4 minute read
Music and Art
Mariners Away – Dartmoor’s Shanty Singers!
The current hype on shanty songs comes as no surprise to South Zeal shanty singers, Mariners Away, who have been singing at festivals throughout the South West for over a decade.
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Mariners Away usually perform with ten to 12 singers in the ‘crew’ at festivals including Falmouth International Shanty Festival, Lyme Regis and Dartmoor Folk Festivals, Widecombe Fair and many others. They have also sung at weddings - and funerals!
Trev Munkenbeck, a a singer and songwriter with Mariners Away, said: ‘The popularity of shanties is down to the rhythm of the songs, and choruses which can be easily learned. They were work songs on the old sailing ships and each song would have related to the rhythm needed for a particular task, be
July 15 – September 18
Moth
Sarah Gillespie’s exquisite mezzotint engravings, silverpoint drawings and artist’s book are a testament to her deep concern for the natural world. This exhibition has given impetus to an important new body of work which Greenhill Arts at Moretonhampstead is delighted to show, emphasising the much maligned moth’s extraordinary delicate beauty, while highlighting the vital role the species play as a necessary food source for a myriad amphibians and birds.
Sarah explained that she wasn’t looking for moths when she started drawing them around ten years ago: ‘They came and found me,’ she said. ‘Their numbers are in appalling decline but for me their presence has become ever more insistent. I see in their short lives a glory it raising the anchor or hauling up the sails.’
Mariners Away are in concert at the Sidmouth Folk Festival with one of the South West’s top folk singers, Jim Causley, and their ongoing events, and music, can be found on their website at www.marinersaway.org.uk One of the main attractions of shanty singing is they can be sung by anyone and Mariners Away welcome anyone who wants to come along and meet them. The main qualification is to be able to give and take a lot of friendly leg-pulling! For more information call Trev on 07737 735400.
that comes from participation in the whole complex, entangled fabric of life, speaking to us urgently of the dark, of the earth, of all it is we cannot see. That which we know and love, we are far less inclined to destroy, and it is at the edge of a wing that love waits.’ This exhibition is supported by Devon Wildlife Trust - a piece of Sarah’s work is due to be sold with proceeds going to the Trust.
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A magical story, by a lady who meant so much.
Paula Gover-Simpson of North Tawton sadly passed away in February 2020, much loved by her family and friends. She was a vivacious and inspiring character, who now thanks to her family, leaves the legacy of her creative skill and imagination.
Known as Paul, she and her husband moved to Devon in 2015 to be nearer family and grandchildren. Before her move to the South West, Paul had a long and varied career in the arts. Her childhood, though marked by asthma and pneumonia, was artistic - her father was a music hall performer and she was taught to sing by her aunt Mabel, a concert pianist. She always had an active imagination, even as a child immersing herself in a fantasy world, creating stories and plays for her dolls.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dance she became a member of the Scottish National Ballet. After her ballet career came to an end, Paul choreographed and directed local amateur dramatic societies. This included working with various children’s choirs, in particular ‘Giocosa Cantabile’ which won several awards for their fourpart harmony elements. She was also a founder of Artform, an amateur dramatic group in Kent.
Her move to Devon was the catalyst for her to combine her passion for music and fairies - a series of stories was in the making. One of her last wishes was to be a published author, a task which has now fallen to her youngest daughter Lyssa.
‘Faye and The Music Fairies – The Clef Crystal’ is the first book of a series of six now available on Amazon. Through learning the piano, the story tells of Faye’s adventures as she transcends into another world, full of enchanted creatures.
Lyssa said: ‘It’s been a really emotional time for everyone - my family and I wanted to mark mum’s passing a year ago with something that would have meant the world to her.
‘Mum would have been over the moon for people to be able to read her stories. In many ways we believed she was a fairy herself, we miss her dearly, this is our way of keeping her flame alive.’
Paul’s memory, creativity and wonderful imagination can now be enjoyed by generations to come, the stories of a one-of-a-kind, real-life fairy who loved to sing and play with magic.
Dartmoor’s Art Gallery
Chapel Lane, Horrabridge, Yelverton. PL20 7SP 01822 258529
