Kettle Bridge Concertinas

30th November - Kenward Place, Christmas Art Fair

A very small group played at Kenward Place in Yalding on the morning of Saturday 30th November to support their Art Fair, raising funds for the Kenward Trust. We enjoyed a cosy spot in the front reception area and were able to welcome visitors with some festive carols and tunes. The coffee and cakes were very well received.

30th November - Tickled Trout Christmas Market

On Saturday 30th November, the band had its first festive foray to the Christmas market at the Tickled Trout in West Farleigh. It was pretty cold and not very busy, but we fulfilled our commitment to play for an hour, then bid a hasty retreat to our warm homes!

4th December - Swalecliffe

Nine band members took a day trip to the coast on Wednesday 4th December to provide a festive singalong for the dementia group at St John's Centre in Swalecliffe. We were well received — the singing, organised and led by Val, was great, and we were all rewarded with tea and mince pies to set us up for the journey home.

10th December - St. Luke’s Church

Kettle Bridge Concertinas enjoyed an "On Tour Tuesday" as they performed Christmas singalong tunes at two Maidstone venues. Turquoise Christmas hats and tinsel had been dusted down and were worn with pride!

The first gig was a return visit to St. Luke's Church 60s+ group, where we shared the stage with Village Voices, a community choir from Yalding. They helped with the singing and also performed three songs — the Boars Head Carol, Simple Gifts and Sweet Bells. Four of our Kettle Bridge members also sing with the choir so they were multitasking during the performance!

Val ably led the programme and the singing while KBC played many seasonal favourites. Rudolph always seems to go down well; it’s jolly and so familiar and the audience clearly enjoy it. Other favourites with the band and singers alike are In the Bleak Midwinter and Let it Snow. We also played two band-only tunes, Carol of the Drum and Carol of the Bells.

St. Luke’s church is always full of warmth, friendliness and hospitality. There’s coffee and cake when we arrive and lunch after we’ve played; it made for a most enjoyable morning.

10th December - Evergreens Singalong

Having played at St. Luke’s Church in the morning, after lunch we moved on to East Farleigh and played for The Evergreens in the Farleighs WI Hall where Kettle Bridge Concertinas meets to practice, so we were very much at home there. Our programme was very similar to earlier, there was some great and robust singing from the Evergreens and it was most enjoyable for all.

Afterwards we were invited to stay for tea, sandwiches, cake and Christmas crackers and it was a splendid way to wrap up a good day’s festive fun.

13th December - Teston Church

Continuing with the Kettle Bridge Concertinas’ Christmas Tour, we went along to Teston Church for an Evening of Christmas Music. With a break for refreshments in the interval, we played many carols and Christmas tunes to which the audience sang along and, in addition, the band performed a few solo tunes.

The audience was in good voice and quite a number of people complimented the music telling us how much they had enjoyed the evening. We love that kind of feedback!

16th December - Loose Valley Care Home

A few days after the Teston Church event, we arrived at Loose Valley Care Home, where we played Christmas carols and songs for residents and staff members to have a singalong. When we had finished a resident enquired about our instruments and Mike was only too happy to explain the workings of the concertina and show him the instrument close up.

17th December - Loose Court Care Home

The location for the final Kettle Bridge Concertinas Christmas event was another care home in Loose, this time Loose Court. We performed our usual repertoire of seasonal music and this was well received by the residents, who enthusiastically joined in with the singalong numbers.

This was a great way to finish our 2024 winter tour and, after a very busy few weeks, the musicians were able to look forward to Christmas and a well-deserved rest!