'Much Merriment At Meet Of The Tongue & The Steelyards Collective'

Things have been pretty full on this last few weeks so apologies for my lack of posts this year. Sadly, much of what I have been up to has had little or nothing to do with Christmas mores the pity other than searching for Christmas presents/writing/delivering/sending cards and the like.

I did manage to get away from the stress for a bit though last Sunday at a 'Winter Get Together' at  Horam. Jane and Keith Trott have a lovely home there with plenty of grounds and a nice, warm stone barn that is ideal for Storytelling/Poetry & Song evenings. Jane is a 'creative sort' who writes a lot of poetry and Keith loves his old Penny Farthing bicycles and loves to listen (as well as ably preparing the mid-interval refreshments) so its always nice to see them both and feel 'part of something', you know?

Jane Trott (left) and Yvonne Rees

Yvonne Rees, who was given the task of hosting the dual event, is another well-known local Poet and Artist and is always good for a giggle with her witty, observational poetry. As for the other 'acts' well, that's where you and I come in! Both The Steelyards Collective and Meet Of The Tongue are rather like old time family Christmas gatherings because the idea behind both is that people meet up for an evening and provide their own entertainment - taking it in turn to sing/read/perform their work or just listen to others or maybe provide a bit of something by someone who has inspired them. It never really matters who does what because we ALWAYS have a good time and each others company no matter what!

Wendy is all smiles telling her tale!

I chose to read out a Christmas story of mine called 'The Cellar Door'. It was written more with children in mind but seeing as some of the pieces before it had been a little 'dark' in theme for the time of year I thought it might help to re-connect people with the wonder of Christmas that only kids really ever feel. It is such a shame as we grow older that we seem to lose the ability to get excited 'wide-eyed and open mouthed' about anything and I love thinking back to when I was small and how even the simplest thing then seemed to have a sprinkle of magic about it when it was associated with Santa, Tinsel and twinkling fairy lights... 

Lorne plays Christmas Carols on his flute.

What made this particular afternoon so nice was the fact that, due to one thing and another, both 'Meet Of The Tongue' and 'The Steelyards Collective' have not been able to hold their usual regular monthly meetings for a few months this year. Seeing everyone again and feeling the sense of community that these meetings help to re-instate in todays rather isolating society was really nice and I even 'threw in' a little 'surprise' for hosts, Jane and Yvonne at the end of the evening to make everyone smile!

I don't want to say too much more about that here because I am hoping to repeat the feat when doing my Christmas Radio show with, Jeff Belton next Monday! Yes, folks! The 23rd is only 6 days away now!

If you think you would like the kind of traditional evening that I talk about here why not come along to one of either 'Meet of the Tongue' or 'The Steelyards Collective' (hopefully) monthly meetings in 2020? You will be ever so welcome and it does not matter a jot if all you want to do is sit at the back and listen - ears are as welcome as voices! You can see photos of some of the 'performers' and performances here...

'A Wonderful Time At 'Meet Of The Tongue'

I had a great time at last night's 'Meet of the Tongue' event in Robertsbridge! While there were not a huge amount of people there our host, Yvonne Rees, did a splendid job of facilitating a good old-fashioned evening of social interaction and began the night by asking us all to spend a few moments to think of either our best or worst ever Christmas. Accompanied by the soft acoustic guitar playing of regular attendee Derek Povey, we all sat in silence contemplating our answers for a few moments...

Christmas is a time of MANY wonderful memories for me (as this blog stands witness) and so it was hard for me to think of just one Christmas to tell everyone about when it came around to my turn to speak. I had a very happy childhood (in the main, I have always suffered with emotional problems) and Mum and Dad always went out of their way to make Christmas special. I think I have missed that 'special feeling' ever since and maybe that is why I always throw my heart and soul into Christmas in the hope that just for a few days that 'warm inner glow' will return. Most years it does, though often only for a fleeting period, but others, try as hard as I might, the conditions to re-kindle those far off days are just not right. The weather can play its part in that as if it is too warm and sunny (like this year!) then it is harder to transport myself back into that precious Christmas space.

Going to festive events really helps though and I was gutted to find the whole of Robertsbridge having a street party with stalls and fairground rides when we arrived last night. Don't get me wrong, it was amazingly lovely to see a community coming together and making something of the festive season - I was just gutted because had I known it was on I would have suggested to Alvin that we arrive early and join in the fun for a bit. Not having kids cuts deeper at Christmas than any other time of the year and seeing all of their little happy faces whizzing around on the carousel with their duffle coats and bobble hats on was just like something out of a dream for me...

Still, if that kind of made me a bit sad, Meet of the Tongue soon cheered me up. As you will know if you follow this blog ( or read my articles for 'Hastings Town' magazine) I love the intimate and supportive atmosphere that exists at 'Meet of the Tongue'. No matter who you are or where you come from there is always a BIG welcome waiting for you at the meetings and the fact that everyone gets involved by either sharing a song, a story or a poem is great. Whether listening or performing everyone contributes and we often sing songs and create loads of opportunities to laugh. Last nights event was one of the best ever and after Derek finished playing each one of us recounted stories from our lives about Christmas to the whole group. People spend so much time online these days that its actually quite difficult nowadays to find somewhere you can go to get human interaction free of mobile phones and the like.

Aside from our personal stories of Christmas Yvonne provided us all with some of her poems as did a few others. Jane Trott told us a captivating and festive story from Mongolia about God's gift to the world of story telling, Alvin read one of his typically eclectic stories full of science and sex and Sally Fadelle presented more of her powerful poems. We had even more powerful and thought provoking poems from Laurie, while Jan Povey recounted the story of her 60 year old Christmas Fairy and read 'the famous poem' The Night Before Christmas'. Derek Povey meanwhile returned in the second half to read a comical but powerful story of life in the trenches at Christmas and how a mum's Christmas pudding broke down a bastion. As for me, I told the story of my mate Alan and his slippers and sang my tribute song to him, 'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me' live. As ever, I had to suffer NUMEROUS problems with getting my backing track CD to play properly and there were a few 'false starts' to the song but in the end I performed it well and I think people liked it.

At the end of the evening I stood up to initiate a round of applause for Yvonne, who puts in the work all year to keep 'Meet of the Tongue' going and then it was time for us all to say goodbye and head back into our lives.

If I were you, I'd make attending the next 'Meet of the Tongue' a priority for 2017. January 6th is the date, 8pm is the time and 'The Ostrich' pub in Robertsbridge is the venue. Why not re-kindle your sense of belonging at a good, old-fashioned community style event?

'Two Dates For Your Diary'

Its at this time of the year that I try to pick out a few AWESOME Christmas related events to tell you about. Enjoying the build up to the big day and being as active in as many fun things in December is what makes the Christmas period such fun after all!

With that in mind, please take note of the following two events. Both come highly recommended and are likely to be attended by me as well!


Dec 5th - The Ostrich Pub - Robertsbridge - 8PM-10PM
Meet of the Tongue

Meet of the Tongue is a contemporary ceilidh. The ceilidh was where everyone would gather in their community, take a turn by offering a poem, tale or music and in this way make the community story. In this tradition, @ Meet of the Tongue there is no clear line between audience and performer. Instead everyone hosts a generous and eclectic space for 'regulars' and invited professional guests to perform spoken word, music or tales... Always varied, sometimes extraordinary and occasionally naughty.

Dec 6th - Hastings Old Town 10AM-5PM

Once Upon an Old Town Christmas

Let's make this the best Christmas yet and what better way to start off the festivities, than by going to the quaint and beautiful Hastings Old Town for a day of activities laid on by the community.

There will be a Christmas Market in Courthouse Street, Children's games in the High Street, a Craft Fair in All Saints Church, a Shopping trail through the old town, a choir, carols, drumming.

- See more at: http://www.eventsintowns.com/event/3192#sthash.s7JAPeKh.dpuf

Both of these events should be enormous fun! I have been going to Meet of the Tongue evenings for a few years now and they always turn out to be memorable. With a mixture of traditional storytelling, music, poetry and plenty of audience participation there is always something new and fresh to enjoy - especially if you like something a bit different and yearn for a more caring and sharing community. Most months there is a 'special guest' to enthral, entertain and inspire as well.  Why not take a look at Meet of the Tongue's Facebook page? You can find out more about what to expect on a typical evening and keep up to date with all the latest news and event 'special guest' bookings here...

Meet of the Tongue

As for 'Once Upon an Old Town Christmas' you will love the enthusiasm of the Old Towner's of Hastings! Whatever they put their minds to the people of the Old Town do a fantastic job of making a success and throw themselves and their resources into 100%. You can bet your life that there will be plenty of people in period costume about and a light hearted atmosphere to warm even the most Scrooge like of hearts! Trust me, few do celebrations or put on a show like the Old Towner's of Hastings!