Hello South Downs Folk Singers One and All

I hope you are safe, well and coping in these tricky times. Here is an idea to fill the gap left by the suspension of our usual local group meetings to sing with fellow South Downs Folk Singers....

Singing is such a joyful, uplifting and consoling thing and if like me you are missing our SDFS get togethers how about still singing a few songs together, safely, during the evenings when we would usually have gathered.

Starting with Worthing’s local group session next Wednesday (1st April), instead of being at our regular haunt "Ye Olde House at Home” join us by singing in your own home at some time between 8.00 and 10.00 pm. Although separate we can still feel united across the air!

Here is a short list of some songs to try at home – and add as many more as you like to fill the evening if you want (not forgetting the refreshment breaks too!)

"Country Life" for its energy and joy.
"Sussex Hills" to remind us we are made of strong “south country stuff”.
"Rolling Home" (albeit not officially a South Downs song!) for its celebration of stoic endurance, solidarity and collective effort.
and "Fields Lie Silent" for its beautiful descriptions of the quietness in a dormant world and its promise of brighter days returning.
Then perhaps add "Hal an Tow", chorus at least, or some other springtime song you like, for an encore!

We can continue this pattern for all the local sessions we are missing during the suspension, with a different set of songs posted here on our website shortly before the date of each one (Worthing 1st Weds, Lewes 3rd Tues and Chichester 3rd Thurs of each month). We’d love to know if you like this idea, find it helpful or have any other ways of joining in song to suggest. Also, If you’d like to suggest a song or songs familiar to most of us to be included in the lists for future sessions, please use the SDFS email for your message to be forwarded to me.

Happy singing on Wednesday evening folks, or whenever you can join us, and we’ll all look forward to happier and safer times ahead.
Henny (SDFS Committee Chairperson)

Coronavirus

All of our official SDFS gatherings are now suspended until it is considered to be safe to meet up again. We expect this to be at least to the end of June and possibly well beyond this date.

Please check this website regularly for any updates.

Local Group Report – Worthing – Wednesday 4th March 2020

Thirty singers gathered to ignore the wind and rain of early March and turn instead to thoughts of the spring and possible songs for the performance events we have planned for the coming season. We opened with Fields Lie Silent describing as it does so beautifully the return of spring after winter. With Emily’s guidance we then sang through When Spring Comes In and Searching For Lambs before moving on to Maytime with Hal an Tow and the May Day Carol. Time was also given to hearing, trying and starting to learn a couple of new offerings made recently – Three Drunken Maidens and Buttercup Joe. Both went down well and may be added to our collection in due course if also liked by our two comrade groups. After a break and some notices about future events we resumed by singing these two songs through again. The evening concluded with a couple of requests, still looking ahead to spring and summer, Rolling In the Dew and Lark in the Morning. Roll on Springtime!