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Morag's Blog 2024

Margate Songbook: Echoes of England

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

August 2023

I am not a patriot, nor a nationalist. I was brought up half English and half Scottish which left me identifying with neither. I feel bad about how representatives from England treated entire countries and their people, claimed for “the Empire”. Sometimes people interpret this as glorious. I understand they feel like this but I am not one of them. Nor do I feel tribal or have a need to trump where I live over other places. They all have their merits and issues. I have a lot of time for all the people who fought in the last war to keep Europe free from tyranny and fascism, to make England a welcoming place of asylum and peace.

I'm not daft. I know it's not utopia. Let's explore.

When I see a flag of St George, I cringe a bit as I assume that it is flown by a member of the far right, a very public statement of certain politics and oppressive values. I have started to resent this. It's a symbolic representation of the place I live so why do they own that flag? Other countries fly flags of pride. In Scotland they have the concept of civic nationalism- if you want to live in Scotland then you are Scottish, whereas we in England talk more about ethnic nationalism which is far more divisive, exclusive and tribal.

Like Billy Bragg, who has written a book on the subject, I would like to wrestle the concept of “England” and what it means to live in England from the British National Party and make it a more open discussion, warts and all.

I applied to the Arts Council England for a grant to look into this subject and to have a conversation in my local community about what it feels like to live in England today. Positive Citizenship is taught in schools using given words and concepts which are thought to describe our particular society - do they match the reality? How could I encapsulate people's thoughts about life in England?

I run a folk venue so I didn't think long about this. Initially I wanted guest artists at Rosslyn Court to choose and perform a song representing life in England but then widened the project to include people in the area from as many of the different parts of the community as I could find. Also – for people who were not born in England what song did people hear and think of as quintessentially English before they came to live here?

So this was the start of the journey.

I initially had some ideas and input from Daisy Beau Kelly and I thank her for her thoughts.

I have run the project past a number of folk performers and others, who have given me ideas, help and advice and I would like to publicly thank:

  • Angeline Morrison
  • George Sansome
  • Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne
  • Martin Carthy
  • Maddie Morris
  • Bob Fox
  • Bob Kenward
  • Gerry Colvin
  • Christina Alden
  • Alex Patterson
  • Sally Ironmonger
  • Brian Carter
  • Charlie Hannah
  • Den Miller
  • Gabriel Moreno
  • Tiffany Hore from EFDSS
  • Hughie Gavin
  • Actually, anyone who performed at Rosslyn Court, -trapped here- poor souls. Thank you.

To do:

  • find sympathetic people to help
  • be very brave and take my idea to the public
  • organise collection places to catch as many different types of people as possible
  • create/maintain/analyse useful feedback data
  • organise concerts

September 2023

Initial conversations about the project have been 99.9% positive and engaged. In fact, so far only one person has not got it. However, what has emerged is that I have to think more about “living in England” than “being English” as this otherwise excludes a lot of people who live here with constructive views and ideas to contribute.

There had been a thought that we could record people actually singing the songs but a trial run proved this to be unrealistic as the field recordings were too poor to be used, people didn't know the words/couldn't (or wouldn't) sing or were completely alienated by the idea of performing and withdrew interest. So instead, we are asking for the name of a song and the performer, with a reason to explain their choice. We have also located a couple of would-be performers whom we may be able to encourage to perform live themselves.

Collection Points

  • Aldi said "no". Shame – apparently they have no room in the car park for a community led project and it might set a precedent. Heaven forfend!
  • RNLI Station - Del– cautiously positive for us to stand outside
  • International Food Centre café- very keen, will free us up a table.
  • Dalby Café -Mark – positively enthusiastic!- will make sure we have a table
  • Grain Grocer –Katie –very positive, suggests the seat outside + catch passers-by
  • Camp – very keen – need to find an evening without loud live music!
  • Cliffs – initially very positive but has changed hands and difficult to pin down- finally said "no".
  • 2 local care homes to be visited by music session workers who have worked there.
  • Possible: Tap Room? Harbour Arm?

Thomas Wood from Snottledogs has agreed to help with the project and started by setting up a very impressive method of collecting data using an app which can be downloaded onto an iPad.

So all my bits of paper are out of the window!

If I ask someone to think of a song that sums up life in England people go blank. It's too much of a contextless demand. So, I decide to open with a discussion about the concepts used to teach Good Citizenship in English schools. Maybe if people get their minds around whether they agree with them it may spark a memory of a song.

  • honesty
  • compassion
  • respect
  • responsibility
  • courage
  • respect for law
  • welcoming

I haven't use the term "tolerance", which is in the curriculum list because I'm not sure what it says about a person - if someone can only "tolerate" me I'm not that happy about it.

30/09/2023 - RNLI collection P.M. Margate

I chose this venue because I wanted to connect with the RNLI which is such a strong part of the Margate community and is on a throughway from Cliftonville to the town and its car park so has a constant feed of people passing.

Thomas Wood and I set up on a bright, warm afternoon. There were a few people passing back and forth on their way to the carpark and generally walking the Viking Trail.

It's quite a thing to approach strangers and engage on what could be a controversial subject and ask for people to wrack their brains for a song. We decided our strategy, to approach people who did not look purposeful or hassled, the parents of a screaming child, for example. There were lots of folk with dogs. Thomas is a professional and was straight in. The first man is a chef from Sri Lanka and very positive about everything English. He offers us a taste of his cooking later ... A great start. You will never guess what English song he learned as a child!

Other people we approached were intrigued by the project and suggested various folk and other songs. Some people found it hard to think of anything at all whereas others had a few ideas already formulating during the initial discussion.

We tried to choose men and women representing all communities in Margate -and unknowingly spoke to one woman who was profoundly deaf and who had never heard a song in her life.

The discussion around the school curriculum Citizenship language has been fascinating with wildly differing views on people's perception of ethics and culture in England at the moment. We asked for any other words that could be substituted and this has proved interesting and thoughtful.

The people we spoke to were local and from various ethnic backgrounds and genders.

Talking after the session , Thomas and I agreed that it was better for people to use the app themselves to note down their demographic information, than for us to ask. The app that Thomas has set up to lead the questions is amazing and has simplified the process extraordinarily using the technology of the 21st century and improving the project hugely.

04/10/2023 - International Food Centre, Cliftonville

The International Food centre is a Greek/Turkish community grocer, baker, greengrocer and café. I chose this venue because it attracts people from all communities in Cliftonville to their wonderful good value salads and patisserie.

Gerry Colvin and I felt a bit apprehensive approaching people who were purposefully meeting friends for a break or lunch. We established ourselves at the entrance. Almost immediately we were passed by people who had heard about the project and were happy to participate.

Encouraged by this I moved further into the café and spoke to some lovely people who were intrigued by the project and interested to have a discussion.

I was pleased that people were as interested in the England enigma as myself. Some became quite indignant at the idea that the discussion about living in England had been taken over by the political right wing. Song choices were surprising and impressive.

Gerry stayed at the entrance and talked to passers-by there.

We talked afterwards about the experiences of the conversations we had that session. Gerry had found this a more awkward experience interrupting people whereas I was more confident talking to single diners.

The customers were less multicultural than I had anticipated but came from a variety of backgrounds.

04/10/2023 - Margate Harbour Arms, Margate

Harbour Arms is on a road that wraps round the harbour with its boats and forming a nature reserve for birds. I chose this venue as it's a popular area with locals and visitors because of the situation and the regular live music.

Gerry Colvin and I arrived at the Harbour Arms at 6m and it was clear that some people had been at the bar for a while. The owners were keen that we spoke to a couple of customers who were interested in music.

The first customer was a retired sound engineer who had fascinating stories about times with Fairport Convention and other folk bands, he had worked on the original Cropredy festivals. He had solid ideas about living in England today.

There were other customers who had moved from other countries and had vivid ideas of what constituted an English song. They had considered ideas about England today.

Other customers were more entrenched in their views and felt less connected with multicultural England today.

This was the easiest venue for Gerry and I to talk to people an some of them turned up at the concert at Rosslyn Court the following night.

The conversations were diverse and interesting.

05/10/2023 - Grain Grocer, Cliftonville

Gerry Colvin and I set up at Grain Grocer which is an independent, vegetarian, wholegrain grocer's shop and café on Northdown Rd in Cliftonville. I chose his venue for its strong position in the community and its demographic appeal.

We sat at the entrance and almost immediately met people who were willing to talk to us about the project. All of the people we approached at this venue sat down and talked to us about the project in a considered way. It was interesting as we were concerned that they may be focussing on shopping/eating but in fact they seemed to be pleased to be distracted.

It was amazing to talk to so many interesting people of different genders and ethnic backgrounds with fascinating insights into the concept of living in England.

06/10/2023 - Dalby Café, Cliftonville

Dalby Café is famous for its enormous breakfast challenge, achieved by the likes of Peter Doherty and a few others. It is a community-based café used by locals. I chose this venue because it is popular, busy and is used by local building workers and others.

Thomas Wood and I spent most of a Friday at this venue.

I was feeling confident about the Dalby as it has a high turnover and is well respected. The owner was very supportive of our project.

Interestingly, when we arrived, it seemed quite intimidating. There were groups of workers talking animatedly and it seemed rude to interrupt. I bought a coffee and spied a lone diner. I pounced. What a lovely man! I chatted for ages with a local man who had strong feelings about wanting the idea of positive ideas of living in England to be as valid as those in Scotland and Wales. He ate his lunch as we talked, I drank coffee and he seemed pleased to be able to share his views.

Another man wanted to eat in peace. Fair enough.

We had a short break to allow to café to be very busy with people snatching a quick lunch and returned to a different clientele.

Thomas talked to 3 women at a table while I had a long discussion with a lovely carpenter who had very well-developed ideas about the concepts involved in the project.

I began to realise that I had developed my introduction to the project as I approached people to ask to share their ideas and was probably more ready now than at the start.

The people I spoke to at the Dalby cafe that day were all interesting and easily connected to the conversation. I was impressed with how seriously they took the subject of living on England and its merits and issues.

16/10/2023 - Thomas Wood and Morag in the kitchen

We met today to look at the data we have collected so far…nearly 100 people have had a discussion with us about their feelings about living in England and thought about it long enough to dredge a song that epitomises life in England. While we were talking songs were coming through from a care home that was being visited by Jon Beetham, who has worked there and knows the people well.

We started to analyse the data and found that although we had reached our target demographic in some areas, we have not reached and have to target others. We made a plan.

When we deliberately set a fixed yes/no alternative to the discussions around the Citizenship words we did this to avoid fence sitters. In retrospect, we could have defined the words a little more precisely- what does "Courage" actually mean? We also discussed that we had veered people away from thinking about attitudes about government behaviour and more towards community / friends. A lot of people had much to say about government behaviour but we did not think that this was reflective of society as a whole.

We have our final venue arranged at Camp LGBTQ+ bar on Northdown Rd and Tomas and I will visit there on Oct 28th as we have been advised that Saturday will be the best day.

I was standing in the High Street in Margate recently and a man came up to me to talk about the project. Apparently, people are going home and discussing it. I nearly wept. This is exactly what we set out to achieve and it felt very satisfying.

I have had a few suggestions of songs from people interested in the project but who do not live in Margate, but although I do not reject them, they will not be used in the local data set.

28/10/2023, Saturday

I checked with Sophie from the wonderful bar, "Camp", in Cliftonville when a calm time to visit would be to talk to customers about the project in this vibrant LGBTQ+ bar on Northdown Rd. Saturday would be good, we decided, as it was a disco on Friday and a bit noisy. So, Thomas and I turned up at 9pm to find a full-scale Halloween event underway. The costumes were awesome. Someone had fingers sticking out of their head, a ghost was wearing a sheet and little else (impressive given the weather…) There were ghouls and vamps and everyone was having a great time. We were initially buoyed by the atmosphere but project-wise dismayed and concerned that we would not be able to talk to people at all. An initial foray met with suspicion. I think I babbled rubbish as I was nervous however these three women soon felt sorry for us and two relented to participate. Emboldened, I approached a man with a deep wound who could not have been more friendly and interested in the project. It was loud in there but fortunately the data recording app came into its own at this juncture. I chatted to / shouted with- a few others but it was getting busy on the dance floor- what a fabulous place! So I joined Thomas outside where he was talking to a woman with straight horns and her sibling who had curly horns who left us with more questions than answers. What lovely people, very insightful with lots of thoughts and song suggestions. One of them is a singer- Brilliant!- of course they would like to be part of the concert!

So after an initial worry, between us we participated in more than our minimum quota of conversations and collected great song ideas for the concerts. It's looking good.

10/11/2023

Thomas and I met to look at the data and songs. An initial foray into the donated songs list left us with many questions about how to catalogue the titles as they did not fit into the categories we had anticipated. They did, however, fall into other categories and we now have to consider how to go about the tasks of listing and analysing the results.

I have negotiated a date for our first concert. On the 17the Feb in the evening, there will be a concert at Ark in Cliftonville. I have 2 definite professional performers and have approached others. More to be arranged!

8/12/2023 - Back in the kitchen

Thomas is a genius. He has come up with a methodology to analyse and catalogue the songs using a system known as the Heroes journey. In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero's journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed. We listen to each song and after discussion place it on an appropriate stage of the hero journey which gave the songs a natural but unimposing progression.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

This will allow us to give our concerts a sense of direction, taking into account subject matter, mood and tempo, with the need to manage the audience emotion during the course of the concerts. This system allows us a framework to pin these other requirements on and seems less daunting a task.

It is a daunting task. It takes two l o n g meetings and over 9 hours to set up, listen to and read the lyrics of all the songs and discuss their merit in a concert-building "Top Trumps" set list discussion.

There are some surprises- I have always thought of "Come on Eileen" as essentially Irish but I am wrong. Some songs we hadn't really listened to properly turned out to be beautiful- "Music when the lights go out" about a very English break up and Johnny Flynn "Detectorists" theme tune. There are 2 hymns – "All things bright and Beautiful" and "We plough the fields and scatter". They were linked to happy school memories.

There are more folk songs than anticipated, 14, nearly 15% (by the end of the project.)

Interestingly, one song turned out, on close attention, to be a right wing rant.

I was aware that I (personally) had had a few discussions with people holding entirely opposing views to the spirit of the project. This is important because although I was aware of some people being more patriotic than myself, definitely ethnocentric, rarely openly racist, however with the structure of the project interview we were able to have the conversation and I could disagree with ideas without the discussion becoming fragmented and dysfunctional. I like to think I planted thought seeds. Jon Beetham's line "I am aware that some people think like this but I am not one of them" is very useful and allows a considered discussion rather than a tribal row.

Performers- people have been coming at us from all sides asking to perform! Word is creeping round about the project and a lot of performers want to be in with the sentiment and the fun!

Thomas has suggested a comedian to MC- genius. Charlie Partridge.

January 2024

Thomas Wood has produced the most amazing poster which contains the logo plus the concept of "pop up" concerts, portrayed through music and images of places from Margate in a pop up format from a book. More genius.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

I'm having problems with my printer which may be the paper and may be the concentration of coloured ink. I hate when stuff goes wrong! Sulked then ordered new paper. And ink.

We have now arranged for most of the songs to be sung /danced by local people in the February concerts. Only the Operatic Phantom of the opera remains contentious as I can't find a soprano although there is an option of another song from the show being sung instead by a willing tenor.

We haven't timetabled any concerts in March because of the saturation of events from the month-long Power of Women Festival.

20/01/2024 - Meeting with Jodie Nesling

Met with Jodie Nesling, publicity angel who suggested various newspapers and key people to send promotion materials to. She also suggested ideas for images to use and a plan for a promotion campaign. Jodie is an amazing writer and very patient with my butterfly mind.

21/01/2024 - Contacted Peter Doherty

I contacted Peter Doherty from the Libertines to see if it is OK for me to change the words of one of 2 of his songs that have been chosen (Albion) and he is delighted I'm performing it. I'm making the place names in it more relevant to Margate for the concert. He said the names are changed according to where they are playing it. Carl Barat has said that if he is not on tour, he will play their songs along with me at the concerts. (he was on tour) The Libertines have always been very Albion focussed.

I'm appearing on an Academy FM radio programme this week and will be able to explain the project there.

Two local radio presenters have agreed to ask their stations play songs from the concerts on their radio programmes. Margate radio has showed an interest initially but is in a bit of a period of change at the moment.

Last week Gabriel Moreno played at Rosslyn Court and performed his new single "England all over again" which co-incidentally taps into exactly the ideas we are trying to put over in this project.

Radio 4 Desert Island Disks today had Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Royal wedding cellist) talking about his discomfort with "Rule Britannia" which was played at a BBC proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall and which he also played at, because of its association with the Empire and slavery. Not condoning slavery but stating that Britain will not be enslaved. It seems that we have touched on a theme running through the country.

22/01/2024 - Meeting with Thomas Wood

Thomas and I worked through the songs again and finalised performers. We will meet with the host , Charlie Partridge, in the days before the concert as he is away working at the moment. We cannot find a pianist for the concerts … we need one for Phantom of the Opera (Still need a soprano) at ARK and Wuthering Heights at the Albion. We have asked Bower St Morris to dance to Blur "Street Life" and they said yes!

I've been working away at details for the concerts, we have a contract with ARK for the 17th Feb and Albion Rooms for the 23rd. Jon Beetham has organised concerts at the care homes he collected songs from and he and Charlie Hannah will be putting on concerts at Port Regis Care Home on the 12th Feb in the morning and at The Avenues Care Home in the afternoon. Both Jon and Charlie work with people with dementia and at other care homes so they are particularly qualified for this role.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

Jon Beetham and Charlie Hannah at one of their concerts at care homes.

All the performers for both concerts are now sorted, thanks to the Performers Artists Collective Thanet (PACT) and also a contact through Hughie Gavin who is a singing coach and runs a local community choir amongst other things.

I have had several performers asking to be part of the project, having heard about it in the news or on the radio.

Found a good printer and had prints made from Thomas's poster.

23/01/2024

Jodie Nestling and I went all along Northdown Rd and the centre of town with posters for the project. On the whole people were happy to put them in the window and interested to chat about what it was all about.

24/01/2024

As it turned out, I was so pressurised during Academy FM's recording of Thanet Island Disks that I didn't get to mention the project (sigh) so they have arranged to kindly send a reporter round to interview me specifically about it and opening for the Libertines in Margate in December.

I've been working on the running order and getting together a programme for the public events, checking on rehearsals and performer's understanding of the events.

28/01/2024

I found the pianist through a concert for McMillan in Broadstairs, in which we were both appearing.

05/02/2024 - Meeting with Thomas Wood

We discussed publicity and what is needed to put on the concerts: - finalise performers as a couple have not been able to learn the songs so others brought in. Sound checks will be from 4pm so I will arrange hospitality for the performers as they are needed at the venue.

Thomas is accompanying me musically so we rehearsed that a bit.

06/02/2024

Meeting with Jodie Nestling about articles she is writing and the publications they are going in…Around Kent folk, London Folk, Cene, Thanet News.

Took more posters around the shops as some had been removed.

Ticket numbers are not bad but not full.

07/02/2024

Ordered flyers for the concerts.

09/02/2024

Leafletted the streets around here with flyers. A neighbour saw me in the street and took a load off me to complete the street.

Met with Martha from ARK and Roger Heald who will be filming the concert and making an audio recording to use with local radio stations after the concert. All seems fine.

13/02/2024

Thomas and I meet to discuss strategy for getting over the ethos of the project during the concerts and come up with a quiz about information and communities in England with a prize and also a raffle of email addresses for a contact list with Billy Bragg's book "the Progressive Patriot" as the prize.

Chris Butler and I spent 2 days creating a power point of the words to each song to be projected during the concert so the audience can read why they were chosen and also join in.

Taking direct ticket sales, checking WeGotTickets sales, arranging sound checks and instrument storage, who is working the door , catering, running order and how to easily facilitate this.

I have arranged the songs in order and explained why each was chosen.

Realised I needed a programme for the shows and quickly designed one and got it printed at Seaward Copy Shop in St Peters.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024 Image from Morag's Blog 2024

I used a version of this as a template for subsequent concerts. This concert was one of four public concerts. We must not forget the other two in care homes in Margate, run by Jon Beetham and Charlie Hannah.

15/02/2024

Apparently we cannot use our own sound engineer on the 17th. We have negotiated to use one from ARK with their reduced sound system.

16/02/2024

Thomas and Morag meet up with Charlie Partridge the comic host for the evening and go through prepared notes on who had suggested each song and why.

17/02/2024 The big day!

ARK – a building in Cliftonville that used to be a synagogue and has been transformed by a local group into a community venue.

Tickets are £10 or free to people who donated a song who were personally invited. It was a sell out and the bar, which is run by ARK did a roaring trade.

We have access from 4pm and help setting up seating in rows.

I produced programmes for the event explaining the project and listing the songs and performers, thanking everyone involved.

The sound engineer worked hard to set up but the arrangement is difficult as the front of the stage area needs to be cleared for Bower St Morris to dance at the start of each half of the programme. There are many wires and it is hard to avoid creating trip hazards. Indeed there is a trip ( not us) that leads to a problem with the sound desk.

Unfortunately there is no feed to Roger's filming of the event so no sound except from the room and no audio record. Shame.

The sound check was a nightmare. Some performers were being thorough and taking their time when we really needed to get through the list.

I set up a free raffle of Billy Bragg's book "the Progressive Patriot" which was the influence for the project.

I also wrote a quiz based on facts about England, extensively researched on Google and Wikipedia, with a traditional Rosslyn Court prize of a "Who gives a Crap" loo roll. No expense spared.

Margate Songbook It's the break Quiz (according to Wikipedia)

1 How many people in Margate did the project talk to? (to date)
115

2. Rosslyn Court is principally a folk venue. This project was not specifically folk orientated but what % of songs chosen are folk songs?
11%

3. Which band did people choose most songs from?
Beatles - 6

4. What is the name of the book that inspired the project?
Billy Bragg "The Progressive Patriot"

5. Where does St George come from?
Cappadocia, Turkey

6. Who introduced fish and chips in England?
Fish – 16 Century Jewish and Spanish refugees
Chips - French protestant refugees from Belgium (Gary Lineker's website)

7. What is the most popular take away cuisine in England?
Chinese - according to that great authority Deliveroo.

8. What is the approximate date of the first historical reference to black people living in England?
3rd Century AD

9. What was the sexuality of King James I of England (1566 - 1625)
Homosexual /Gay / Queer

10. What iconic English car was designed by a refugee?
Mini/Morris 1000 Designed by Greek Alec Issigonis from Izmir

Next Margate Songbook concert on Saturday 27 April 2024 at 7.30

I had bought minimal provisions for the performers as they were there for a long time but this was not well thought out as there wasn't a fridge and quite reasonably, people didn't want to eat before performing.

There was a buzz in the bar, pre-concert. Some people were looking forward to it, some to hearing their songs performed and a couple were sceptical.

The first concert was amazing.

Bower Street Morris perform a morris dance to their version of Blur's "Park Life" –renamed "Margate." It goes down a storm and sets the tone for the concert series.

We had set up a screen to project the words of the songs. As people had chosen the songs for a reason, it seemed a good idea to be able to see the reason why, so we not only projected the words but also explained the reasons. Charlie Partridge did a good job but we made a mental note to project the reasons at subsequent concerts.

The words projected had two effects, the one we anticipated, the bar was a buzz with people discussing the songs at the break and after the concert. It also allowed people to jon in the songs with gusto and although I had hoped this would happen, I hadn't realised how strong was people's appetite for collective experience and singing together. It was full-on from the very start, without much encouragement. This was a part of the concerts with which everyone was in agreement – it was joyous and a bonding experience.

I noticed people talking to others they didn't know in the room during the break, talking about the concert and the project. It was a success. People booked for the next concert on the spot.

The music choice is eclectic but people are complimentary about how the programme flowed naturally – hoorah for the 12 stage journey work! It took ages but was worth the time.

The operatic contribution, from the Phantom of the Opera, was chosen by a man who was carrying his life around with him, because ,he said, "you cannot tell what people are thinking in England, because everyone wears a mask," The tension in the room was almost palpable as the soprano sang higher and higher… and yes, she did hit that top note!

17/02/2024 - Ark Concert, MC Charlie Partridge

  • Third Man intro music/Harry Lime theme - Anton Karas recording
  • Parklife (Blur) - Bower Street Morris
  • Penny Lane (Beatles) - Charlie Hannah
  • Village Green Preservation Society (Kinks) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • God save the Queen (Sex Pistols) - Harmony Bo + Dylan Watling
  • Head shoulder knees and toes (Annie Kubler) - Matt/Snottledogs
  • No more who I am (Phien O'Phien) - Phien O'Phien
  • Swing Low Sweet Chariot, (Wallace Willis) - Chris Snelson
  • Albion, (Peter Doherty and Carl Barat) - Morag Butler
  • The Phantom of the Opera Andrew (Lloyd Webber) - Tom Giles, Lauren Alonso, Chris Wimhurst
  • Help (Beatles) - Ben Faria
  • Break
  • Bower St Morris trad dance "Adventure to Margate" - Bower Street Morris
  • Under Pressure ( Queen) - Ty and Ayesha Watling
  • Pleasant and Delightful (Traditional) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • I'm forever blowing bubbles (John Kellette James Kendis, James Brockman Nat Vincent) - Jon Beetham
  • Making your mind up (Andy Hill/John Danter) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • All things bright and beautiful (Cecil Frances Alexander) Audience – Chris Wimhurst
  • Your Song (Elton John/Bernie Taupin) - Thomas Wood
  • Wonderwall (Noel Gallagher) - Paul Grant
  • A place called England (Maggie Holland/Young'Uns) - Snottledogs
  • England Over Again - Gabriel Moreno recording

Thank you to:

  • The Arts Council - Project Funding
  • Thomas Wood Interview - Technical design
  • Poster Design/concert arranger/Interviewer
  • Jodie Nesling - Publicity
  • Gerry Colvin - Interviewer
  • Jon Beetham - Interviewer/concert arranger
  • Chris Butler - Finance
  • Michael Goodson - Designer
  • Ian Lodge, Broadbiz - Website
  • Sound Engineers – Clive from ARK
  • Filming/Recording - Roger Heald
  • RNLI – Interview place
  • International Food Centre – Interview place
  • Grain Grocer – Interview place
  • Harbour Arms– Interview place
  • Dalby Café – Interview place
  • Camp – Interview place
  • Ark
  • Albion Rooms/The Wastelands
  • The lovely people of Margate who talked to us
  • Peter Gore for videoing the event from the floor

Highlights were hard to pick out as it was all lovely and unfair to people not chosen to be mentioned. However…Ty and Ayesha Watling were amazing as Queen. Who would have known that "Under Pressure" was about depression and homelessness? that in England we don't talk about love?- we do now!

Chris Wimhurst accompanied brilliantly and it was extraordinary to have a song from Phien, O'Phien, a member of the Pavee community about their experience in England. Chris Snelson played a bonkers, looped, version of "Swing Low , Sweet chariot, on various instruments including a pink plastic trombone. Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter are professional performers who threw in amazing enthusiasm for the project to the extent that they were the only people willing to risk playing "Making your mind up" which they did to great acclaim- and a couple of dancers got up and joined in!

Gabriel Moreno generously allowed me to use his wonderful song "Write England all over again," which sums up the ethos of the project and everyone joined in with real enthusiasm.

The songs were sung, the raffle pulled (won by a member of Bower St Morris Hooray) the quiz, quizzed and thank you's said.

Clearing up was minimal as ARK volunteers helped out.

Tired but happy.

That went well.

On to the next concert on 23 Feb 24 at the Wastelands bar a local venue owned by the Libertines but very much part of the local community and known for promoting local emerging artists.

21/03/2024

Thomas and I met for a washup meeting, which was short because it had been so good! However, moving on, we realised we needed to firm up the sound check at the next concerts and arrange better refreshments for the performers as they were on site for a long time. We also arranged for Chris Butler to take over the projecting of the lyrics and to project the reasons for the song choices. The Wastelands is more of a bar venue and I had to arrange for there to be more seats than usual however Thomas and I acknowledged that this would be potentially a louder atmosphere so programmed fewer sensitive, quieter songs. Charlie Partridge was inconveniently offered a prestigious TV contract and was not available for the Wastelands concert so Thomas and I agreed to share the hosting of the evening.

22/03/2024

Meeting with Esther Coren about collecting feedback on the concerts. Esther is a professional this, working at the university in Canterbury. As a consequence of this meeting she devised questions to ask people about the project with a view to Thomas Wood putting them in an app to be used via peoples cameras and called up with a QR code. Image from Morag's Blog 2024 I want to know what effect the project has had on people's perception of life in England and given that the idea was to start a conversation about positive aspects of life in England …how many people had they discussed it with?

23/03/2024 - Wastelands Concert

  • Tubular bells intro music (Mike Oldfield) - recording
  • Hard times of old England (Traditional) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • Somewhere over the rainbow (Yip Harburg) - Cheri Allcock / Iain Purves
  • Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols) - Harmony Bo and Dylan Watling
  • New England (Billy Bragg) - Paul Grant
  • Imagine (John Lennon) - Ty Watling
  • I believe in a thing called love (The Darkness) - Thomas Wood + Iain Purves
  • The Man who sold the world (David Bowie) - Ty Watling
  • Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • Come on Eileen (Dexys Midnight Runners) - Niche Crush
  • Break – drink! - QR code - raffle
  • A hard Days night ( Beatles) - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • Between the wars (Billy Bragg) - Matt Dawson
  • Music when the lights go out (Peter Doherty/Carl Barat) - Morag Butler
  • What shall we do with the drunken sailor (Traditional) - Snottledogs
  • Debris (Ronnie Lane) - Ben Faria
  • Hal and Toe (Traditional) - Snottledogs
  • When I'm 64 (Lennon/MaCartney) - Jon Beetham and Aidan Shepherd
  • England All Over Again (Gabriel Moreno) - Recorded
  • Leaving music - We'll meet again (Hugh Charles) (Vera Lynn) - Recorded

Thank you to:

  • The Arts Council - Project Funding
  • Thomas Wood - Interview technical design/
  • Poster Design/concert - Arranger/Interviewer
  • Jodie Nesling - Publicity
  • Gerry Colvin - Interviewer
  • Jon Beetham - Interviewer/concert arranger
  • Chris Butler - Finance
  • Michael Goodson - Designer
  • Ian Lodge, Broadbiz - Website
  • Sound Engineer – Jon Beetham
  • RNLI – Interview place
  • International Food Centre – Interview place
  • Grain Grocer – Interview place
  • Harbour Arms– Interview place
  • Dalby Café – Interview place
  • Camp – Interview place
  • Ark, Albion Rooms/The Wastelands/Rosslyn Court - venues
  • All The performers
  • The lovely people of Margate who talked to us.
  • Niki Duffy for feeding us on the night.
  • Peter Gore for videoing the event.

The venue went out of their way to help us set up and work the evening.

People arrived for a sound check, Jon Beetham was the excellent sound engineer and worked through levels and on-stage equipment needs well. Some performers had forged friendships during the last concert and greeted each other warmly. It was lovely to be part of.

The Wastelands chef prepared various burgers (inc. vegan) for the performers despite being under pressure from their normal customers. Thank you Niki Duffy – Black House burgers.

The place filled up pretty quickly and here was a buzz from the start. Sally and Brian started off with a folk classic which touched everyone in the room and soon had them singing along "And sing, all the hard times of old England, In old England, very hard times". And then, out of adversity…I forgot my words on "Music when the lights go out", a Libertines song in the Libertines' bar (aargh).. but the audience were extraordinary in their support and the volume from the floor increased as we all sang a rousing version of the beautiful song.

Someone came up to me and said it was the best concert they had ever been to and when was the next one? Someone else mentioned community and the need for more events where people come together.

It was surprising for people to find out that the Dexy's Midnight Runners song "Come on Eileen" that we have all sung along to, was about getting a girl out of her dress!

It was a great evening all round. The room was heaving and the atmosphere was amazing and positive. People were very respectful to the performers and fell silent during songs, apart from joining in enthusiastically.

There was no quiz but the raffle was won by a local woman who loved the concert and was delighted.

Thank you to everyone at Wastelands Bar at the Albion Rooms.

02/04/2024 - Wastelands Concert

Thomas and I met to discuss the concert and plan for the next two concerts at Rosslyn Court.

I planned to cook baked potato and ratatouille for the performers.

We spent a long time moving the chairs in the room round to make it possible to see the screen and the lyrics.

Thomas and I were to host the evenings at Rosslyn Court.

We agreed to livestream this and the next concert as a whole and this required a strategy for the break. I devised a quiz, based on life in England to be shown during the break for those watching at home.

We talked about how this will be a different type of show to what people are used to t Rosslyn Court. The evening was sold out.

Here is the livestream link. https://youtu.be/MLeZ6iZBBiM.

13/04/2024 - Rosslyn Court Concert

This was a sold out event , livestreamed and with an amazing atmosphere. There was the usual raffle and a quiz through the break.

Returning performers were now firm friends and there was a buzz behind the scenes...who was doing what and how? It hadn't struck me that no one knew who was singing what song till the night of the concerts ... a closely guarded secret.

The filming was by Roger Heald with cameras by Phil Chapman, lighting by Christopher Butler. Sound by Brian Langsdon.

  • White cliffs of dover - Vera Lynn - Intro music recording
  • Streets of London – by Ralph McTell sung by Iain Purves
  • Lazy Sunday - The Small Faces - Josh Flowers
  • Environmental anxiety- Raye - Cheri Allcock & Iain Purves
  • Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - Hubert Gregg &Jon Beetham
  • Detectorists - Johnny Flyn - Charlie Hannah
  • Hares on the mountains – Traditional - Morag Butler standing in for poorly Jon Beetham
  • You'll never walk alone – Gerry and the Pacemakers - Josh Flowers
  • Bushes and Briars - traditional Geoff Turner
  • Waterloo sunset - The Kinks Ty and Ayesha Watling
  • Nimrod – Elgar - Recording during interval
  • Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush - Cheri Allcock and Chris Wimhurst
  • Butter and Cheese - Mrs Dowrick Thomas Wood
  • Who's sorry now - Connie Francis - Chris Wimhurst
  • Who wants to live forever – Queen - Ty and Ayesha Watling
  • Morning Has Broken – Eleanor Farjeon/trad - Chris Wimhurst leads
  • Accident of Birth - Steve O'Donoghue - Morag Butler
  • A lovely cup of tea Young ‘Uns - Thomas Wood accompanied by Chris Wimhurst
  • Write England all over again Gabriel Moreno a recording - join in!

Thank you for being here. - Morag Butler, Project Director.

Please scan this QR code to tell us about your experience of this project.

17/03/2024 - Meeting Thomas Wood and Morag

We discussed the concert and the feedback we had received – lots of chat but not many actual QR code responses. Why? Maybe the QR code is just not used by the demographic found at the concerts…although it was pretty varied!

People had enjoyed the concert and there were several people who had been to each one. Sadly Jon Beetham was ill so I stepped in at the last minute but absolutely loved singing trad song "Hares on the Mountain."

The songs had all been well received.

Sadly a staunch supporter of the project and Rosslyn Court, Sam Grant has died after being so positive about her illness for a long time and Paul Grant, her husband, stepped back from performing. It was actually Sam who informed me that he would not be able to perform. Sad. She will be much missed.

We discussed the next/last concert. Gerry Colvin will be co-hosting so we needed to work out a script and how we would divvy up the evening.

The concert will open with a recording of "Sweet like Chocolate" by Shanks and Bigfoot which is an example of garage music, hardly represented in the song choices so although we failed to find a performer able/willing to take on the song, we thought it was important to use it in a concert.

Chris organised the power point for the words again and we agreed that the new seating arrangement had worked although Gee, working the cameras, will be asked to tell people not to move their seats into the aisle (doh!)

The final concert, the fourth of the public concerts but the 6th in total, was again livestreamed by Roger Heald and also video'd by Grace Saint. Grace Saint is a local art student.

Here is the livestream link. https://youtu.be/3HQD-cZ3Kbg.

I cooked baked potatoes and ratatouille for the performers again and they all greeted each other again and welcomed Mami and Simon into the fold.

27/04/2024 - Rosslyn Court Concert

  • Sweet like Chocolate - Shanks and Bigfoot - recording - intro
  • Roll out the barrel -Jaromír Vejvoda - Jon Beetham
  • Greensleeves not by Henry V111! - Ben Faria
  • Garden of England Simon Mason - Simon Mason
  • The Wrote and the Writ - Johnny Flynn - Jon Beetham
  • Everything I do Bryan Adams - Mami Anim-Addo & Charlie Hannah
  • New England (Billy Bragg) - Gerry Colvin
  • Jerusalem - Hubert Parry - Audience - with Charlie Hannah
  • The Good Old Days - The Libertines - Harmony Bo & Dylan Watling
  • John Ball - Sydney Carter - Bob Kenward / Morag Butler
  • I vow to thee my country - Jupiter/The Planets- Gustov Holst recording /interval
  • Scarborough Fair Traditional - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • Bread and Roses - James Oppenheim - Harmony Bo & Dylan Watling
  • When all men sing/whinge K.Scowcraft/Derek Gifford Sally Ironmonger / Brian Carter
  • Ilkley Moor ba'tat Thomas Clark/Halifax church choir - Morag Butler / Bob Kenward
  • 3 lions - Frank Skinner/David Baddiel - Audience Led by Charlie Hannah
  • Secret love -Paul Francis Webster - Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter
  • Green, green grass of home – Claude Putman, Gerry Colvin
  • Jack Ironside - Graeme Miles - Thomas Wood, Lorna Jean Connell, Morag Butler
  • English Rose - Paul Weller - Ben Faria
  • Goodbye England (covered in snow) - Laura Marling, Thomas Wood
  • Write England all over again - Gabriel Moreno, recording - join in!

Once again the concert ended with Gabriel Moreno's " Write England all over Again" although I discovered after the concert that having taken part in the project spurred Gerry Colvin to write a song called "My England" which he has subsequently included on his latest album. How amazing that he was moved to write a song specifically as a consequence of this project. Wow. Thank you Gerry Colvin.

People were surprised to see that Cockney standard "Roll out the Barrels" has a Czech background and was originally written by someone called Jaromír Vejvoda.

There were some real community sing-along song moments in this concert and the audience did not fail to respond. This was a lovely evening with people talking to each other about the songs and the project. I think it was easier to talk to people as there was a common theme to the evening and people were interested in the other concerts and the music as well as whether people had taken part in the interviews.

A surprise...The Mayor of Margate Rob Yates (2023-4), turned up in all his finery and presented me with a Community Award for the work done through music here in Margate. How lovely.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

Gerry Colvin, The Mayor 2023-4 Cllr Rob Yates, Thomas Wood, Morag Butler

Of course there was an interval quiz -with no prizes- just a warm glow of satisfaction.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024

Margate Songbook: Echoes of England

What is our relationship with England? This project was inspired by reading Billy Bragg's book "The Progressive Patriot", in which he identifies the need for discussions about life in England to be wrenched from the hands of those who define the country through who they think should live here (people who look like them), who we should love, and a singular culture with which we should identify. But England is so much more than this. So many rich and diverse cultures and people make up where we live. It's not perfect, but it's the place that many different people choose to identify as home. Not everyone has freedom of music, theatre, cinema, countryside, the sea, religion, the law, their vote, who they love.

A small team of us asked random people in selected places in Cliftonville and Margate a bit about their experience of England, using the words that are identified to teach Good Citizenship in schools. On the whole, the discussions confirmed the theory that it is very uncool to identify positively with the way England is at the moment, with dishonesty and mistrust being uppermost in people's minds. However, many found England welcoming and embracing of diversity. So maybe there is a bright horizon out there.

We asked those we interviewed to suggest a song that represented their experience of England. This concert is one of six containing those songs. You will find out why they were chosen, and please join in with the ones you know. The words are projected so you can decide if you agree with why they were chosen. The songs are performed by local artists who are committed to diversity and a positive future for everyone in England.

Hope you enjoy this evening.

Thank you to:

  • The Arts Council England - Project Funding
  • Thomas Wood Interview - Technical design/
  • Poster Design/concert - Arranger/Interviewer
  • Jodie Nesling - Publicity
  • Gerry Colvin - Interviewer and host
  • Jon Beetham - Interviewer/concert arranger
  • Chris Butler - Finance and general patience
  • Michael Goodson - Designer
  • Ian Lodge, Broadbiz - Website
  • Sound Engineer – Brian Langsdon
  • Livestream- Phil Chapman
  • Cameras - Chris Butler, Nick Heron, Gee Brown
  • Door - Jane Bentley
  • Thank you to the places we interviewed people:
  • International Food Centre, Grain Grocer, Harbour Arms, RNLI
  • Dalby Café, Camp
  • Venues: Ark, Albion Rooms/The Wastelands/Rosslyn Court
  • All The wonderful performers
  • The lovely people of Margate who talked to us and got it.

After the final concert Thomas and I met several times to discuss the concerts and to plan and make 4 podcasts on the project. Thomas personally sourced a special mic as we discovered that a normal mic was not appropriate for this application. These will be posted on the website.

Thomas organised the recordings and negotiated with Esther Coren over the feedback.

I asked all the performers to feedback on their experience of the project and given that a goal was to start a conversation about life in England, I asked how many people they had spoken to about the project. The result was between a few to over 1000! (Gerry says he now mentions it at his concerts.)

Chris and I spent time after each of the concerts negotiating the hell that is the payment section of the banking app in order to pay everyone involved in the project. Each payment takes about 6 different steps and requires the name and bank details to be absolutely correct. People do not always remember the exact name they used when setting up their bank account so this took a long time.

As discussed in the grant application, I asked several professional performers to analyse the project data and performer feedback.

Angeline Morrison, Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne, Fay Hield, Maddie Morris and Tiffany Hore, representing EFDSS all responded at length and with huge enthusiasm. It was lovely to read their take on the results. EFDSS are considering putting the project in their archive as an example of modern song collection.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you everyone who was part of the wonderful

Margate Songbook: Echoes of England community experience.

A huge thank you for Arts Council England for the funding.

Image from Morag's Blog 2024