The Sunderland Point Sea Shanty Crew
FRINGE BENEFITS: The Sea Shanty Crew delighted crowds at the Edinburgh Festival on the Royal Mile. Trevor Owen is on guitar and Jo Powell playing accordion.
Sunderland Point’s name is being spread far and wide - by its very own Sea Shanty Crew. The group – which includes a magician, a dentist, a fisherman, an artist, and an octogenarian – has grown from an impromptu pub sing around to become a firm fixture of the north-west's music scene.
And it's set to feature soon on BBC's Radio Four programme "The Patch".
Our story begins in 2015 when David Andrew of Meadow Farm suggested doing a Point version of the Fisherman's Friends shanty group from Port Isaac in Cornwall, whose story has inspired two hit films.
HIGH POINT: David Andrews leads the troupe at the Highest Point Festival in Lancaster’s Williamson Park.
David explains: “At our Christmas review in the Reading Room, about half a dozen people do a turn. I suggested we do something like the group in Cornwall, but everyone immediately said: ‘We can't sing!’. I said we could - and it started off as five of us but just grew and grew.”
And in a twist of fate, the little village crew sang as support act to the Fisherman’s Friends at a sold-out concert on Morecambe's Platform stage. The Point crew went down so well that the Fisherman’s Friends told the audience: "If we’d known how good they were, we wouldn’t have asked them to perform with us!"
WHAT THE DICKENS: Braving the rain at Ulverston’s Dickensian Festival.
It was no surprise really - what more appropriate place for a shanty crew than Sunderland Point, with its proud seafaring tradition? Since those first knockabout singarounds - aided and abetted by plenty of navy rum - the crew has earned itself an impressive CV, performing at the Edinburgh Festival, the Liverpool Tall Ships Festival, and Ulverston’s Dickensian Festival.
Just before Christmas 2022, the BBC's Polly Weston came to interview the crew for her Radio Four programme "The Patch". She spent an evening in the Globe recording the group going through their paces and met Trevor and Margaret Owen to talk about the Point.
At times, it’s been a whirlwind for a group drawn from so small a place as Sunny P.
MAD HATTER: David Andrew adds the comic flourishes.
Usually about 10 strong, the ages range from twenties to eighties. Dentist David Andrew is a natural leader, with great comic timing and a booming voice perfect for barking orders at deckhands. Fisherman Trevor Owen - with more than half a century’s experience on the water - cuts a dash with his bright red naval jacket and brocades and keeps the ship on course with his guitar.
BUCCANEER WE GO: Trevor Owen in full pirate mode.
In the engine room is Phil Smith, from up the Lane, who works at Glasson Dock and can sometimes be spotted on the pilot boat sailing out to guide the bigger ships coming in to port.
THE NAVY LARK: The crew at Liverpool’s Tall Ships Festival.
Simon Ward - who also works at the port of Glasson - pumps up the volume with his big voice. He still fishes at the Point, keeping alive a long tradition by selling his delicious catch, including mussels and bass.
From Second Terrace, artist Jo Powell keeps a hand on the crew's tiller, playing accordion - a perfect instrument for shanty singing. James Walker is the young ’un of the crew – but takes lead spot in firm favourites like "A Drop of Nelson's Blood".
The crew has a trick up their sleeves in Andy Winters of First Terrace – a professional magician with an amazing stage act. Gardener Jason Booth adds a rich baritone which comes to the fore on the shanty spiritual "Shallow Brown".
THE BIG TIME: The crew’s biggest gig - supporting the Fishermen’s Friends in front of 400 people at Morecambe’s Platform. From left, James, Andy, Sophie, Jo and Simon.
Scott Wilson, of No 4 First Terrace, plays mandolin after being press-ganged one cold winter night. Dave and Pam Clarke of Second Terrace complete the line-up - and together keep the rest of the crew in check. In 2018 they released an album of 12 songs called A Rum Bunch - the songs are available on Spotify and iTunes.
SING IF YOU’RE WINNING: Time for a singsong at Jo Powell’s house.
The crew gets together every month – tides permitting – at the Globe for a singaround and many a time has the roof been raised at Overton’s historic pub, where you’re welcome to join them for a shanty or a sherry – or both!
Photographs supplied by Scott
Here’s the link for The Sunderland Point Sea Shanty Crew on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6qO5xOvfrVbhwcrEEODYU9?si=15st4XyQQDiIMrKaoDvFMw