“ Cheryl…has inspired a new love of music and depth of vision among the children – and staff – about their heritage. No Mackem by birth…she adopted the River Wear as the theme for her final extravaganza – entitled Winter Wear. [The] performance, for which she wrote all the words and music, brought the past to life – from Roman times, through the reburial of St. Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral to an evocation of Sunderland’s proud industrial heritage. It is unlikely to be forgotten….’I do think it’s important that these children learn about the history of Sunderland and the industries that used to be here…A whole way of life has ceased to exist and these children just don’t know what that life was like. Since we started doing this project, several children have told me that they talked about what we were doing at home and they discovered for the first time, or at least it registered with them, that their grandparents or other relations had worked in the shipyards, and it’s started them asking questions about it all…..Headteacher Martin Bates said her contribution to the school had been ‘outstanding.’ He added: ‘She has helped us to take education much further than the National Curriculum could ever hope to achieve. Our children have benefited from her support as a teacher, musician and professional composer. All of them have had creative experiences that are likely to remain in their memories for the rest of their lives.” Trevor Hoyland writing in the Sunderland Echo, December 29^th 2005

This is the story of one of my musical river projects, exploring through music, dance and drama the wonderful River Wear in north-east England with an entire school of primary school children.
Introductory activities involved exploring the geography of rivers in general through music, and this river in particular, through a spot of map-reading and storytelling, then each class became responsible for stopping off at one point along the river and telling its tale in a musical and wintry way:

Upper Weardale – Dancing Stream
A soundscape using evocative language and music to describe the movement and sound of the upper tributaries of the River Wear as it dances through the moors.

You can read more about Dancing Stream here.

Killhope Lead Mine – Four Pence A Day
A new setting of traditional words describing an early start in the life of a child worker in the lead mines of Upper Weardale. We also created a musical “hush”, conjuring up the build-up of water behind a dam at the top of a valley and the sudden releasing of that water to reveal the position of the seams of galena beneath the topsoil.

 You can find scores for Four Pence A Day here.

Short plays using winter stories about the river were interspersed amongst the musical items:
• Haswick’s Bridge is washed away on Christmas Day
• Cuthbert Goes For A Walk
• Pirate Godric Becomes A Hermit
• The Cauld Lad Of Hylton

Bishop Auckland – The Ballad of Pollard’s Brawn
A song with acting and projections centred around the traditional tale of a young man called Pollard who accepted the Bishop of Durham’s challenge to rid the local population of a child-eating wild boar.

 You can find scores for The Ballad Of Pollard’s Brawn here.

Durham – Aves Beati Cuthberti
Inspired by a storyboard in St. Cuthbert’s Shrine in Durham Cathedral about the ceremonies surrounding his feast day in March, this is a chant and prayer which was accompanied by the children moving with piety, solemnity and also at times joy in an imaginative reinterpretation of St. Cuthbert’s re-internment. The words of the song reflect Cuthbert’s affinity with the birds that lived with him on the Farne Islands in Northumberland.

You can read more about Aves Beati Cuthberti here.

Chester-le-Street – Condatis March, and “Romans at play” compositions
Formation marching, an army of Roman soldiers stopped over on their way home from Hadrian’s Wall, at Chester-le-Street for some music-making and feasting. They composed their own music for this one.

Lambton – The Lambton Worm
A traditional folk song from the Wear Valley sung in unison with actions/puppets from the younger children.

You can find scores for The Lambton Worm here.

Sunderland – Glass Orchestra/Magical Glass
The story of Sunderland’s glass-making heritage was told in a slide show, song and art work, with music composed by the children and performed on a glass orchestra of instruments and found sounds.

You can find out more about Magical Glass here

Sunderland – January 1841
We found reference to a flooding disaster on the river in Sunderland which involved blocks of ice from upstream being washed down towards the city after a sudden thaw and crashing into the colliers and other ships moored there. Many were washed out to sea and some sailors went missing. We told the story with song and dance.

You can find scores for January 1841 here.

Sunderland/The North Sea – Shipyard Soundscape/Maggie’s Rant
Using quotes from Shipyard workers and recreating the sounds of the shipyards using instruments and found sounds, we told the story of the final closure of this industry in 1988 by Margaret Thatcher’s government.

You can find scores for Maggie’s Rant here.

Update August 2024

Since this project, many of the songs have been arranged for choirs of various types, and more songs have been added to the Winter Wear collection:

Dancing Stream – an evocation of the upper reaches of the river with the streams pirouetting through a frozen landscape.

Four Pence A Day – a flowing folksong about the difficulties of being a child worker in the wintry lead mines of Upper Weardale.

The Ballad Of Pollard’s Brawn – the jovial tale of a large wild boar who caused havoc in the domain of the Bishop of Auckland. The Bishop set a challenge to anyone who could deal with the problem, making rash promises along the way!

Aves Beati Cuthberti – At the time of this song’s composing, there was a notice in the shrine of St. Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral indicating that the monks there would commemorate the date of his internment by opening the outer covering of his coffin, adorned with bells, and the sound of these bells would bring the monks hurrying to the shrine. Cuthbert is also depicted in many stained glass windows, including at Durham Cathedral, surrounded by the seabirds he lived amongst on the Farne Islands. This sacred chant and prayer depicts both of these stories.

Carol of Godric of Finchale – Godric lived as a hermit near and in the River Wear. He too was a friend to the local wildlife, and people came from far and wide to hear his words of wisdom. This song is an exuberant and rhythmic choral fanfare.

The Lambton Worm (arr.) – the well-known Wearside folk song is arranged for SATB choir with a lively instrumental part.

Alleluia Into The Light – an underground coal miner takes a break from the heavy toil on Christmas Eve. and contemplates his day off tomorrow.

You can find out more about Alleluia! Into the Light here.

January 1841 – a folk ballad about a little-known ice disaster on the River Wear in Sunderland during which huge slabs of ice formed around the bridges in Sunderland, then suddenly started to melt, broke free, and careered down the river, causing havoc amongst the colliers and other ships moored along the banks.

Magical Glass – Sunderland’s role in the history and alchemy of glass-making is told in in this cheery folk song: the windows in Benedict Biscop’s 7th century church, St, Peter’s – the first church to have glass windows in England; industrial glass-making in the 19th and 20th centuries; the making of Pyrex in the mid 20th century; and the National Glass Centre and art glass of today. The lyrics of this song have also been adapted to tell stories of glass in the villages of Felton and West Thirston in Northumberland.

Bede, Moon, Ocean, Tide – a moody and reflective meditation on the effect of the moon on the ocean and tides, as observed by Bede, who was one of the monks at Benedict Biscop’s combined monasteries of St. Paul’s in Jarrow, and St. Peter’s in Sunderland, near the mouth of the River Wear.

You can find scores Bede, Moon, Ocean, Tide here.

Maggie’s Rant – Sunderland was also world famous for its building of ships. The industry was closed down by Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s. The proud, then angry, then distressed sentiments of one of the now-redundant shipbuilders, are expressed in this energetic folksong.

You can find scores for Maggi’s Rant (SATB) here.

If you’d like a version of any of these songs for your choir, contact Cheryl.