There were big changes for our Autumn Residential weekend in 2024 as we relocated to Wellington School, near Taunton. It was a considerable move with lots to organise but the weekend went well in its new venue.
Wellington School has a very different ambiance from the faded grandeur of Quantock Lodge but everyone embraced the change and a good time was had by all. The weekend hosted around eighty attendees, including new members who were made very welcome.
The weekend took place in the modern prep school, the teaching was in actual classrooms and there was a good-sized modern school hall for the Band to practice in during the day and plenty of room for everyone to congregate for the evening playing sessions. Fewer people stayed onsite this year but as the school is in a small town there was plenty of accommodation options within walking distance. Whether staying onsite or nearby, we were well looked after, with plenty of tea/coffee breaks and lots of good food.
Friday evening was taken up with introductions and a relaxed playing session. On Saturday and Sunday, the day started early with tuition and guidance delivered throughout the day in small groups for beginners and improvers on Anglo, Duet (Crane, McCann and Hayden) and English concertinas. The Band offered more complex music for those who wanted a challenge. Between teaching sessions there were opportunities to participate in Circle Dance and Playford tunes, Rounds, and Slow tunes.
On Saturday evening, after dinner, there was an enjoyable and relaxed social gathering in the hall. We played along with tunes, sang along with some fun songs and were treated to some excellent performances by our tutors.
Steve Dickinson of Wheatstone was available over the weekend to repair concertinas (he also gave an interesting talk about concertina maintenance). Barleycorn Concertinas were also there on the Saturday with a good selection of quality instruments – very tempting!
On Sunday afternoon, there was a showcase where each tutor group showed what they had learned over the weekend – it was impressive to see the progress people had made. There was a presentation and a big thank you to Claire Wren, who is taking some time out from the Autumn Weekend for a while. Claire has been an inspiring and committed member of our tutor team over the years and we will all miss her. After playing the last tune of our weekend together, ‘Farewell Old Friends', we were treated to a delicious cream tea before reluctantly heading home.
The WCCP Autumn Weekend is very friendly, welcoming and encouraging, participants will not only have made progress with their concertina playing but will also go home having made new friends.
We had a goodly number for the July Play Day at Ruishton.
The main theme of the day was ‘classical’ music and several attendees brought suitable versions of well-known classics.
In planned sessions, Paul McCann took us through his own arrangement of the ‘Hovis’ theme from Dvorak’s ‘New World’ symphony and Doug Watt ran a session on playing rounds and canons.
Small-group workshops generated performances of ‘I Vow to Thee, My Country’ from Holst’s ‘Planets’ (picture), extracts from three of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ and ‘The Hole in the Wall’ by Purcell.
In the individual’s Showcase slot we were treated to a duet from Tony & Diane on English concertinas of ‘Praise to the Mountain’ (picture), Chris Hammond played the ‘Trout’ on his duet, Doug Watt played a Bach violin movement on the anglo, Paul gave us a Swedish traditional tune on duet and John Lambert lightened the tone with ‘Java Jive’ on his English on the grounds (see what I did there…) that it also happened to be National Doughnut Day!
We also found time to have an open-floor discussion on the format and content of these Play Days and the organizing Committee will reflect on all the points arising.
The next WCCP ‘event’ will be the week of mornings at All Saints Church during the Sidmouth Folk Festival. This is an opportunity for Members and potential Members to try different systems and join in band groups and generally to enjoy and promote the WCCP in its core territory.
 |
 |
 |
There was a full house for the
WCCP 2024 Spring Residential Weekend
held at Halsway Manor, 22-24 March
The Spring weekend is for intermediate and advanced players of all concertina systems.
The workshop tutors were:
The course members worked diligently in their workshops throughout the weekend, and the groups provided impressive demonstrations of their progress in the Showcase event on the Sunday afternoon. The concertina band were joined by a scratch choir for a performance of "Pastime with Good Company".
Steve Dickinson (Wheatstone & Co) set up a workshop in the lIbrary for consultation and emergency repairs throughout the weekend, and the Barleycorn Concertinas pop-up shop attracted the usual keen interest.
The Saturday evening concert featured virtuoso performances by Brogan, Iris and SImon.
Tutors' Concert
 |
 |
 |
Sunday Showcase
 |
 |
 |
This year’s Autumn residential weekend at Quantock Lodge had a special twist, as we celebrated the WCCP’s 40th Ruby Anniversary.
Over 85 attendees joined us, with lots of new players and members – which was great to see. Beginners and Improvers enjoyed receiving focused group tuition on their Duet (Crane, Hayden and McCann), Anglo or English concertinas. The more proficient players enjoyed honing their skills in the Band. There were also Option sessions and concertina maintenance available, with quite a few attendees leaving with new concertinas from Barleycorn Concertinas.
On the Friday night, there was an open session in the bar area. On the Saturday night, we had pre-dinner drinks in the dining room (in special commemorative WCCP Ruby Anniversary cups) and the room was a sea of red. After dinner, we played tunes and watched the tutors play in a showcase. On the Sunday, it was lovely to hear what each group had been working on during the weekend. Every beginner group was able to play a tune or two, as well as hearing the more advanced tunes the band were playing. At the end of the session, we all joined in to play Farewell Old Friends and a Ruby Anthem, composed by our very own John Lambert.
The club will need to find a new venue for the 2024 Autumn Residential weekend. We are keen to continue the fun and success of the Quantock Lodge weekends for beginners and improvers of all Concertina systems. Please watch this space for more details in early 2024.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |