For those who don't know, some villages in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire have a particular carol tradition. There are carols sung in pubs on Sundays (usually noon to 2pm, a throwback to old licensing days) from Armistace day to Christmas. What make this so wonderful is that the pubs are crowded with locals (and quite a few folkies) singing their hearts out in four (or more) parts. Most of the carols that are sung you won't hear anywhere else. For example, there are about 16 different tunes used for 'While shepherds watched' and many many other unique carols, far better than the ones we normally hear.

If I could do blue clicky stuff I'd sent you to the Village Carols site

www.sgpublishing.co.uk/gm/vc/vcabout.html

where you can get more information, tunebooks, recordings and so on.

If anyone else is going to Dungworth (or any of the other village pubs) I'm sure I don't need to remind you that this is a real tradition, that it belongs to the local people and that we should treat it with the respect that it richly deserves.

Cheers, Les