Sea Folk Sing Choir

On Saturday 10th November and Sunday 11th November 2018, Kent CRP were delighted to welcome the Sea Folk Sing Choir to perform at Strood, Sittingbourne and Queenborough Stations. The choir also sang on the train between Sittingbourne and Sheerness on Sea. The event was to commemorate the hundredth anniversary since the First World War ended.

All the months of hard work has certainly all been worthwhile.The videos below were all filmed at Queenborough Station and will allow you to relive some of the moments from the day or give you chance to share the experience with us for the first time.

About Sea Folk Sing
Sea Folk Sing is a 2-year project, commissioned by Ideas Test and produced by SparkedEcho which aims to involve more older people in the arts to improve health and wellbeing. It is supported by funding from Celebrating Age, a joint programme between Arts Council England and The Baring Foundation, with further funding from Kent County Council, Optivo and Involving Medway. The performances are a partnership with Kent Community Rail Partnership, The Historic Dockyard Chatham and Medway Council.

Further info on the Sea Folk Sing project can be found  at

Artistic Director Tania Holland-Williams explained:
"Over the last 5 months, people across North Kent, from Gravesham through Medway to Sittingbourne and Sheerness, have been on a journey. Their voyage has taken them into new musical terrain, unearthed personal histories and exposed new approaches to resolving discord."

About Never Again
Composed by Emily Peasgood with Lyrics by Kate Lynn-Devere and Emily Peasgood. Never Again is a new large-scale musical work for choir and tape. It has been created to respond to and mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. Peasgood created the work in response to research at local archives and was inspired by the stories of Sea Folk Sing participants. Never Again is a powerful work that explores elements of the War that include loss in no man’s land, women’s rights, rationing, daily life for local people, peace and recovery. It is a beautiful, powerful and controversial work. emilypeasgood.com
Composer Emily Peasgood reflected upon her inspiration:

“Never Again is a thought-provoking piece. It transforms the audience to 100 years ago. It features tape recordings from the First World War to create an experience for visitors, while drawing parallels with the political climate today.”

We would like to thank a host of people and organisations who helped to make this event a tremendous success.

The fantastic Sea Folk Sing Choir who were amazing in telling their story. 

SparkedEcho for overseeing the logistics, ticketing and event planning and Ideas Test for commissioning the work and helping to organise and market the events. Stewards were provided from both organisations to ensure it all ran smoothly on Saturday at Strood Station and on Sunday at Queenborough Station and on the train to and from Sittingbourne and Sheerness.

Southeastern who very kindly granted us permission to use the station. They also provided additional carriages and free travel for the choir, as well as opening up the facilities at Queenborough Station.

Castle Connections Cafe at Queenborough who opened up especially on a Sunday to provide everyone with refreshments.

One of the achievements the Sea Folk Sing wanted to accomplish was to perform at unusual venues in the local area. So why not perform on a moving train through the beautiful countryside in the Garden of England. Here is some footage from the performance taken on the train from Sittingbourne to Queenborough Station. In order to generate a better atmosphere the audience were invited to sit amongst the choir as they sang.

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