Photos

Almost all the photos that have been submitted to the blog can now be seen here if you know where to look - and I am about to tell you!

When I looked through the photos Adrian passed on to me that did not yet appear on this blog, I noticed that almost every one related to some particular event. So in the menu above, in place of PHOTOS you will now find EVENT REPORTS. Click on this and you'll see - guess what? - reports for all our previous events (going back to March 2012), many of which include photos.

If you're one of the people who has submitted photos, you may notice that a few have been edited to straighten them up, alter the contrast, or in one set of indoor photos to remove the colour completely (I was present when these were taken and remember the room being partly illuminated by the red glow of heaters on the walls - the original photos are correspondingly very red!). Please tell me if you don't like what I've done.

Some of the event report posts are reconstructions of pages previously produced by Adrian, but which he later deleted from the blog (due to restrictions on the number of 'static pages' that we are allowed). Some others are completely new and I have constructed these from the few fragments of information that I have been able to find - some posts have only photos and some have only a sentence or two. In all there are 16 event report posts which weren't here a week ago. If you are able to provide any useful additional information, or corrections, please contact me.

Also contact me if you have provided any of the photos and would like to be acknowledged. Unfortunately I do not have any information regarding the sources of photos other than what you can already see here.

More photos are welcome!

Keith D (contact me at southdownsfolksingers@gmail.com)

Local Group News – Easebourne Thursdays confirmed venue from August 2014

Following the positive feedback received after meetings at The Three Moles, Selham in June and July we are moving to this location from August until further notice.
The Three Moles is a small traditional pub about a mile south of the A272 between Petworth and Midhurst. Turn off the A272 opposite the Halfway Bridge Inn and follow the road south for just over a mile. There is a hump back bridge soon after the entrance to WL West's wood yard so take care!
Post Code GU28 0PN

Shirley

Here we are in today's Sussex Express

Here's a press cutting from The Sussex Express, Friday 18th July, 2014. The caption beneath the photo reads "The South Downs Folk Singers, seen here in traditional dress, were among several groups who travelled to Waldshut-Tiengen, Lewes' German twin town, to take part in the Scwyzertag (sic) celebration marking the victory over the Swiss in 1415. The picture shows (left to right) David Garrard, Sue Garrard, Debbie Deadman, Cllr John Lamb, Gaynor Lamb, Steve Allbury, Alan Wheeler and Anne Wheeler. Their singing was described as 'lusty' by the local paper."

Well done to everybody who went for representing us in such excellent fashion.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Local Group Report – Easebourne Thursday 17th July 2014

Twelve stalwart singers (Henny & Steve, Angela & Phil, Anne & Alan, Sue & Dave, Les, Julie, Stephen A, and Sue's mum Muriel) attended a most enjoyable sing at the Three Moles in Selham. The weather was warm and sunny and on arrival we sat outside on the terrace enjoying a cool drink before coming indoors to practise our singing. We sang songs mostly of a drinking nature – in preparation for the Arundel ,Amberley and Bognor Festivals: Fathom the Bowl, Country Life, Twanky Dillo, the Constant Lovers, Oh Good Ale, Ale Glorious Ale, Gooches' Beer, Drink Old England Dry, the West Sussex Drinking Song, Thousands or More, and Stormy Winds, before finishing with a first go at Kipling's The Run Of the Downs and a rousing version of The Mermaid led by no other than Captain Hebley himself! Most of the patrons of the pub sat outside but they were most complimentary about our singing which wafted out of the open doors and windows into the evening air. The pub's acoustic is very good, the landlords – James and Emma – are very welcoming and we all agreed that it is indeed a very nice venue for our monthly sing. Watch this space for confirmation of where we will meet next month.

David G

Schwyzertag Festival

The trip to the Schwyzertag festival in Tiengen near the Rhine in Southern Germany was a great success. A group of eight of us – Debbie Deadman, Steve Allbury, Anne and Alan Wheeler, Sue and David Garrard, Gaynor and John Lamb – had a very enjoyable four days of singing, beer, sightseeing and warm German hospitality. We were put up in a guesthouse a few kilometres outside the town where we were really looked after by the patron Tomas who even cooked us a meal on his evening off.

Fortunately we had two German speakers: David and Steve. David led the singing and introduced our songs in German, his jokes even raised a laugh. The festival, which commemorates the defeat of Swiss invaders in 1415, was well attended and we found ourselves singing to an audience of 4-500 on Saturday and over 700 the following day. It was just as well we had microphones and amplification.

We were glad we had decided to dress up since many of the Germans wore traditional costume. The women in our group wore mob caps, aprons and white blouses, while the men put on brown corduroy trousers, braces, flat caps and a red neckerchief.   We sang Sussex by the Sea (a must we were told), West Sussex Drinking Song and Thousands or More in our first session and Fathom the Bowl, Rosebuds, Thousands or More and Jolly Good Song for the second set. Our efforts were well received. The local paper even described us as lusty, according to David.

SDFS was invited as part of a twinning delegation from Lewes, which included a lively woman’s morris side called the Cuckoo’s Nest and two stonking bands. We are planning to see if any other twinning associations would like a bit of the real Sussex to liven up their events. Gollier.

John Lamb

The barrel is sprung

S.U.N. EVENT

Here's a final reminder for everybody singing at the Sussex U3A Network (S.U.N.) event on Saturday 12th July that you will find details of the setlist, lyric sheets, what to wear and everything else you need to know on the event page here.

Looks like it should be an interesting day for all concerned.

Keith D

Horses at War

David G has already provided us with a report, complete with photos, of the recent Horses at War event held at the at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum (read it here if you haven't seen it already). John C has now received the appreciative email below from one of the event organisers.

Dear John,

We wish to thank you and your team for your greatly valued participation in our recent Horses at War event. Despite the Saturday morning downpour we enjoyed nearly 4000 visitors over the weekend.

We have received an astounding number of compliments and thank you letters from many of our visitors and staff, with particular reference to the high quality of the displays and exhibits.

Of course the excellent quality of the music and singing was integral to visitor enjoyment!!

Many thanks for all your hard work and effort towards making this event the success that it was! We wish you all the best and look forward to working with you in the future.

Kind regards,

Sue and Kate
The Events Team
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum

So thank you to everyone involved, we can all give ourselves a pat on the back.

Keith D