The Barnsley Carol was written by Arthur Godfrey in 1933 and rediscovered in Barnsley Museum Archives in 2023. This lovely version which the Vocal Expressions sang at our Christmas Concert on 14th December 2025 was arranged for us by our accompanist, Loyd Buck. Our performance is also enhanced by the accompanying bells of the Clifton Bell Ringers, our guests at the concert.
Square Peg Christmas Singing 2025
A good time was had by all when we sang festive songs at the final Square Peg get together before Christmas. The group are VE’s chosen charity to support this year and our fund raising has not only helped them to pay for various activities they all enjoy, but meant that this Christmas they could all receive a Secret Santa gift too, which you can see in the photos.
Run, Rudolph, Run 14th December 2025
What a wonderful concert! The choir sounded great, the Clifton Bell Ringers amazed us all with their skill and beautiful tunes produced by the 144 handbells. The hall looked so pretty and festive, the refreshments were plentiful and tasty, and the audience were fantastic. There was such a lovely, festive atmosphere and music for every taste: traditional carols, classical music, ‘a bit of cheese” and rock and roll.
It was a real team effort to put on such an entertaining afternoon. Thank you to everybody who contributed in some way, and a special thank you to Nicola for her positive encouragement and direction, and Lloyd for his splendid arrangement of ‘The Barnsley Carol, made extra special on the day by an accompaniment from the Clifton Bell Ringers.
Christmas Tree Light Switch-On - Farmers Arms - Dec 1st 20205
We had lots of fun singing at the Farmer’s Arms, Burnlee, when they switched on the lights on their Christmas Tree. Nicola was invited to do the honours, and despite the horrible wet, windy weather there was a good turn out to sing along with us and enjoy the Christmas lights.
New Mill Christmas Fair 2025
We had a very good time singing at the extremely busy New Mill Christmas Fair on November 29th. Lots of people stopped shopping to listen and seemed to really enjoy our singing too.
Square Pegs - November 2025
The Square Peg group are the local charity Vocal Expressions has chosen to support for 2025. We are delighted to have been able to donate £1000 to them so far, which they have used for a variety of activities that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Here they are enjoying their recent Halloween decoration making session. They look to be having lot of fun, although I’m not sure about the person being dressed up as a mummy!
Autumn Workshop - September 2025
We had an excellent workshop at Hade Edge Band Room to help us get to grips with the new pieces for Christmas. What a lot we achieved! Everyone worked really hard and we enjoyed rising to the challenge and singing together, not mention a bit of socialising too. As usual Nicola and Lloyd made it a positive and pleasurable day - a big thank you to them both for all their hard work.
Back to rehearsals Sept 2025
It is great to be back together to catch-up and have a good sing. Christmas music in September is a bit of a shock, but “in the blink of an eye, it will be December 14th and our next concert!
Singing for the Square Peg group - August 25
We all had lots of fun singing at the Square Pegs group. They were a great audience - really getting into the spirit of the songs, joining in and even dancing at the end. They have asked us to go again so they must have enjoyed it and we’ll be delighted to sing for them again.
It was the first outing for our new Summer Song Book, where we sing along to backing tracks. It is a bit tricky knowing where to come in at first, so Nicola coming along and guiding us was much appreciated by all who took part.
Summertime in Song July 2025
Once again our popular afternoon tea concert was a huge success - the audience were treated to a variety of wonderful music, from both the choir and our guests the Cadence Folk Band, and the cakes and tea were as usual plentiful and delicious. The audience were great, not only applauding enthusiastically, but helping us to raise over £500 through the raffle and donations in support of Square Pegs activities, our chosen charity for this year. Putting on a concert like this is no mean feat and it was a great team effort, from teaching and learning all the music (thank you Nicola and Lloyd), organising the venue and the guests, baking, decorating, ticket sales, organising the raffle, finding enough teapots and manning the car park - everyone played their part. Thank you to everyone who stepped up; choir members and their partners, and also to all the people who came to enjoy our singing and baking. A good time was had by all!
We were delighted to welcome Richard, the founder, and Rachel, one of the trustees of the Square Pegs to the concert. They explained to us all what it is all about. Square Pegs are a group who meet every week to provide activities and support for people with a range of conditions who are “square pegs in a round hole’. They receive no outside funding so any funds we can raise will really help them to thrive.
