Heritage project celebrates history, folklore and songs of the Sussex coast
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‘South Coast Songs and Shanties’ explores the fascinating musical world of the harbour and port towns of Sussex and Hampshire in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The booklet contains the lyrics of these songs and also the real historical events that caused them to be written.
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Hide AdLearn about the loss of 11 fisherman off Worthing in 1850, the rumbustious times of Littlehampton’s ‘collier lads,’ and the true story behind the famous folk anthem, ‘Brighton Camp.’
Included with the booklet is a CD of 60 south coast singers all giving harmonious voice to these salty songs of the sea.
The singers were all part of the South Downs Society’s Secret Shore Project which has being celebrating the songs and folklore of the south coast with the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
All the songs on the CD are real songs that would have been sung by everyday people of the past, now brought to life again by south coast singers of the 21st century.
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Hide AdThe South Downs Society’s Secret Shore singers are holding a concert at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham next Saturday (October 1) to mark the launch of the new booklet and CD.
The event, which is part of Shoreham Wordfest, starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £8.50.
In 1868, the pioneering folklorist Charlotte Latham collected nearly 200 superstitions and traditions she found ‘lingering’ in rural and coastal Sussex.
Last year, volunteers from the South Downs Society’s Secret Shore Project interviewed people living in the county to see if any of these beliefs still exist today or whether new superstitions have arisen in place of the old.
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Hide AdHistorian and project manager Chris Hare will discuss what the team discovered in a talk on Sussex Folklore on Wednesday, October 5, at the Ropetackle Arts Centre.
The talk starts at 7pm and tickets are £5.
For more information about Shoreham Wordfest, which runs from October 1 to 9, visit www.shorehamwordfest.com
To find out more about the Secret Shore Project, visit www.secretshore.org.uk or find them on Facebook.
• All photos by Steve Speller
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