Recent Activities

Carols and tea with Parkinson's group

This event was really well attended by choir members and a great audience of friend, family and members of the local Parkinson's group that we are raising funds for this year.  Not only was the fund-raising successful - about £600 just from this event - but it also encouraged audience singing, in some cases for the first time in many years.

 

 

 It took a while to provide tea for everybody, but eventually all were seated and enjoying cakes from the amazing array provided by choir members.

 

 

 

Lantern-making at Cross Keys - 17th November

 Thanks to the hard-working group that turned up on Sunday, we will have some lovely, colourful lantern for our Christmas singing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social at Tynemouth Golf Club - 15th November

The theme was pub games and the organising team found an amazing array. There were plenty of laughs and lots of chatting.  On balance, a tricky quiz at the end of the evening was perhaps more of a challenge than intended, but it certainly sorted out the knowledgable teams from the rest of us!

 
 Seaton Delaval Hall - 21st July

As in previous years, we finished the term with some singing at Seaton Delaval Hall.  Luckily, the weather was dry, if not actually sunny, so we sang outside the old stables to an audience of friends and relatives - though others may well have heard us!

Summer Concert in St Andrews - 13th JulyThis was our one chance to sing indoors and get all the songs right. I missed it, but by all accounts, we did well for an appreciative audience.  The raffle raised a good amount and the final total for the year was £5,000 for Us Active.  Sorry there are no pictures - you just had to be there!

Summer on the Green - at Village Court - 22nd June

We came to Village Court to sing and to have tea and cakes in the afternoon - very civilised.  In the evening, a small, but select group attended for strawberries and Prosecco, plus music from singers and musicians.  Between the two events, we raised £700 for our charity!

Whitley Bay Carnival - 25th May

 After some very wet weather, the sun shone for the Carnival.  This year we were not in the parade - instead, we entertained the early arrivals at Spanish City.  We even got some audience participation when we sang '500 miles'.

 

Although there was less funding than previous years, the parade still had lots of colourful outfits and some very impressive structures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Wallington Hall - 10th December

It 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.

 

It 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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Wallington Hall - 25th June

The 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.

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.