Recent Activities

Christmas 2023

Seaton Delaval Hall - 16th December

Seaton Delaval Hall stables always seems such an appropriate place for Christmas singing.  It was a bit of a squash to fit us in, but the acoustics really helped us sound good.SD-Christmas23-choir3

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Gilly encouraged the audience to sing a Christmas round with us - people definitely opened their mouths, but were hard to hear from our side of the stables.

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St Andrew's Church - 13th/14th December

As our last two regular sessions of the term, we invited family and friends to come and hear all our Christmas music.  Gilly even got the audience singing in a 4-part round with us!  A good number of Wednesday and Thursday singers turned up for the Wednesday evening, so numbers were smaller, but still tuneful, on the Thursday morning.

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Wallington Hall - 10th December

Wallington-23-treeIt was dismal weather, with rain and puddles everywhere, so we were very happy to be invited indoors to sing, where there was a lovely audience.

 

Wallington-23-audienceIt took a while to get us arranged so that most of us could see Gilly, but the sound was great - on two sides of a rectangular balcony, we could actually hear the other parts really well.

 Summer 2023

Seaton Delaval Hall - 23rd July

After mostly sunny outings in May, June and the start of July, today was well and truly wet.  Instead of singing on the steps of Seaton Delaval Hall, we were thankful to be inside the saloon. Our stalwart supporters came to hear us again, but there were not many other visitors.  Some of the songs went well - the audience clapped even when Gilly was clearly not satisfied!

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Mouth of the Tyne Festival - 8th July

The roof of Tynemouth Metro really helped us hear each other, so we made a much better sound.  A good number turned up to sing and there were quite a few people there to listen.

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Wallington Hall - 25th June

wall23-mainThe main courtyard at Wallington Hall is a lovely place for a picnic lunch and the weather stayed dry for a while.  We walked past beautiful flowers on the way to the field just beyond the walled gardens.

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The first two songs were fine, but half way through 'Rainy Days and Mondays', the heavens opened and rain poured down.  Luckily, it didn't last long, so we emerged from our shelter and finished the set - we even risked repeating 'Rainy days' and got through to the end without further wetness.  Even better, some of our audience stayed to hear us, despite the weather.

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Whitley Bay Carnival - 27th May

As usual, the parade assembled along the path by Whitley Bay metro.  There seemed to be more people than ever, in a stunning array of outfits.  This year was the carnival's 10th birthday, so the theme was birthdays.  Our banner reflected that, having been made in pieces by many choir members - each square reflecting some aspect of parties.

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 The ribbons had bells, which could sometimes be heard as we walked.carnival23-WW-banner-rear

 

 

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 We were right at the end of the parade, walking behind an incredible group of drummers, who kept playing energetically all the way to Spanish City.

 These pictures should give you some idea of the amazing variety of outfits.carnival23-drummers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We saved our singing voices for the performance area outside Spanish City.

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Tynemouth Food Fair - 13th May at Tynemouth Priory

It was a beautiful, sunny day for singing near the sea, with enough breeze that we weren't too hot.  As always, when singing out of doors, it was difficult to hear ourselves, but a modest audience seemed to enjoy it, and we did too.

We had a great view of the Priory and could wander round all the stalls once we'd finished singing.

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Spring 2023

Taskmaster Social Evening

While some had not seen the programme 'Taskmaster', Gilly and Ali clearly had!  They threw themselves into role with enthusiasm (and sarcasm) and our brilliant team of helpers provided the materials for a wide range of challenges.  Scoring was idiosyncratic, arguing encouraged, but not rewarded!  The evening was full of laughter and fun.  Many thanks to all who organised it.

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Residential at Wydale Hall

After a longer journey than anticipated for some of us, Wydale Hall was a welcome sight, set in the North Yorkshire hills.WH23-sunny-view

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 As always, there was plenty of singing, but also places to relax and chat.WH23-relaxing-2

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 On Saturday, there were craft sessions and dance sessions, but others took the time for a long walk in the countryside.WH23-walking-group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday evening, everyone was dressed in their 1960s finery, ready for pop quiz, karaoke and dancing. It's always fun seeing all the different interpretations, and the 60s were a very diverse decade for fashion, as you can see!

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When we came to show off our dance from the afternoon workshops, it went a bit more free-style than planned. ( Later, the improvisation was intentional.)WH23-disco-2

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