Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday June 5th 2025

We opened this month's session with some future event notices, as we often do, and three new singers were welcomed to the fold.  We also thanked Alan for all his work on preparing and leading the very successful Chichester Fringe performance he'd steered to its completion the previous Sunday  Unfortunately due to other demands on her time Emily was unable to be with us - but Alan and Amaryllis had already kindly agreed with her to facilitate the evening between them. 

Alan set off with "Hal an Tow", "The Cuckoo" (sung twice to refine the timing and tone - and with cuckoo calls added by Amaryllis to finish!), and then the "Sussex Wedding Song" with men and women taking turns to sing verses in conversation.  Amaryllis took the reins for "Searching for Lambs" and the "Smugglers Song", before Alan resumed with "Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun".

Angela S was then invited to contribute by guiding us through the "Song of the Sussex Downsman" - which many felt we should sing more often in our sessions and also use it at our public events, given how vividly it describes various locations and landscape features across Sussex.  

The mid-time break concluded with a few notices from different singers with news about local events of interest beyond the SDFS (at the Creative Heart centre in Littlehampton on June 28th - Worthing Festival's music weekend on 21/22nd June, and a programme of Heritage Walks in Worthing and other local areas). 

The tandem facilitation continued with Alan or Amaryllis leading us by turns for "Rambling Comber", "Rolling in the Dew", and then "Our Captain Cried All Hands" which we haven't sung in Worthing for a while.   Some requests followed - although no-one took up Alan's suggestion that the individual choosing a song should also have a go at leading it!  So we took our start notes from Alan for the "Turmut Hoer" and Amaryllis for "Rosebuds in June" before singing these old favourites to finish on, and the evening closed with more "Thank Yous" to Alan and Amaryllis, and Angela S, for their valuable contributions.  

More next month - see you then !

H.