Seaside shanty singers ship off to new shores

12 hours ago

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria

News image — It is the fourth year of the Saltburn Smugglers' Shanties on the Shore events

Saltburn Smugglers Eight performers stand in a line on the promenade and sing into microphones. There is a crowd of people on the stairs and in deck chairs watching on. the sea behind them is grey and calm, and a similar colour to the sky above. — It is the fourth year of the Saltburn Smugglers' Shanties on the Shore events

Sea shanty singers have moved their free shows along the promenade to accommodate a swelling crowd.

The Saltburn Smugglers are in their fourth year of singing traditional and original songs in the town throughout the summer, as the sun sets behind them.

Founder Keith Ayling said audience numbers had doubled every year, so the group planned to move about 150ft (45m) along the clifftop road to accommodate a stage and larger seating area for the 1,000 people expected to come.

He said the songs were inspired by the area's maritime history, adding: "We talk about hope and love and caring for each other, and all those themes of the crew of a ship working together."

The event starts at 18:00 BST and there are further performances on 31 July and 14 August.

Ayling said previous performances had been "magical".

"We have it here on purpose because we wanted people on that promenade to be able to see the sun go down, and there are beautiful sunsets at Saltburn."

The first year they sang at the amphitheatre, near the cliff lift, about 200 people attended and it had grown to 800 last year, he said.

Musician Ayling said he and his wife were inspired to create the group following the Covid-19 pandemic, and drew from the history of the town they had moved to five years ago.

"We wanted to get singing again and enjoy the work that we used to do," he said.

Interest from children in the area saw them create children's choirs and they have since visited dozens of local schools to share the music and its maritime roots.

"Just getting the whole class, and sometimes the whole school, singing together, it rarely happens now in some schools," he said.

Ayling said the group put a positive spin on their modern songwriting.

"Originally, shanties were work songs, they were sung in hard conditions," he said.

"They were about the rhythm of the ocean and the rhythm of the work that was being done on the boats."

He said people came away feeling positive after the shows, and a bucket would be passed around to raise funds for the group and the RNLI.