Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday August 17th 2023

We're very sorry if you came along and found that we weren't there...... too many holidays and other commitments meant we had to cancel this month's session.

But we'll be back at the "Chichester Inn" in full voice and good spirits on Thursday September 21st as usual. 

See you then!

Feedback from Parham's Sussex Day Celebration

With thanks again to our hosts at Parham, here (reproduced from a recent Parham newsletter) are their thanks to us for our contribution to their "Sussex Day" celebration.

A reminder of this year's 'flaming June', and despite the heat the pleasure of singing in such a lovely setting!

Sussex Day Celebrations We would like thank all visitors, stall holders and the South Downs Folk Singers for making our Sussex Day Event such a success back in June. We will be running the event next year on Sunday 16th June, more information will be published in due course.

Singing at "Amberley Museum's Ale and Craft Fayre" - August 28th

The "South Downs Singers" will be making a welcome return visit to Amberley Chalkpits Museum to sing at their "Ale and Crafts Fayre".  We will be singing near the cafe at 11.00am and again at 2.30pm, on Bank Holiday Monday August 28th.  

So if you're looking for a great setting with lots of interesting things to see and do over this holiday weekend - come along and join us there, and enjoy (maybe even join in with) some South Downs songs and singing in celebration of the Day, the Crafts and the Ale!   The sun will of course shine - and all will be merry!

Lewes Local Group Report – Tuesday August 15th 2023

Ten singers came along to the Kings Head this month. We missed those absent due to illness, work or travel difficulties but had an enthusiastic band of equal numbers of men and women keen to enjoy old songs and learn some new ones from those agreed at the recent meeting of the three local group leads.   

We warmed up with “Song of the Sussex Downsman” (the whole thing for a change) followed by “Twanky Dillo” and “Lammas Carol” (written by Alan from our Chichester group). For the upcoming Stanmer Fete, a celebration of the harvest and of apples, we then practised “Tommie” (a jolly tale of an apple scrumping lad, sung to the tune of “Fathom the Bowl”). Next, we revisited “My Downland Remembered” (from the poem by EV Lucas with a tune also by Alan, and he has now added an extra verse which we went through here for the first time). “Lark in the Morning” is an old favourite and we sang the chorus several times while making up individual harmonies as we went along, and it sounded as if there were six different versions which we will work on further in future. We ended the  first half by learning a new song, “All Among the Barley” which we all liked very much, and we paid attention to the contrast between the slower straight metred parts and the faster “skippy” ones. 

During the break, we discussed several upcoming public events and the AGM on 5^th October. Staff ferrying food from the kitchen to the main bar said “Good singing” while passing through, which was welcome. For light relief we took turns to read out the ten best one-line jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe and then voted for our favourite. Our winner was from Ginny Hogan – “Everyone says your 20s are all about finding yourself. If that’s true, your 30s are all about wishing you’d found somebody else” – which we all thought could have come from one of Ray’s poems about the wry side of life. 

Back to serious business we carried on with another song which was new to this group, “The Oak Tree Song” which we also enjoyed (just the beautiful tune tonight, we agreed to look at the harmonies next time). This was followed by the last “new” song for the evening “Juice-Alem” which is not a Sussex song but one written by a Worcestershire wassailer “William Bloke” to the tune of Jerusalem, in praise of good old English apples rather than French pommes. We agreed as group leads to allow this interloper as it's perfect for our Stanmer event. Now on the home straight, we continued with a bunch of old familiars – “Hard Times of Old England”, “Jim the Carter Lad”, and “East Sussex Drinking Song” (with solos on the verses, including one sung by Adrian, who wrote the song for us 10 years ago as a counterpoint to Hilaire Belloc’s better known West Sussex version) before winding up another enjoyable evening with “Parting Song”.

Any potential singers reading will be most welcome at future sessions, just turn up and sing, or get in touch via the blog if you want to chat first! 

Tina

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday August 3rd

Summer holidays and other distractions slightly reduced our number at the Barn for our August sing.  Welcomes done and notices given, we launched as we often do with “ Country Life”, before discussing and trying various other songs suggested for the pleasure of them and also in preparation for a couple of forthcoming events - the Amberley Museum Ale and Craft event on August 28th, and in October a Harvest Supper evening in Fittleworth.

We continued with “All Among the Barley”, followed by the “Lammas Carol” with particular attention given to ensure the correct sequence of rise and fall in the tune.  “Farmer’s Toast” came next, with encouragement from Emily to be mindful of the words as we sing, to fully express the mood and context of the occasion described.  Next the beautiful new song we’ve been working on, “The Oak Tree”, took some time - to learn the tune of the verses and also the high and low harmonies.  There was some discussion about shortening the length of the song for performance events - by using the chorus at the start then after only the second and fourth verses - and finishing the song with the strong image, and sound, of the last verse.  (Still under debate - and needs consultation with our fellow grousp east and west.)

After the break “Gooches Beer’ got us singing again, before considering "Michaelmas" - but as few had the words to this or knew the song (written by Amaryllis and used for a seasonal event last year), we moved on to an older 'trad' song, the “Brisk Young Ploughboy” instead.  “Ale Glorious Ale” resumed the drinking theme, before  Amaryllis’ revised words for a more rural celebration of Sussex were used for “Sussex by the Sea”.  Then back to another couple of drinking songs - the first, “Fathom the Bowl”, before Emily taught and led us through “Banbury Ale”, a round, in 2 then 3 parts. (All agreed the 3 parts worked well and would be worth a try if there are enough voices available at Amberley on the 28th.)  In softer tones we closed the evening with “My Downland Remembered" now including the additional last but one verse our Alan has added to his song. 

Another enjoyable evening of song and good company - thanks to Emily and all.   See you at the Amberley event on Monday August 28th and or at the Barn again on Septemvber 7th.

(P.S. - For singers keen for more sessions (of song, and maybe beer as well) during August - our Lewes group will be meeting again at their new venue on Tuesday August 15th - but sadly there will be NO  Chichester group session this month (they will resume in September). 

                 

A Song to Try

Here is an alternative, less military, version of "Sussex By the Sea" written by Amaryllis Gunn in celebration of Sussex rural life.

You'll find the lyrics using the link below.

Lyrics

Chichester Local Group Report - Thursday July 18th 2023

Ten singers came along to the Chichester evening session and we were delighted to meet Jess, a potential new SDFS member who had found us on the internet!  We almost persuaded a couple of ladies who were looking for their “Friendship Group” to join us and a further young lady joined us for a couple of songs with some effective harmonies – saying that she’d learned a lot of the songs at her University Folk Club.  Great news that folk is still appearing in Universities!

The first half started rousingly with "Ale Glorious Ale" which our new recruit ably joined in.  "All Among the Barley" followed – rehearsed as it hadn’t been sung for some time. This, along with the following "Lammas Carol" was early preparation for Autumn performances.  "My Downland Remembered" and "Farmer’s Toast" rounded off the first half along with much discussion about boats involved in transportation to Australia!

Following well needed refreshment, the second half of the evening opened by popular request with "Oak and Ash and Thorn" which again our new recruit seemed to know.  It continued in it’s theme of nature with "One for the Rook" (incorporating a discussion about crows versus rooks) and "The Oak Tree Song", a new suggestion from Emily.  Alan guided the group through it and will send a report of the group’s thoughts back to Emily etc.  Steve requested "Thousands or More", followed by "Country Life" and "The Nightingale" as further familiar songs for joining in.  A song introduced originally by Dave G was tried next - "Summer is a Coming in Again".  This by popular request as the Chi group thought it would make a great addition to the repertoire being such a lively song for audiences.   To round off the session and reflect the worsening summer weather, the evening concluded with a confident rendering of "Stormy Winds Do Blow".

N.B. - Following a discussion of likely very low attendance at an August session, it was decided to CANCEL the AUGUST MEETING at the Chichester Inn, have a summer break, and reconvene on Thursday September 21st.  

Anne S

Lewes Local Group Report - Tuesday July 18th 2023

Fifteen singers were at our first session at the Kings Head. Manager Dec welcomed us and helped move tables and chairs. After much debate and trying out one long and two small tables in various places, we eventually settled down to drinking and singing. 

We eased in with “Pleasant and Delightful”, “Rosebuds in June”, “Magpie”, “Turmut Hoer” (originally from Wiltshire but collected in Sussex by Lucy Broadwood - the men competed with their rural accents of dubious origins) and “Green Grow the Laurel”.  Older song “Cuckoo” was revisited in some detail before returning to the more familiar “Country Life”, “Lammas Carol”, “One for the Rook”, “Hares on the Mountain”, and “Littlehampton Collier Lads”. We raised a glass and sang “Life of a Man” to mark Jan’s recent loss of her mother. (Our singing at the Henfield residential home is going ahead on 24th July for the other residents and staff.) 

During the break, we caught up with news of various local events, and barmaid Ann-Marie helped adjust the overhead lighting. Sandria works at Glyndebourne and some friends from the chorus who were in the main bar came up to listen and complimented our singing. One of them was Welsh, and she and Mac gave us a rousing duet of “Calon Lân”.

We continued with “Farmer’s Toast”, “Smugglers’ Song”, “Ha’nacker Mill”, “Oldland Mill”, “Loyal Lover” and “Brave Eleven” (the first two verses and chorus as a quick refresher), before winding up a very enjoyable evening with “Drink me Brave Boys” and “Thousands or More”.

Tina

(Photos from Tina)

Reminder ! New Venue for the Lewes Local Group - from Tuesday July 18th 2023

 DON'T FORGET!

Our Lewes Local Group has a new venue !  Starting from the next session tomorrow - Tuesday 18th July 2023 - we will be meeting at........ 

"The Kings Head",   9 Southover High Street,   Lewes   BN7 1HS

We will be arriving from 7pm - and start singing at 7:30 until 10pm as usual. 

We hope to see as many of you as possible for our first session in our new home.

Golier! 

(Worthing Local Group Report) "The "SDFS 10th Anniversary Gathering" - Thursday July 6th 2023

44 Singers from across all three of our local group gathered at the Barn for a special evening of songs, to celebrate and reminisce about the 10 years since the "South Downs Folk Singers" began at the end of the "South Downs Songs Project" in 2013.  The Barn was decked with bunting and fairy lights (thank you Emily) and the side tables were laden with plenty of sweet and savoury snacks brought by one and all to enjoy in our extended social break. Sadly the Songs Project's creator and lead, Chris Hare, and his wife Ann (who with our current lead Emily made up "Emily and the Hares", who sang and taught the songs in the project workshops) could not be with us, but their names were cited in dispatches and thanks were given to them in their absence.  Happy reunions and greetings started as soon as the doors opened and - after words of welcome from Henny to all our singers, and special thank yous to those who have made particular contribution to the SDFS across our 10 years - it was over to Emily as our lead and the celebratory singing began.  

All the songs sung during the evening were selected by popular demand - with an associated mixture of delight, nostalgia and an occasional wry smile.  "Twanky Dillo"(the very first song taught at the workshops), "The Nightingale" and "Fathom the Bowl" came first - interspersed with shared memories of learning them - and they primed us well for tackling and completing the many verses of "Cruel Mother". This song had been top of the request list for its history, its lilting tune and the challenge of singing it - but it attracted a few wry smiles and a sense of achievement when getting to the end!  "The Sussex Wedding Song" lifted the mood and pace again - before a generous break from the songs to enjoy the good company and the plentiful refreshments that had been brought to share.

We resumed singing with "On Sussex Hills", then paused to listen to an alternative version of "Shepherd of the Downs" created and sung by Amaryllis with Sydney - which challenged the original lyrics by describing instead the shepherd's fondness for his sheep exceeding any he might have for a fair maid!  The "Turmut Hoer" and his fondness for turnips came next, before Stephen A took the lead in singing through "Valiants All" with support from singers who knew it - another long song not often used by us, but a favourite of Stephen's.  "Country Life" came next, with thanks to Shirley B for introducing it to the Chichester local group in their early years - and it was good to have Shirley singing it with us again.

Some gentle songs from the favourites list came next, with "Rosebuds in June", "Eileen Aroon" and "Fields Lie Silent" - all sounding rich and beautiful with so many voices coming together in the lofty Barn.  As the time passed over towards the close of the evening it seemed more than appropriate to finish with one of our best loved favourites "Thousands or More", much loved by the Copper Family too.  

And so the singing concluded, the bunting was taken down and farewells were made.  Thank you to the helpers on the night, to Emily for leading us and to everyone who attended for making it such a lovely occasion - now onward and upwards for the next 10 years, at least!

Hx

And a Message from Emily.....

Dear all,

It was really lovely to have the opportunity to all be together (with a few fondly missed exceptions) for a revelling in 10 years of the SDFS.

I enjoyed singing through the old faves and not so faves and was struck by that pleasurable feeling that you get when singing with people you have sung with for so many years that it is all familiar and easy and effortless. A rare and precious thing indeed. 

And I woke with lots of things crowding into my thoughts that I wish I'd said and didn't!

I was so busy trying to remember the words and enjoying all the familiar faces that these important things didn't have the space to enter my thoughts. But there they all were, flooded into the front of my thoughts when I woke up! 

So I'd like to share them now and am sorry I didn't share them on Thursday!

I'd like to acknowledge how lovely it is that this group of most excellent people are still gathering to sing, undaunted by lockdowns and changing venues and the passing of a decade.

How wonderful it is that, through song, so many friendships have been made, friendships that might not have flowered if it wasn't for the shared love of singing the good old songs.

How marvellous is the committee, keeping all the official ness flowing along with your particular skills and knowledge, making decisions and choices that have enabled the SDFS as an official group to be organised, present at so many places for the sharing of song and strong in its unswerving intention to bring these songs to listeners everywhere (almost!) Thanks to John C to who's unceasing efforts in the gig finding department have created so many memorable and delightful days for us all.

How brilliant the Blog is, almost lost with the loss of dearest Keith and then remade with no little effort and countless hours by Steve and Henny. And it is now a brilliant resource of songs and a record of how the SDFS has grown and evolved over the years. Thank you!

It is lovely how the three groups across the area are all thriving and providing so much pleasure. Thanks hugely to Tina and Alan and Steve for being so brilliant in your leading and teaching and organising. It was lovely to see people from all three groups singing together. I was struck by how Brill we sound!

I have had to take a step back from leading over these last couple of years because of increasing commitment in my other work and with Home educating and I am grateful to Alan and Amarylis for stepping into the role of leading so willingly and excellently. 

And thanks to Tina for making such a remarkable document of all the songs we have learned and know, SO many! And for finding gigs and always leading over in the east.

It is delightful to see, through the recent gig at Rusington, how the SDFS is evolving it's delivery possibilities. I hope that there will be more of these informative and brill performances.

And thanks to all the singers who have offered songs, written by themselves or found and suggested. Always enriching the repertoire and making it unique.

And finally and especially, thanks to Henny. You are wonderful! A source of constancy, wisdom, calm and diplomacy in our midst, the author of thousands of emails keeping us all connected, informed and aware of all the ever fluctuating details. 

Thank you for holding the Chair for sooooooo long, in spite of perhaps fancying handing it over sometimes! 

Thanks for your time and skill and passion over these years. I wanted to say this on Thurs but am aware of your slight preference for staying out of the attention. I regret listening to that thought now!

Please remember, each time you sit at the computer to write yet another email that we so appreciate it. The SDFS wouldn't exist as it does without your effort, skill and time. THANK YOU!

Thank you all, you are all wonderful, it is a pleasure singing with you all these years

Em XX