Worthing a hundred years ago.  It is regularly sung by Tina with the Lewes Group but is not known by many in the Worthing Group.  However, most of the singers due to contribute to the Brighton event knew the song from their singing sessions with our 'cousin' group the 'Secret Shore Singers', where it features as a sea song.  So for some we polished off the rust to get the tune and pace right, and for newcomers it was an introduction to the song - and maybe it will be used more often at future sessions at the Barn.

From there we returned to more familiar territory with a few more songs also on the set list for Brighton: "Home Lads Home", "Hard Times" and "Where Stormy Winds Do Blow" - all were revisited and refreshed in readiness.  After a refreshment break, the collection of dues and yet more time to chat, "Three Drunken Maidens" enabled us to make a definite move away from the sombre or wintery songs we had opened with.  Our thoughts also turned towards brighter days ahead with "When Spring Comes In".  A mixture of requests filled the rest of the evening - "Life of a Man", "England for Me", "Old Adam" and "The Lark in the Morning" (the latter, by popular demand, using the words Alan gave us when first introducing the song).  These took us towards "The Parting Song" and the close of the session.

March now beckons, with clocks going forward, longer daylight and, we hope, better weather!  We'll be at the Barn again for our next sing there on March 5th - hope you can join us then.

H. 

SDFS Singing at Brighton Unitarian Church - Friday February 6th - Lunchtime Concert 12.30 - 1.15pm

On Friday February 6th, between 12.30 and 1.15, a group of "South Downs Folk Singers" will be singing at a lunchtime concert held in the Brighton Unitarian Church  (New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF - near the Theatre Royal).

We are pleased to be making this return visit after having enjoyed singing there last year - and we are looking forward to singing some seasonal songs for everyone there. 

Here are links to the Church's own Facebook page and website for more information about this event, and others on their February to May programme. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1347923317378624&set=pcb.1347924160711873&__cft__[0]=AZYTMPBo0MNZEdvArJjJQGUyL6J90G9onA2kY3oEGfBKAOkMssSW8-

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https://www.brightonunitarian.org.uk/friday-lunchtime-concerts?fbclid=IwY2xjawPovRdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAyTUFQMFBRcVZZNjNWY0gwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHueErMEgGyslDz_1I6leXNFdt6kIs-pwpV0H6qw6y2cjvlpUVmjOxg6hiJsX_aem_iEIMySM-xXLoqKC1IPIprA

(Then keep a look-out on this page and our Diary Dates page on this SDFS Blog, and on the SDFS Facebook page, for news of more SDFS sessions and events as the year progresses.) 

 

Lewes Local Group Report - Monday January 19th 2026

Some minor issues arose at the start. Brighton & Hove Albion were playing at the Amex with long queues on the A27 and shortages of parking spaces in Lewes, and the upstairs room had a notice that it was reserved for a panto! After a quick check with bar staff it turned out to be an old notice and, although our reservation wasn’t in the 2026 diary, the room was free so we could go ahead.  

Eight of us made it this month - five men and three women so a balance of voices. There were only two apologies for illness and sickness so here’s hoping some of the others will reappear in February. The third Monday is the so-called “Blue Monday”, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, but it’s a good reason to get out for some refreshment of body, mind and soul with a good sing and chat! 

  

We started with the setlist for Brighton Unitarian Church on Friday February 6^th    where the programme contains songs of reflection, winter and wassailing, and we spent some time practising harmonies for most of them. As nobody had any particular issues or preferences, we tackled them in alphabetical order. 

  

In the first half of the evening, we sang “All Things are Quite Silent”(a woman singing about her sailor husband being press-ganged into war); “Apple Tree Wassail”;  “Brave Eleven” (a shipwreck off Worthing); “Hard Times of Old England” (military returners struggling to find employment); “Here We Come A-Wassailing”; “Home Lads Home”(remembering men and horses lost in WW1); “Life of a Man” (our natural life span); and “My Downland Remembered” (a poem set to music by Alan Wheeler from our Chichester group, concerning his ancestor who was transported to Australia for the theft of wheat). 

  

During the break we discussed invitations to sing at three events in the summer, all in our Eastern part of Sussex. Two are new: Newhaven Fort on July 11^th and “These Hills” a beer and folklore festival at Glynde Place on August 8^th. The other is a return to Alfriston Clergy House where we have enjoyed singing twice in the past. This will be part of a year of events to mark the 130^thanniversary of the National Trust acquiring the property (their first) and they open from Easter to August. Singers present tonight liked the sound of all three events, so we await firmer information.   

We continued with “Parting Song” (does what it says on the tin, although not yet the end of the evening); “Poor Froze-Out Gardeners” (broadsheet ballad of workers laid off in winter and resorting to begging, which contains one of my very favourite lines about sowing little cabbages with a dibble and a line and always makes me smile despite the sad subject); “Sugar (Sussex) Wassail” (with its jaunty tune based partly on “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen”); “Where Stormy Winds do Blow” (shepherds on the frosty and snowy Downs looking forward to the warmth of the ale house). 

  

Having got through the Unitarian set list, singers chose favourites from the general list, and we did “Ale Glorious Ale” and  “Magpie” (David Dodds’ tale of the “devil’s bird” of local folklore) before finishing with the ever popular Copper Family song “Thousands or More”.  Sorry to Rosie as we ran out of time and her choice of “Seasons Turn” will be fitted in next month. 

  

Our next session will be on Monday February 16^th. We will be continuing with cold season songs but also starting to include some spring ones too, so a good time for regular members to venture out and for any new singers to come along for the first time. Email us if you want to know more or just turn up on the night with your voice and your enthusiasm! 

  

 Tina