Kettle Bridge Concertinas

2nd December - COGS Club, Whitstable

On 2nd December, a small group made the journey to the Riverside Church in Whitstable to play for the COGS club which meets there. An amazing venue, with a superb café, where we enjoyed a pre-performance lunch, and lovely meeting rooms. The group were very welcoming and enjoyed the festive singalong – although we did spark some emotion when we played “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”. Was it a memory or our playing I wonder? We finished with tea and biscuits – a great day out!

3rd December - Loose Valley Care Home

On 3rd December, a few of us went to entertain the lovely people at Loose Valley Care Home. There was a good amount of singing and bell shaking. An afternoon of festive cheer!

5th December - Harrietsham

It was a dark, wild, wet and windy evening in early December but that was no deterrent to the twelve brave players in the Kettle Bridge Concertina Band. We were given a warm return welcome by the members of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Harrietsham, our second appearance there this year, and this seasonal concert and singalong was most enjoyable.

Sue gave a brief introduction and the band played a selection of favourite carols and songs, from Away in a Manger to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Mulled wine and mince pies were kindly offered afterwards and we departed the church full of Christmas cheer!

9th December - St. Luke's Church, Foley Street, Maidstone

The band had been invited to play at St Luke's 60 plus group and we were very pleased to appear at the group’s last meeting of the year. In addition to KBC’s Christmas music, the session included a lunch with Christmas crackers to which the band had been generously invited.

The audience was in excellent voice and many favourite Christmas tunes were enjoyed. St Lukes’s is one of the band’s favourite places to play; it always feels so friendly and inclusive, and, having appeared there a few times, it’s lovely to be welcomed by familiar faces (and the cakes are rather good too!).

10th December - Maidstone Museum

On 10th December, we busked in the lovely “Withdrawing Room” at Maidstone Museum. Unfortunately, I think most visitors had withdrawn to other rooms, and we mostly entertained ourselves. We had one enthusiastic stalwart, though, who stayed with us and applauded for most of our time there.

We were visited by a school group and they enjoyed singing along to Rudolph and Jingle Bells, and Santa came to join us for a tune or two. He even picked up a drum, though I’m not sure he actually hit it.

It was an enjoyable session – we must return on a busier day!