Next date and Facebook page

Ahoy there!

Welcome to those of you here for the first time!

Our next meeting after tomorrow (7.30-9.30pm at The Old Songs Home, Gratwick Road, Worthing) will be on…

October 11th at Creative Heart, Littlehampton, from 7.30-9.30pm.

The latest copy of the words can be found below.

Please also sign up to our Facebook group “Secret Shore Singers” for more regular updates or get in touch with me at jonnymottmusic@gmail.com

Hope to sing with you soon!

Jonny 🌊⚓️🎶💙

Updated Song Book

Ahoy Everyone!

Below is a link to the freshly updated Secret Shore Songbook.  This mighty tome has been a faithful friend of Secret Shore Singers for a long time now, but it needed a little Spring clean to reflect where we are now.  Once we can meet again we'll talk more about any pruning or splicing that needs to be done, but for now just a few little tweaks!

Secret Shore Songbook March 2020

See you all soon!

Jonny

Singing whilst in isolation

Follow this link to an online Shanty group website


https://www.auntieshanty.org

24th March Shanty Session Cancelled

In alignment with Government recommendations with regret the next session has been cancelled on 24th. Please keep eye on here and fb page as not sure when we will be in a position to meet up again.

Worthing Oranges & Lemons Flingathon
An mazing turn out for the annual Worthing Journal orange and lemon charity Flingathon, under blue skies, in aid of Olly's Future. Audree Thompson, five, pitched the first orange for our cricket bat wielding Mayor, to commemorate the 1901 Indiana fruit wreck and 2008 Ice Prince wood wreck. Secret Shore Singers were there in numbers to add some suitable songs of the sea.Thank you so much to all those who came along and donated some money towards a great cause.

Joint Shanty Concerrt

Joint Shanty Concert - Saturday 25th January

A wonderful lunchtime free concert at St. Mary de Haura Church,  Shoreham. The concert was supported by songs of the sea from Secret Shore Singers, The Duck Pond Sailors & The Wellington Wailers!  A full church of around 400 spectators supported the  2 hour concert which was used  for raising funds for the charity Olly's Future, raising awareness of suicide in young people. The atmosphere inside the church was amazing and the different types of sea songs and shanties echoed through the rafters. The concert finished with a rousing version of 'Haul Away Joe' where all three groups joined together. Following the church concert the singers moved to the Duke of Wellington Pub in Shoreham where an informal follow-on singing session finished off the event. An amazing total of £1307.58 was raised for this amazing charity. Many thanks to all tat supported the event. More photos are available via our galley.

January Shanty Practice - 21st January
Another great practice session at the Ye Olde House at Home to start of the  New Year. Around 25 members turned up for this session supported by our wonderful Emily. It was explained that the evening would be used to go through the songs which we would be performing at the Shanty Concert on Saturday. The session was set up so we got used to singing together around the music stands. These are really improving out outdoor performances which enable us to lift our voices. The evening was a great success and really prepared us for the weekend.

Shanty Concert 25th January

If you are unable to make tonight's practice but intend to support Saturday's concert can you please aim to be at the church at 11am. This will enable to walk through the schedule and meet the other singers. You should all be receiving an email containing all details with 24 hours. Thanks

Joint Shanty Concert - 25th Jan 2020

Our most excellent Shanty concert fundraiser event is coming up this month in Shoreham. The concert will be supported by singing from the Wellington Wailers, Duck Pond Sailors and the Secret Shore Singers (yes that means YOU !!)


The concert is free and there will be a collection afterwards for Ollys Future https://ollysfuture.org.uk/ and the RNLI https://rnli.org/


The formal part of the proceedings will be between 11:30 and 1pm (approx.) at St Mary de Haura Church. This will then be followed by an singing session at the Duke of Wellington Pub between 1:30pm(ish) and 3:45pm. The end time is constrained by a Jazz band scheduled to commence at 4pm.


We have access to the church from 10 for setting up and warming up so feel free to arrive any time from then but by 11 at the latest.


The concert will run like this:

11.30 - intro from The Wellington Wailers

11.35 - First set from Welly Wailers - 4 songs
11.50 - First set from Secret Shore - 4 songs
12.05 - First set from Duck Pond Sailors - 4 songs

12.20 - Interval for tea and cake kindly provided by the church, and an opportunity to find out about Olly's Future and the RNLI. Hopefully we will have info tables in the church for both charities for people to look at. 

12.35ish - Second set from Welly Wailers - 3 songs
12.47 - Second set from Secret Shore - 3 songs
1.00 - Second set from Duck Ponders - 3 songs
1.10ish - Final shared song - Haul Away Joe. Welly Wailers will solo the first verse, a Secret Shore singer the second verse, a Duck Ponder the third and a Welly Wailer the 4th.
End !!

We can be in the church til 2 so that leaves plenty of time for clearing out.

After the concert there is an open invitation to all singers to continue their singing in the Duke of Wellington pub in Shoreham, BN43 6RE.

December Shanty Session Report
As I was away for this session I asked for a member of the group to write this month session report. Many thanks to Leigh.

Chris Hare came along for the evening which was a nice surprise.  He talked to us about he song he has recently learnt which has many verses. He sang a few of them for us 'Goodbye, Fare Thee Well'.



Emily taught us a new round 'To Portsmouth!' from Ravenscroft's Pammelia 1609

To Portsmouth, to Portsmouth, it is a gallant town!

And there we will have a quart of wine,

With a nutmeg brown diddle down.

The gallant ship the Mermaid, the Lion hanging stout,

Will make us to spend there our sixteen pence all out!

 I passed round the marlinspike for everyone to hold. It is surprisingly heavy and would be handy for repelling all boarders as well as splicing rope. I waved it aloft at the appropriate moment of the chorus when we sang Old Fid.

 As we are so near to Christmas the evening ended with some carols  - Sweet Chiming Bells, Pentonville and Hark the Herald. As we had sung our two different versions of While Shepherds Watched, I suggested we also sang the "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at" version. To our surprise Emily had never heard of 'On Ilkley Moor' - she must be too young! - so we sang a her a bit of that too and the evening ended in jollity and disarray.

SEA SHANTY CONCERT, ST MARY DE HAURA CHURCH, SHOREHAM-BY-SEA
Saturday 25th January 2020

This unique event at the wonderful St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham-by-Sea, with its great acoustics, showcases three key Sea Shanty Groups from West Sussex, seen for the first time at the same venue. Admission is free! The performers are: The Secret Shore Singers, The Duck Pond Sailors, and The Wellington Wailers! The event is not only an opportunity to raise your voices and raise the roof of this iconic building, it also provides an opportunity to collect for two very fine and worthy charities: ‘Olly’s Future’, A charity supporting suicide prevention initiatives and training and The R N L I Lifeboats! There is also a ‘possibility’ that more informal singing may ‘breakout’ after the formal event, as the groups take refreshment in one or two of the fine hostelries in Shoreham-by-Sea!

2020 Shanty Session Dates

First two of 2020 Shanty Sessions programmed into the diary. January is on 21st and February is on the 11th. Dates added to the diary. Both sessions are at the Ye Olde House at Home commencing at 8pm.

Portsmouth Dockyard Victorian Christmas Festival

Portsmouth Dockyard Victorian Christmas Festival 30th November
A great day out at Portsmouth Victorian Christmas for Secret Shore Singers. The day was bright and chilly but it did not let the singing spirits drop. 3 performances took place onboard HMS Warrior in the Rope Deck from 11:15 to 14:20 with intervals between to ensure the festive spirit happening around the Dockyard. The final set of the day took place in the Queen Victoria Pub; a pop up pub is the shadows of HMS Victory. A quick adjustment on the selection of songs to ensure the large audience(150+) could lose themselves in the wonderful sound coming from the stage. A great day out enjoyed by singers and punters alike.

Extra October Shanty Session

Extra October Shanty Session 26th October
This evening we concentrated on perfecting the shanties we will be singing at the Portsmouth Dockyard Victorian Christmas Festival this Saturday.

First up was Roll the Old Chariots sung with our usual gusto but a bit quicker.  Next was Randy Dandy-o with special emphasis on getting the harmonies right. Then we moved on to the Mermaid which we will all sing on Saturday rather than solo men on the verses. Before the break we did Mollymawk, Here’s a Health and Bonny Ship the Diamond.

After the break we stormed through Haul Away Joe and Spanish Ladies. Then slightly adapted Sweet Ladies of Plymouth, renamed Sweet Ladies of Portsmouth and somewhat abridged for Saturday’s performance, was run through.  We finished off, as we seem now always to do, with Time to Go Now.

Portsmouth Dockyard Victorian Christmas Festival

The timings and locations for the Dockyard Performances are now on the diary page. Please ensure that you give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the performance; 10 minutes before the performance ready to sing is suggested.

Access to the Dockyard will be via Victory Gate (nearest gate entrance to Portsmouth Harbour Station). On arrive announce which group you are with and they will check your name off. You will require photo ID for proof of free entry.

Please dress appropriate to the weather but consider the theme of the event Victorian,Christmans or Sailors, its up to you.

Songs Sets are as follows

Warrior Performance 1

Roll the Old Chariot

Spanish Ladies

Haul Away Joe

Mollymawk

Randy Dandy-O

Warrior Performance 2

John Kanaka

Littlehampton Collier Lads

The Mermaid

Bonnie Ship the Diamond

Its Time to Go Now

Warrior Performance 3

Roll the Old Chariot (or Here's a Health)

Haul Away Joe

Mollymawk

Randy Dandy-O

Its Time to Go Now

Queen Vic Pub

John Kanaka

Littlehampton Collier Lad

The Mermaid

Sweet Ladies of Portsmouth (Plymouth)

Bonnie Ship the Diamond

Please note that these songs may change depending on how practice session goes on Tuesday, hopefully they won't though.

Worthing Sailing Club Shanty Workshop

On a cold and wet evening we all ventured out to support Emily in providing a Shanty Workshop to Worthing Sailing Club this Thursday. The weather did not deter club members and around 35 people turned up, including a few from the Secret Shore team to support the well received event. A number of songs were taught during the 2 hour workshop, including 'Roll the Old Chariot', 'John Kanaka', 'Mingulay Boat Song' and 'It's Time to Go Now'. All of the songs sung with great gusto and enthusiasm. Emily's ability to get a group who have never sung these songs together and by the end of the night produce such a great sound never ceases to amaze us all. The end of the evening was finished with the whole group standing around in a circle and singing to each other. What a brilliant evening; let's do it again sometime.
So people of Worthing when you are next passing the Sailing Club don't be surprised if you hear voices singing from the rigging; you now know the reason why !!

Victorian Christmas Festival - Portsmouth Dockyard

The attendance list is now closed. Details regarding the event will be provided at sessions on 20th and 26th at YOHAH. This is to encourage members to attend the practice sessions prior to the Dockyard Festival on 30th November.

Extra Session for November

As we have this lovely sing at Portsmouth coming up and as last meet up was the first we've had for a fair while, an extra practice session has been planned so we can feel a bit readier for the 30th!

Due to availability of the practice venue we have arranged an additional date. It isn't a Tues, as there are darts on the evenings. We have therefore gone for the following day so, it is on Weds the 20th Nov instead.

 We do hope that's ok for most of us, many apologies to anyone for whom it doesn't work.

 So our next gatherings are:

Weds 20th Nov

Tues 26th Nov

 And then Portsmouth on the 30th.

 Final details for times of sets are being planned at the mo.

What we do know is that there will probably be 4 sets, all on the Warrior, of about 15/20 minutes in length.

Worthing Sailing Club Shanty session.
On Thursday 14th November Worthing Sailing Club will be having a Shanty Session hosted by Emily. Though not a planned SSS event we have been invited along. This is a free event and will be hosted in the clubhouse. Event will commence at 7 45pm.