Dreamers newsletter 7th December 2023

Despite the pouring rain (and it’s applause effect as it beat on the skylight at the Victoria), we all had a tremendous night last Sunday with Rob Barratt and his self-penned humorous verse, some familiar, some new. Great stuff.
This coming Sunday, December 10th, is a singers night which should be good judging by the standard of recent such nights followed on December 17th by the Christmas dinner and Club night which should be great fun as always with a mixture of carols and other seasonal material of all sorts.
Lots of other things on in the next few days. In date order:-
Tonight, 8th December, from 7.00 p.m. there’s a Tribute to John the Fish at The Count House, Bottallack (TR19 7QQ ). Contributors will include Jonathon X. Coudrille – Vivian Robertson – Mic McCreadie – Des Hannigan — Pam & Noel Betowski – Sarah McQuaid – Mike Smith & Barrie Jarvis – Mike Sagar Fenton.
A reminder that, tomorrow, you can see and hear Handbell Ringers of Great Britain (featuring Dreamers’ Ruth Beretta) and Loveny Male Voice Choir) at A Cornish Christmas Celebration. This Saturday 9th December at 3.00 p.m. at the annual Christmas Tree Festival in St Petroc’s Church, Bodmin. 30 ringers, 200 handbells and a wide range of material. Tickets are £8 from crbo.co.uk/handbells, 01726 63513 or from the tourist offices in Bodmin (Shire Hall), St Austell (Station) and Truro (Boscawen Street).
And, also tomorrow, (9th December), our old friends, Sue and Paul Ford (Sounds Eclectic), paying Cornwall a Christmas visit from France, have a concert at the Breage Social Club (Shute Hill, Breage, Helston TR13 9PU) starting at 8.00 p.m.
Further ahead, the date for the December session of the Cornish Zoom Folk Club has now been set for 30th December at the usual time of 7.30. After much deliberation, this seemed the date which suited most people though, sadly, not all. Last year’s December session was a great success so hopefully we’ll be able to start the New Year celebrations early.
Along with all the live events, there are several online offerings coming up now on Live to Your Living Room in the run-up to Christmas:-
Next Tuesday, 12th December at the site (in conjunction with Live at Sam’s) features Martin Carthy performing at St Andrews Church, Sheffield. Chat, stories and performances with Jon Wilks of Tradfolk with a support set from Holly Clarke starting at 7.30pm, before Martin and Jon take to the stage at 8pm. Tickets and more info at Martin Carthy & Jon Wilks | Live to Your Living Room
And, another Christmas special on Friday 15th December starting at 7.45 p.m. another hybrid gig, this time from Christ Church Downend, near Bristol. This features The Wilderness Yet, a trio with a growing reputation for close knit harmony singing. Lockdown saw the trio record Turn The Year Round, a seasonal album featuring winter songs, wassails, and secular rewrites of classic carols which has quickly become a favourite, with the band playing live on BBC Radio 3 on Christmas Day. The Wilderness Yet | Online Gig | Live to Your Living Room This gig begins with support from Heartwood Chorus, before The Wilderness Yet take to the stage.
Highly recommended – Folkscape Live have put together a Christmas Special at this year’s Sidmouth Festival with 12 handpicked highlights from the Festival. You can watch this free y scrolling down at www.folkscape.live – performers featured include Breabach, Lindisfarne, Thr Young ‘Uns and plenty more. Some summer sunshine in the depths of winter.
Finally, as a result of this Newsletter, I do get quite a few other contacts with info which might be of interest. I don’t usually include stuff about other local Clubs on the basis that you know about them od can check with their own websites. I’ve made an exception for Wadebridhe as ti gets up and running. I’ve now had a longish email from there about events in Wadebridge, Bodmin and thereabouts from this weekend into January. Some of this is quite a way for Dreamers so rather than burden everyone with it, I’ll just say that I’m happy to forward it if anyone asks.
That’s all this week, hope to see you on Sunday, in the meantime, all the best
Nigel