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Festival of Village Carols, 2002, at Grenoside |
The Festival on Saturday 30 November 2002, was
at the where the guests were the Blue Ball Carollers from Worrall near Sheffield, Glen Rock Carolers from Pennsylvania, USA. Link here to the Glen Rock Carolers own web site |
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Festival of Village Carols, Grenoside 2002
It's November 29th and your correspondent slowly slithers up the M1 to scenic South Yorks once more for Village Carols' biennial Grenoside Grand Sing, heading straight for the Top Red Lion, where Friday night attracts a capacity crowd, solidly packed from the tables at the top past the bar to the front doors, and from the snug to the loos. Large men are wedged irrevocably upright. Husbands and wives are separated, never to meet again till Saturday breakfast. Awake Arise, Joy to the World, Jacob's Well, Pentonville, Mount Zion and many, many more fill the air while symphonies and assorted twiddly bits arise form the haven of calm occupied by Ray "Amadeus" Ellison and his string quartet - not your average pub band! An awkward moment occurs during either Hark; Hark, Hark, Hark, or possibly Hark Hark What News, when a firm Yorkshire voice is heard to exclaim "Bloody incomers - wrong 'Ark!" Meanwhile it is a lovely mild starry night outside where the Grenoside Longsword team are donning their clogs and polishing their swords, and Dr Doc Rowe, camcorder in hand, is ready to record any minuscule changes in the figures of the dance and the angle at which the leader wears his Davy Crockett hat. Back in the bar the mummers of Winster are limbering up for their Horse play. They play it twice, to give us a chance to grasp its subtle, positively Strindbergian nuances. The Saturday workshop sessions mark a return to the Grenoside Community Centre after the Cutlers' Hall interlude of 2000. It is as if we have never been away. Ian Russell is still the same ball of energy at the ungodly hour of half past nine. One blast of the primary head teacher's shush - a skill based on years of practice - and we are all ready to go. The committee has ensured that everything runs smoothly, including the catering, and the bar ministers beautifully to hundreds of thirsts throughout the day. In the evening, at the Grand Sing itself, there are three groups of carollers: Coal Aston from south of Sheffield, one of the original groups in 1994; Worrall from near Grenoside; and the men of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, the first international group at a Grenoside Festival. From the moment they suddenly launch into their version of Christians Awake in the Top Red Lion on Friday, you know they are a bit special. Started in 1848 to "Go the Rounds" of their snowy Pennsylvania town and bring the joys of English Christmas carolling to the German-speaking majority there, every year since they have sung out in the town square, building up to a baker’s dozen from four "original" carols which have their roots in these parts, and the guys from Glen Rock are exhilarated to discover that what they believed to be a lonely torch they were bearing through the Pennsylvania snows still burns brightly in this corner of Yorkshire. Membership passes from father to son; one venerable Caroler introduces his son and grandson; twelve year old great grandson is still on the waiting list. As the evening wears on I identify the hunched, overcoated figure immediately in front of me as the Home Secretary. A generous libation of local ale probably ups my decibel level, which is no doubt why the Rt. Hon. Gentleman seems to elude his sturdy lady escorts and make his escape shortly before the 2002 Grand Sing ends joyously, rousingly, with Pentonville, Merry Christmas and - perhaps best of all - the promise of rousing lunchtime sessions next day. But once again, a thousand thanks and several rousing cheers to Ian and his remarkable committee for another glorious Saturday night. Roll on 2004 . . . and lets hope there is still a world to sing in. Mike Spittal |
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