Join the Ridgeway Singers & Band in the extraordinary setting of St George’s Church, Reforne on Portland for an exhilarating concert of local songs, stories, poetry and dance tunes that reflect the changing seasons and our long and lasting relationship with the sea.
Led by folk musician Tim Laycock and Phil Humphries of the Mellstock Band, the Ridgeway Singers & Band came together in 2013 to explore the West Gallery tradition of carol singing in South Dorset Ridgeway villages. A number of rural churches in the Ridgeway area have retained their West Galleries, as has St George’s, and through a series of Artsreach Heritage Lottery funded projects, the group have turned the spotlight back on to this style of music, giving four sell out carol concerts over the last two winters. In 2014 the group extended its repertoire to encompass folk songs collected in Dorset by brothers Henry and Robert Hammond in 1905/6 and, more recently, were invited to perform at Clavell Tower in Kimmeridge as part of the Landmark Trust’s 50th anniversary celebrations. This special new programme for Portland features songs from Dorset’s rich heritage of maritime music and sea shanties, along with a selection of local stories, poetry and dance tunes.
This event is part of the Heritage Lottery Funded South Dorset Ridgeway Landscape Partnership Projects and takes place with the support of the Churches Conservation Trust
Saturday 13 June, 7:30pm. St George’s Church, Reforne, Portland.
Tickets £5 from Frances Sargents: 07977 883187, Artsreach: 01305 269512
or from Cards & Celebrations, Easton
