Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday May 16th 2024

Nine singers, came along to take part in this month’s Chi SDFS, the main aim of the evening to practice material due to be performed at events due in June at the Three Moles Pub in Selham, organised in part by Dave G and at Amberley Chalk Pits where Alan will lead a good number of SDFS singers.

 

Dave G briefly outlined the plan of the evening at the Three Moles event and it seemed a perfect opportunity to sing Gordon’s "Three Moles" song, written when the SDFS used to regularly meet at this pub. The group, with Dave and Gordon’s guidance, managed to learn and/or remember and sing it through a couple of times with a view to having another go later in the session.  The session continued with selections from both lists of proposed songs to be sung at the events.  "Oak and Ash and Thorn" was followed by "The Ebernoe Horn Fair" both sung with confidence considering they hadn’t been tried for some time.  "The Nightingale" was easily performed although there was some variance with words depending on when members had printed their copies!  It was important to ensure that all sing the same on the day.  Alan led on to "My Downland Remembered" as he particularly wanted to include this at Amberley Chalk Pits. "Turnip Hoer" followed and it was decided that the men could lead on this as there were enough strong voices due to be at the event. 

 

Alan took a moment to stress the importance of all SDFS singers ensuring they watch whoever is leading when performing.  It is essential to keep good timing and start and finish together!

 

Two further songs planned for the Three Moles concluded the first half of the session "Sussex By the Sea" (traditional words) and "Summer is a Coming In" with newly written last verses now approved by author Mick Ryan.

 

The second half opened up with a pretty confident rendition of the "Three Moles" song again and "The Cuckoo" which Alan said had proved a bit difficult to get right in the past but he felt it was such a good topical song, it was worth persevering. A rousing "Jim the Carter Lad" followed, again with some debate about differing words.  "Come Stranger Come Friend" went pretty well considering it is a relatively new addition to the repertoire.  Noone could resist an enthusiastic finish with "Rolling Home" which hopefully sent everyone on their way with confidence for the next month’s SDFS performances.

 

Anne S

 

Spring into Summer - Events Update

After a busy and enjoyable April singing at a variety of events and venues, our May into June sings and events continue.  Thanks again to our singers and leads for their time, and to our hosts for giving us such great opportunities to 'sing out’.  Over the recent Bank Holiday weekend a group of us sang at Oldland Mill's Open Day near Keymer on May 5th, and now we’re looking forward to the rest of the 2024 summer season. So here is what we're up to in May and June - with more to come after that!

On Saturday May 18th we’ll be having an extra SDFSingers open session, a social sing in the Downland air of Highdown Hill near Worthing - starting at around 11.00am.  We’re hoping the sunshine and South Downs songs will combine well for an enjoyable time!

The Amberley Chalk Pits Museum is holding a "Nature Event” on Sunday June 2nd, and we will be supporting this by sharing our songs with visitors to this interesting event. 

Then on Sunday June 16th we’ll be making a return visit to sing in the beautiful grounds of Parham House in celebration of "Sussex Day”; a splendid garden in which to also enjoy Father’s Day!  We hope the weather will be as glorious as it was last year - but please, not quite so hot this time!

 

Thursday June 20th sees the SDFS Chichester local group session back at the "Three Moles” pub in Selham (where they used to meet for their regular sessions).  This time it will be for a special Folk Evening as part of the Graffham Arts Festival.  We’ll be singing a couple of sets and enjoying the other music on offer during the evening.  (Please consult the pub or the Graffham Festival organisers for more details of this event.)   We’ll be back at the "Chichester Inn", in Chichester, for the group’s July session as usual.  

Sunday June 23rd is the last day of the 2024 Worthing Festival and we’ve offered to sing our songs in the town centre on this finale day.  More details for this and our other summer events are expected soon, and they'll be noted on our Diary Dates page or as Latest News posts as soon as confirmed.

So take another look at our Blog soon - or email us sooner if you’d like to join us and become a "South Downs Folk Singer” yourself. Start by letting us know you’re interested and then come along to one or other, or even all three, of our monthly local group sessions - and if you’d like to, begin to learn our songs to sing with us at our public events in the future.  

A warm welcome awaits and there will be more lovely events and songs to sing as the year progresses.  Some details of our autumn into winter events are already on our Diary Dates page - so please take a look!   

Update - Lewes Local Group Meetings

Lewes Local Group monthly meetings – temporary arrangements pending new permanent venue!

 

While consultations and enquiries are continuing regarding a new venue, we will continue to meet on the third Monday of the month as usual and will gather at 7 for 7:30 at the Fuego Lounge café bar, Unit 1, The Old Courthouse, Friars Walk, Lewes, BN7 2FS. 

 

If the weather permits, we will then move on to do some singing at the nearby Railway Land Nature Reserve (meeting place outside the Linklater Pavilion, Railway Lane BN7 2FG just inside the reserve).  

 

If the weather is bad, we will continue socialising, eating and drinking at Fuego, or other nearby establishment by agreement  

  

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday May 2nd 2024

As happened last year, the Barn was in use as a poling station for the local elections so, again, we had kind permission to sing next door in the church with its lovely acoustic and magnificently painted ceiling.  Not completely distracted by gazing upwards, a large group of songsters gathered to enjoy songs from our repertoire old and new.  After some brief notices about future events we started our singing with a selection of Maytime songs - "It is the First of May", "Hal n Tow" and "The Cuckoo" (for which an additional verse was offered and may be included in the future).  Emily then proposed a few songs not sung by us for a while - "Rolling in the Dew" and "Drink me Brave Boys" from the original song workshops ten years ago, followed by the gentle and poignant "Home Lads Home" and "Loyal Lover" from the many songs added since.

After the break with time to chat and appreciate our ornate surroundings, we resumed with a lovely round "As Me I Walked in a May Morning ..." skilfully directed by Emily building it into 4 parts by the time we finished.  In complete contrast we moved on to a song first introduced at a Worthing session in March 2020, and occasionally aired since at the Chichester local group where it has been liked by all -"Three Drunken Maidens", led by Alan.  Singers familiar with it joined in and the tune was readily picked up by others.  So having been met with general approval it was agreed to put it on the 'Other Songs to Try' page of the SDFS Blog for others to enjoy.  Last but very much not least, we spent time revisiting the harmonies  of "The Oak Tree" song under Emily's guidance until uniting in a beautiful three part rendition of this lovely song.  

A rewarding and fitting finish to our evening of singing in the church.  We'll be back in the beautiful Barn for our next session on June 6th - see you there.

H.    

A Song to Try - Three Drunken Maidens

Here's a traditional song offered by Alan Wheeler.

You'll find the lyrics using the link below.

Lyrics