From Jan Robinson
A large audience of about 100 attended EATMT' s music afternoon held at Walsham Le Willows Memorial Hall. Meeting everyone at the door with a warm welcome were Director, Alex Batholomew, event organiser Jan Robinson and Shirley Harry our very friendly and efficient M.C. for the afternoon. Once everyone was settled with their cup of tea or coffee and delicious cake or rich biscuits, the entertainment began.
Pam and Ron Ross and friends set the tone for the afternoon by playing a lively set of tunes, Winster Gallop, Jamie Allen and Salmon Tails.
Throughout the afternoon there were plenty of opportunities for musicians to play. George Monger treated us to a set of tunes on his dulcimer, an instrument not heard enough these days, and for the first time we welcomed a ukelele group, The Station House Strummers from Halesworth.
The chairs had been arranged in a circle leaving enough room in the centre for our Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire stepdancers to tap and shuffle along to music played by Maggie, Stan, Pam and Ron and any other musicians who wished to join in. Well known to many of us Doreen West, Mike Czrnobaj, David Cotter and Sue were amongst the first to take the floor.
We were treated to songs from singers Gwyn Thomas, David Cotter, Angela Collins, Steve Matthews, and Neil and Sandie. The songs about beer and ale of course came from Martin Crix and Peter Everson, who is one of the organisers of Bury Folk Collective. And as a group Judy, Eammon, Angela and Tracy Wisdom invited us to sing along with them.
Just before the interval and with their first ever performance Stowmarket U3A singing group had us all heartily joining in with the chorus to Windy Old Weather, Stormy Old Weather.
Again our musicians had a chance to play along whilst we handed out our selection of gig dolls. Making the dolls dance proved to be very popular especially with a few of the children from the audience.
Peter Booth, well known for his comedy stories and poems had us all laughing as he recited the tale of his long wait for his snails to be served in a restaurant.
Shelfanger Singers, a group of friends who originally started singing together about 20 years ago in Pam Rossís dining room then gave a rendition of Down the Lane in four-part harmony. Three of the group sang in three part harmony a song about a cuckoo. It was beautiful.
We were fortunate to have a song from Mossie Christian and Megan Wisdom who also had a table full of their goodies for sale.
Eammon Andrews, who is one of our Trustees thanked everyone for the efforts they had put into making the afternoon such a success and also reminded the audience that we have plenty of events taking place all through the summer, such as The Traditional Song, Spring Conference on Saturday 6th April in Stowmarket at the Scout Centre in the middle of town. On the 25th May, More than Melodeons is again being held in Wingfield Barns, IP21 5RA. This will be a ticketed event and is a day of musical workshops with an early evening concert (5pm) featuring our wonderful guest tutors. Our annual Stepdance Day takes place in Essex on Sunday 21st July and Traditional Music Day will run in the town of Stowmarket on Saturday 21st September.
We offer a huge thank you to the Committee who run Walsham Le Willows Memorial Hall, it is a bright, clean, large venue with excellent facilities.
For more details of all our events please go to our website - www.eatmt.org.uk. You can also leave a message on our voicemail for Alex 07495 054669 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..