Sunday 26th July – 2pm – Venue: St Peter’s Church, Church Langton

St Peter’s Church Summer Concert season 2026 continues on Sunday 26th July with folk guitarist Edward Hayes. He will perform from 2.00pm until 2.45pm.

Tickets on the door cost £5 and £8 with tea or coffee and cake included.

To register your interest, contact Roz by email here (Full details on the poster at the end of the article below)

Edward Hayes

We look forward to welcoming you to St Peter’s for a unique recital in this Summer Sunday Concert season, featuring Edward Hayes, folk guitarist.

Iconic Songs from the Sixties

Edward will play some iconic folk songs, such as Paul Simon’s arrangement of ‘Scarborough Fair’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’.

Two renowned American songwriters who along with artists like Pete Seger and Peter, Paul and Mary, explored and revived English folk songs and brought them back to the fore in their own songwriting.

An interesting return, as at the same time, British artists like the Rolling Stones, Cream and Alexis Korner explored and revived the American Blues tradition. Both movements happening together and well received both sides of the Atlantic!

Do you remember BBC’s Singing together?

For those of us who grew up in the 1960s who heard these songs as children, might well have been introduced to the BBC’s “Singing Together” song books at school.

So this concert will also bring back fond memories of songs long forgotten. For those unfamiliar with the programme and booklets, Singing Together was a much loved BBC radio broadcast for schoolchildren that ran for almost six decades.

Designed to foster a sense of community, the 20-minute weekly programme had children nationwide gather around classroom radios to learn folk heritage and traditional songs.

The radio show used printed pamphlets distributed each term, such as the Spring 1961 or Autumn 1968 editions, which contained the lyrics and melodies for students to follow along. 

The covers and pages of the BBC Singing Together school song books featured illustrations from a rotating roster of notable artists and illustrators across different eras.

Notable contributors included:

• Barbara Jones: Illustrated multiple editions in the 1950s, particularly famous for her whimsical animal and owl drawings.
• David Gentleman: Illustrated the Spring Term booklet in 1961.
• Faith Jaques: Provided the illustrations for the 1963 editions.
• Ron McTrusty: Drew the artwork for the 1973 editions.
• Paul Cox: Illustrated the Autumn Term 1991 song book.
• Susan Hellard: Created artwork for the travel-themed Summer 1992

Follow the link here to the BBC’s website to see some examples and join us on Sunday to rekindle these memories!

---