cows, tractors, ducks and a church

All roads led to Marston Montgomery last week - and the start of working with groups there. On Thursday evening I worked in the village hall kitchen with members of the Youth Club. Like most youth clubs it was pretty anarchic and, as I expected, only a handful of young people had the staying power to stick with it. But what a great lot this handful were! I am learning that the John Deere tractor is a big part of life round here (kids at Sudbury also talked about it) and I'm sure it deserves a love song ("Oh John deere...."). Anyway, this lot talked a lot about cows, sheep and muck... We started a song dwelling on the madder and even fantasy elements of living in Marston stimulated by the observation that the Friesans go a bit mad in the Spring and were compared to the more unruly elements at the Youth Club!
We are meeting again next week, so watch this space.....

After a night at a B and B to save the long drive home to Sheffield, I spent the next morning at the village hall again - this time with mums and children from Marston Under 5's group. I busied myself chatting to mums about the area and where their children enjoy to go as the starting point for a little action song which will be a sort of "Babies Guide". Here is one of the children looking for ducks in a neighbour's garden after the session - I am sure we can work them in! At the end of their morning, I led a short music and song session.

After lunch in the pub, off to Doveridge to work with adults with learning disabilities at a residential home there. Unfortunately, they were unexpectedly short staffed that day - a real difficulty for many homes when illness strikes and I could see that my presence wasn't going to help matters. So we agreed to meet the following week and added in another week before Easter. Really looking forward to it even though I know I won't have much time to get the measure of the residents.

With some time now unexpectedly on my hands, I decided to have a look at Norbury church. Cllr Carol Valentine - another church architecture buff - and I had talked about churches as potential performance venues and I had heard that Norbury had a particularly fine church. I wasn't disappointed. The windows and glass and consequently the light in the chancel are breathtaking and more than a bit spooky. And look at these wonderful lords and ladies on the tombs. Don't they deserve a song? George Eliot's father sang in the choir here. I tried out the accoustics by singing, rather self conciously, and hoped no-one was listening to this mad woman.