December 31st
It’s only half way through the day, but already it’s a corker. Jamie and I have been up to Ross Sands for a three hour walk surrounding what proved to be a spectacular sunrise behind Bamburgh Castle. Now we’re home and I already have a rum and coke, Jamie’s getting the curry ready and there’s TV to watch and football to listen to. Here we are at sunrise – you can just see the sun poking out. This music is the ending of The Felton Sycamores as performed by the most rewarding thing of 2016 for me – The Bridge Singers. This song is the best bit of work I’ve done for ages in my opinion. It’s been an absolute privilege working on this song with this choir, with Tony Williams who wrote the powerful poem and Ally Lee who recorded it for us. We also made a documentary about it, which is here. This will be the last fade-in for a while. I’ve done them every day for two years and feel I would like to try something different in 2017. It may not be daily. We’ll see.

December 30th
Today I’ve been thinking about and sorting out new things to come, but also looking back. This song is probably the most popular thing I’ve composed this year. It’s “Alison’s K6 Telephone Box” and the request for it from Alison Rushby, (who is pictured here, in a photo by Shuna, with me at The Bridge Singers’ end of year “do” in the Felton Park “Magical” Glasshouse and who is in the 2nd alto section) set me off on one of my obsessions this year, researching, looking out for and photographing red telephone boxes all over the place, as well as inspiring me to compose this piece. We’ve performed it several times since the world premiere in May (even adapting it to include sheep for our festive recitals), recorded it with Ally in July, and already I’ve had a request from another choir director who wants perform it. Alison responded in turn with a wonderful painting of the actual phone box on our bridge, and all in all getting to know Alison who is a most remarkable, inspiring and musical person has been one of the absolute highlights of the last year and a half of Bridge Singing.

December 29th
I went on a photographic expedition into the garden and found lots of decrepitude and decay. I searched for drinking songs by Purcell and transcribed some for the choir. In May I wrote a song about friendship for Wakefield Cathedral and this is the music you’re hearing – an example of one of the many delightful and successful children’s songs I’ve written this year for specific purposes and for specific groups. I can do this because I am a proper composer. Oh yes.

December 28th
Jamie and I hit the Worksop sales this morning – well one sale and one pair of boots purchased for Jamie, which is something of a noteworthy event. We also bought cheese reduced for quick sale. Then we drove home through the sunset as you see. We’ve now eaten the cheese too. I shall accompany these last four fade-ins with my favourite musical things from 2016 – this is The Bridge Singers singing Magical Glass in the historic Felton Park Greenhouse – the verse about that very greenhouse in fact.

December 27th
Early morning walk through Worksop again looking for beautiful things to photograph. Plenty found. Then further chatting, eating, and another walk into town with Mum for bargains and chats with several of her friends this afternoon. While I was out I spotted this contraption on the top of the K6 telephone box at the corner of Bridge Street and Westgate – for training the telephone cable upwards towards the telegraph poles in the olden days, Dad says. When I got back from the last of these jaunts, I opened my new Christmas bottle of rum and Michael and I had one rum and coke each.

December 26th
This afternoon is just about listening to football and catching up on internetting. This morning my brother and I went for a bracing walk in the wind and sun into sparkling Worksop – into the 12th century Worksop Priory, where the morning sunlight was streaming through the windows dazzlingly, then along the Chesterfield Canal past the Pumping Station to the junction of the canal and the railway bridge. You’re hearing part of my song about St. Cuthbert, as he nestles amongst the arches in the Priory.

December 25th
Christmas Day pavlova toppings and Southern Consort Of Voices on a song of today. I hope everyone’s had as splendid a day as we have. Current internet research and discussion in the Camm household is centring round pobs and the associated adjective pobby. It’s eliciting much mirth

December 24th
Early start, drive southwards, assignation at Durham City Park and Ride, sunrise through the rainy windscreen, Worksop in festive spirit and Barbara wind, carols from Kings, egg on toast, cheering news that my Hodie Christus Natus Est performed by this choir, The King’s Men, was on TVNZ’s “Praise Be” last weekend (It’s the New Zealand equivalent of the BBC’s “Songs Of Praise”.) Merry Christmas everyone!

December 23rd
Wine and chats with neighbours, and gin and singing with Lionheart Harmony – these are the things of the day before Christmas Eve. The crowd at Nether Grange were exceedingly friendly and one man enjoyed my In The Bleak Midwinter so much that he wants to do it with his choir of 105 members in Milton Keynes 🙂 In other news my YouTube channel seapieparcel has raced passed its next 1000 views to over 22,000.

December 22nd
Most of the day was spent in the cleaning and the tidying, but then we hied to Morpeth for end of the day unseasonal fruit, then off to Claire and Neil’s for pre-Christmas jollity with village friends. Some of these friends are in the choir, so I give you The Bridge Singers recently pretending to be shepherds having a party and one of Morpeth’s baubly trees.

December 21st
Pfaff pfaff pfaff pfaff. Silent Night in the barbershop style. Pfaff pfaff pfaff. Shepherd’s pie. Pfaff pfaff yum pfaff pfaff pfaff. Piles of carefully knotted pink string by the side of the road. Pfaff.

December 20th
Jamie was working in Sheffield yesterday. I went with him on the train, then headed straight to Wakefield where I looked round the Hepworth Prize in readiness for my workshops there in January. I was taken with the cats, the bubbles and the jetty, and also the boats by Alfred Wallis, which I’ve worked briefly with before and may find myself doing so again. I also had happy chats with gallery friends. Then briefly to Leeds amongst proper Yorkshire shoppers, then on to York for a squizz at the wonderful National Railway Museum, where there were steam excursions for Christmas holiday families as you hear. Jamie then arrived from Sheffield and we headed home.

December 19th
In the night (2am) I heard a bird through the window. I opened the window and recorded this. I don’t know what it is although it makes me think of the song thrush that we see and hear in the summer. You can also hear the river gushing by – seems so much louder at night when there’s no traffic. After returning to sleep and making it through a day of pottering, walking and card delivering, we had the villages’ “carols on the bridge”. This is an image from that very merry event. I managed the descant of O Come All Ye Faithful which made me smile. Highlights of my walk: three bullfinches and two be-crooked shepherds a herding flock of sheep along the road.

December 18th
Today I have spent most of the day with this lovely, cheery bunch. It’s The Bridge Singers at Alnwick Gardens doing some actual paid gigs – singing three half hour slots of sheepy merriment during the afternoon for the entertainment of the Christmas Market shoppers. We sang this song too with great energy and gusto, but I made no recording, so this is from our Longframlington recital on December 5th.

December 17th
Walking towards the sparrow hedge. They chirrup, I walk. I stop, they stop. They chirrup, I walk on. Meanwhile on the bridge the village tree glistens through the telephone box.

December 16th
Sunset, mist, river, Christmas tree on the bridge, The Bridge Singers (same bridge), glorious alto tune, lamb. Quiet day of Christmas cards with festive and other CDs. I tried the fun technique of closing my eyes, pulling out a CD and playing whatever random one came to hand, but when my fingers happened upon a collection of transport-related sound effects, I stopped that game. Prior to that though there was a cheery mix of The Seekers, Stravinsky, Renaissance Masterpieces, Steeleye Span, Billy Joel, Christmas Through The Ages…

December 15th
Another day, another set of civic festive lights. I started the day in Worksop listening to my ace brother on the radio, and ended it eating Italian food and chatting merrily in Alnwick with the top fellows and partners of Lionheart Harmony. In between there was much driving, a bit of being at home, a mini-gig in a sweltering rest home, and a smidgeon of provision shopping. I got the things on the list that existed on Monday before I left – turned out Jamie had also remembered the list on his way home from Peterborough and London. Loaves and bananas!

December 14th
A day in Worksop taking photos of beautiful bits and walking through the Wednesday Market on the illuminated main street, decorating the Camm Christmas Tree with Michael, going to Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them with Mum in the evening, then Newcastle United on the telly because we’re in the Sky house, and laughing with all three.

December 13th
I give you the “Best Concrete Engineering Structure Of The Century” as declared in September 1999. It’s Greta Bridge and its surrounding sheep, mountains, forge buildings, birds, A66 traffic and friendly walkers. Frances and I went for a walk along the old railway line from Keswick to Threlkeld, not that there is much of it at the moment as last year’s floods washed away two of the bow string bridges, but anyway, it was splendid and we met several of my sister’s friends and formulated a top theory about why the two bow string bridges we did walk across survived the inundation. Earlier there was brunch deliciousness at The Coffee Lounge, and later there was cake and milkshake at The Wild Strawberry with Colin. I am now in Worksop after much driving through fog, rain and roadworks and already there has been further Camm jollity.

December 12th
I went to Newcastle on the bus this morning. I had pleasant enough chat with Ben from Swarland at the bus stop, then overheard his teenage conversations with his school friends behind me on the bus. Oh my goodness me what strange creatures there are – it made me very glad indeed that I no longer have to deal very much with class-loads of them …. ever. By the time I left, Newcastle was heaving with clamouring carrier bag graspers, but there were moments of contemplation like here on Grey Street where I could admire Earl Grey himself atop his column and all this surrounding festive adornments. I tried to record some merry buskers while I was out, but the only one I found was a glum-looking guitarist who played along to a backing track which was actually playing most of his notes for him, so I didn’t feel he deserved his place here, so instead it’s The Bridge Singers again with a statuesque number from last Monday. We had a shortened, happy rehearsal in the evening, with much merriment in the pub after.

December 11th
Resting today – watching “Babe” (can’t get away from the sheep just yet), making stew, having naps, but on Saturday night this minute of our concert gave me the most pleasure as a result of a discussion between the two concerts with some members of the choir whose opening remark in the conversation was “it’s just those three notes we can’t get.” Well in the concert they got them both times. Wheeeeeh! I gave my camera to our friend Rachael to take photos during the event, but then she was commandeered for mulled wine duties back-stage so she handed it on to an anonymous-with-an-eye-for-a-good-shot someone else who took this. I don’t know what the joke was before this photo was taken but it just about sums up the general mood of this choir – laughing mid-concert is a good thing, I feel, not mid-song perhaps, although….

December 10th
Today it was The Bridge Singers’ “There Were Shepherds…” recitals: two in one day at Felton Village Hall. It was exhausting and exhilarating. I can’t tell you how hugely proud of this choir I am. It is exceptionally wonderful and such a positive and cheerful entity, full of remarkable, enthusiastic and talented people. I am so very lucky indeed. Here is the very end of the final concert, and the scene in the hall with some of Hazel and her team’s delightful sheep mobiles.

December 9th
A bit of Handel and a flourish of lights. Handel has been Composer of The Week on Radio 3 this week. Handel’s great. There are mince pies a-baking as I write. This is cheering too.

December 8th
Traffic lights appeared outside today so I went out to nose around. Wore me out on account of a fattening throat and related symptoms, so I’ve stayed in for the remainder – no provision shopping, no barbershop, pie for lunch. This picture is from the other day when I went out in the frost and enjoyed the barbed wire on a gate. It’s also the sound of me walking on the crispy leaves then down through the underpass on the A1. I’ll tell you a thing though. What I love about Christmas so far is that when you do actually go provision shopping, you can buy massive pieces of “gift” blue Stilton cheese for less per kilo than the regular pieces, and it tastes wonderful, so there’s no danger of not getting through it before it goes green.

December 7th
A Christmassy day with some Bach in the spare living room and a bit of making stuff and delivering programmes for festive concerts to Moldshaugh. I saw this tree laden with pink berries with the most amazing blue sky and mild Southerly wind windy wind, which actually blew a lot of the berries out of my photo. I took five photos of the berries and this is the only one that isn’t blurry. You’re hearing The Bridge Singers from their magnificent concert on Monday night. It’s Fair Phyllis who was feeding her flock.

December 6th
Quite a lot of sleeping during the day today – mostly as a result of yesterday’s exhausting but exhilarating efforts, but also, I think I’m getting what Jamie’s had, so keeping warm and rested when I can has got to be the way to stay strong. Today’s fade-in is all about yesterday morning therefore when I went for my morning walk with the camera with no power. I did have my recording machine, though and was entranced by the wide range of bird life on display. You’re hearing in my stroll aviary…. wood pigeon, blackbirds, wrens, geese, chicken, blue tits, goldfinch, chaffinch, jackdaw. I also saw a bullfinch earlier in the walk and there were emus with the chickens, but I’m not sure if they were making a sound or not. And of course, there were sheep, but they’re not birds so they don’t count in the aviary.

December 5th
This morning I went for another sunrise walk in the frost – camera ran out of battery before photo 1 as it turned out, and also as it turned out this was a bit of a theme for the day. Anyway, I had my phone with me so was able to take a few photos, including this of our concert poster on the edge of a field in Swarland. The remainder of the day was spent folding programmes, charging batteries and fretting. No need for this latter as our first “There Were Shepherds…” recital in Longramlington was marvellous with a full house, much laughter, clapping, enthusiastic comments and tuneful, accurate singing. This choir is a complete and utter joy. Here’s the end of our arrangement of Purcell’s Nymphs and Shepherds. I chose this bit because it had the most exuberant clapping. The batteries on the recording machine ran out ten minutes before the end of the concert, by the way. Pah! It was Little Bo-Peep that did for them.

December 4th
Making programmes for tomorrow’s recital by The Bridge Singers, finishing off my sheep for tomorrow’s recital by The Bridge Singers, venturing out into the early night to catch The Running Fox’s festive decorations aside the telephone box (The Running Fox is sponsoring tomorrow’s recital by The Bridge Singers), gathering my music together for tomorrow’s recital by The Bridge Singers, listening to Jamie practice for tomorrow’s recital by The Bridge Singers. Tomorrow there’s a recital by The Bridge Singers. It’s in Longramlington Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. It features music exclusively containing sheep and shepherds. There will be mince pies and mulled wine included as part of the staggeringly good value £5 tickets, and any other money donated will be given to the Morpeth branch of the MS Society.

December 3rd
The Metro Centre on a Saturday morning in December is a pastime of mixed emotions. I get cross, sometimes, as a result of certain people who are so very, very rude. But I like to sing along with the Christmas musack and laugh at the close-up naffness of lots of Christmas decorations, and we did get everything on our list, so it evens itself out, I guess. Then I made a sheep this afternoon. I used knitting needles to help me in this endeavour. Knitting needles was one of the things on our Metro Centre list. I had looked around the house for knitting needles prior to heading out, but my search was in vain. Mid-sheep-making, I had cause to look for something else. I didn’t find it, but did find three pairs of knitting needles. Later, there were owls outside and the river flowed on by.

December 2nd
Another splendid day, involving a lot less people – just me and Jamie going about our analysing/composery business at home, but lots of cake to eat left over from yesterday. I did step out at one point and delightedly watched four dippers cavorting about the river near the old bridge. Four dippers! This was a record for dipper quantity in any one cavorting. Here is a lamb in his arms, a fragment from the St. Michael’s church windows (of which much more in 2017), and a song about this which has featured heavily this term, and particularly this afternoon as I made this track for my choir to practise along with. It’s one of my Handel arrangements.

December 1st
Splendid, splendid day with cake making, and helpful aides-to-choir-learning all morning, singing, laughing and cake-eating with some of The Bridge Singers in the afternoon, a giggly, festive Lionheart Harmony in the evening, Jamie home from London, and then to finish it off the most wonderful message from one of the descendants of the deported Scottish soldier-prisoners-of-war from the 1650 Battle of Dunbar who having listening to our documentary on “The Felton Sycamores” declared it to be “Absolutely moving! Not to be rushed through…..this amazing work….this beautiful offering…a fantastic creation.” Here’s some December holly and this morning’s singing of Sheep Crook and Black Dog – one of my arrangements of a Sussex folksong.