Heel and Toe: Songs, tunes and stepdances from the collection of Sam Steele
Veteran VT150CD

This Veteran release from 2005 is another of the label’s periodic releases of archive material, in this instance by Cambridgeshire teacher Sam Steele, an enthusiast who collected and recorded songs and tunes, in his fenland Cambridgeshire area, but also ranging further afield into Norfolk and Essex. The CD comprises a selection of this material, gathered between 1959 and 1962, and includes material, particularly instrumental, by performers who were to be more widely recorded later, as well as others for whom these are the only recordings available. Sam was a good friend of another collector from his area, Russell Wortley, and they seem to have teamed up for many field trips. What the CD presents is a vibrant selection of the songs and tunes which made up the musical activity of the working people of the area.

The disc kicks off with Norfolk’s Percy Brown rattling through the Heel and Toe Polka on the melodeon and ends with him doing the same with a Step Dance Medley, this time with Dick Hewitt stepdancing. In between we have a varied programme of songs serious and comic, and a mixture of solo and ensemble instrumental playing, with a bit of stepdancing thrown in for good measure.

Of the ten songs, there is a good – and typical – selection of the old ballads such as The Outlandish Knight, sung by Hockey Feltwell and Reg Bacon’s Banks of the Sweet Dundee, and lighter, comic material such as Charlie Giddings’ So Was I and Reg Bacon’s Nothing to Do With Me, the latter recorded live before an audience, as are several others, giving a great ambience to the proceedings. Most of the singers are fenlanders: Charlie Giddings, Alan Pate and Billy Rash from Cambridgeshire and Arthur ‘Hockey’ Feltwell from Southery in Norfolk, just on the county border.(1) All seem seasoned performers and give assured performances. Most were regular pub performers; of Charlie Giddings, the booklet notes (by John Howson) state that “Charlie sang mainly in the village local, The Three Tuns. He had his own seat which nobody else was allowed to sit in. He would visit the pub most nights for a couple of beers and that’s where he did his singing” and Billy Rash “sang songs and played melodeon in The Chestnut Tree, West Wratting…Russell Wortley recorded him playing and his repertoire seems to have been mainly song tunes.” Alan Pate’s Remember Me To… is unusual in that he accompanies himself on piano. He “also played fiddle for local dances in the 1940s, along with Mildred Harrison on piano.” The last song on the CD is the old pub chestnut The Barley Mow, given by Reg Bacon, from Saffron Waldon, Essex – in itself indicative of the selection of songs and their social purpose.

With the tunes, there are two melodeon players, George Green from Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, and the aforementioned Percy Brown, who lived in several places around the Aylsham area in Norfolk. The latter was recorded quite extensively (2) and was a regular player, often to accompany stepdancing, in that area of the county. (3) George Green was the melodeon player for Little Downham Molly Dancers. Both perform straightforward dance tunes in a driving, rhythmic way – such as Brown’s Bluebell Polka and Green’s Four Hand Reel – very much indicative of the social purpose of the music, underlined by two of Percy Brown’s tracks where he accompanies stepdancing. (4)

The remaining five instrumental tracks comprise performances by the various musicians that were brought together for the seminal English Country Music recordings. (5) There is some crossover here, as Russell Wortley was present at those sessions and appears on some of the tracks. Dulcimer player Billy Cooper, from Hingham in Norfolk, gives us the sublime waltz Dulcie Bell and Walter and Daisy Bulwer, of Shipdham, an Unidentified Jig (as given here) on fiddle and piano. The tune is really more of a march in 6/8 time and is actually the Warbler’s Serenade, recorded on 78s several times early in the century. They are unusual and sophisticated in both cases, and reflect the wider musical influences on these performers, particularly in the case of the Bulwers, who were both musically literate and would spend evenings playing through tunes from a huge stack of sheet music. (6) The three get together with Edna Wortley, on banjo, for three more tracks: a medley of hornpipes, a bouncy Whistling Rufus and an Unidentified Polka (which is actually the Cromarty Polka March), for some sparkling ensemble playing. It is unclear just how frequently the Bulwers had played together with Billy Cooper prior to the English Country Music sessions, but they certainly seem very comfortable with the situation here.

In all, here we have twenty tracks – a little under an hour – of a varied programme of music and song from East Anglia, collected by Sam Steele, who “had a nose for the real thing,” as the notes on the back of the CD case would have it. Those notes continue: “These are not professional performers but farmers, horsemen, cowmen, grave diggers, a bird catcher, a chimney sweep, a lorry driver and even a tailor, who have had their own local culture handed down to them, over the years, from their families and communities. These recordings give a remarkable snap-shot of times gone by.” A talented bunch they were too. The sound is as clear and bright as can be expected, given the age of the recordings. This is a fascinating and wonderfully entertaining collection and yet another example of the richness of traditional music which has been collected over the years in East Anglia. At the time of writing the recording is available as a CD and download from Veteran.

Chris Holderness
March 2026

Notes:

1. Hockey Feltwell can also be heard singing Four Horses on Come all My Lads That Follow the Plough; Topic TSCD655 (1998)
2. Percy Brown features on the English Country Music from East Anglia LP: Topic 12TS229 (1973) – see review in a previous newsletter – and The Pigeon on the Gate: Melodeon Players from East Anglia: Veteran VTDC11CD (2008) – which also has George Green’s College Hornpipe. Percy Brown is also featured on Father Went to Yarmouth: Traditional Songs and Dance Tunes from Norfolk; Helions Bumpstead Gramophone Company (no number)
3. For details of Percy Brown’s life and music see: Chris Holderness: Percy Brown: Aylsham Melodeon Player MT211(2007) www.mustrad.org.uk
4. A video was produced by the English Folk Dance and Song Society of Dick Hewitt of Briston, Norfolk, stepdancing to Percy Brown’s playing, in the late 1970s: EFDSS Video 01
5. The CD reissue of this is English Country Music; Topic TSCD607 (2000) – see review in a previous newsletter.
6. For details of Walter and Daisy Bulwer’s life and music see: Chris Holderness: Walter and Daisy Bulwer: Recollections of the Shipdham Musicians by members of their community MT185 (2006) and for Billy Cooper: Billy Cooper: the Hingham dulcimer player remembered by his family MT208 (2007) by the same author.

A short history of the rural concert party in East Anglia

As I have recently described the “Norfolk Tune-Up” events as a cross between a concert party and a ‘led session’, it is perhaps time to investigate the history of concert parties in the region, and to see how it fits in with what’s happening today.

The idea of a ‘concert party’ in rural England seems to have evolved from localised music gatherings in the eighteenth century, with various organising bodies presiding over them. Originally they were probably heavily dependent on the patronage, and possible involvement, of the local gentry – such as music clubs run by the more well-heeled members of the community – but there also seem to have been a plethora of more informal gatherings, utilising local working people, with the fiddle to the fore. These probably existed at the same time as travelling troupes brought music and theatre to remote areas, and performances seem to have blended traditional material with social, cultural or political expression, as was deemed necessary or noteworthy at the time. As well as what went on in villages, towns acted as social and musical hubs, with frequent music and dance assemblies, although presumably largely intended for those a little way up the social scale. There is much evidence of varied types of music making and other entertainment, put together in programmes, as “concert parties”, very often tied to calendar festivals and to raise money for local institutions. Unsurprisingly, central to these occasions were the contributions of those who sang in the pubs and played music for the local dancing.

An example of this is Charlie Stringer, of Wickham Skeith, Suffolk, whose singing appears on the Who Owns the Game? album (1). The LP notes comment that “Apart from pub singing, he also used to sing in a concert party, and has a photograph of himself and a friend wearing dresses and singing Two Little Girls in Blue!” Many concert parties seem to have been purely village affairs, although some did travel to neighbouring places to put on shows. The emphasis was on variety of material – music, song and dance, coupled with humour, monologues and presumably whatever local people had to offer. In the early twentieth century there was quite a craze for “Pierrot shows”. These took their inspiration from the Italian Commedia dell’arte, which flourished across Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The emphasis here was on sentimental or melancholic songs about love, or lighthearted skits of comic song or dance, the performers having whitened faces and distinctive, oversized clothes, often as a ‘pierrot’ costume. There is a wonderful photograph of musicians Walter and Daisy Bulwer of Shipdham in Norfolk wearing such costumes, sometime in the 1930s. (2)

Norfolk musician and horseman Ray Hubbard, who lived for much of his life in Dickleburgh, organised concert parties with his wife Pamela, in the late 1950s onwards, which seem to have been very successful – as mentioned in the notes to his Norfolk Bred CD: “Ray and Pamela started the Concert Party that was known as “Norfolk Bred”…Ray came up with the idea of a concert party (to raise money for bell renovation in the church), with choir members performing. The news of the concert party spread and soon they were being asked to perform in other villages, sometimes going out two or three times a week. The Concert Party was a variety show with a changing cast, depending on where they were travelling to, but regulars included Ray Leader on accordion and Revis Leader on drums. There would be anything from a skiffle group to a lady who did monologues. Ray wrote sketches and performed in a number of roles, including ventriloquist, one-man band and soloist on the musical saw – not forgetting his accordeon playing, which often knitted the proceedings together.” (3)

More recently, and of more direct relevance to present happenings, is the fact that John and Katie Howson put together the “Old Hat Concert Party” in Suffolk in the early 1980s. This
brought together older generation, traditional performers for a varied evening’s entertainment in various venues in the county and further afield. They have given information about the Concert Party’s activities in one of the Portraits series of articles, on the EATMT website (4), and I don’t propose to reproduce that here. However, Barry Callaghan, reviewing the CD reissue of the Old Hat Concert Party recording, for Musical Traditions magazine, summarised the outfit and its activities very well. Writing of 1986, when the album was originally released on cassette, he comments: “The Concert Party had coalesced into a recognisable entity and was travelling widely, bringing the flavour of old-time East Anglian rural social music to wider audiences.” He adds that there was “a wide network of musicians and step-dancers spreading their congenial brand of music, singing and backchat round the pubs of central Suffolk” and that the CD, and Concert Party nights in general, comprised “ensemble instrumental pieces – with varying combinations of participants – framing a selection of songs, stories and step-dances to solo instrumentals.” (5) A wonderful opportunity to entertain, whilst giving great exposure to these
older performers and their music.

The Old Hat Concert Party continued into the 1990s, until there was a hiatus towards the end of the decade, after several key performers had passed away. It was then revitalised for a few more years by “the addition of Reg’s (Reader) grandson Tom Knights, David Chilvers and his granddaughters Jessica and Amy, Steven Matthews, Ray Hubbard and steppers Lenny Whiting and Percy and Doreen West.” (6)

In Norfolk, and about the same time as the revitalised Concert Party above, various of us in the band “Rig-Jig-Jig” – formed to promote and play the traditional music of the county – put in place similar events, in the same kind of way, and featuring largely the same traditional performers, as well as regular contributions from former Cromer lifeboat coxswain – and step dancer and singer Richard Davies and his daughter Fiona. For the best part of a decade we had a great many wonderful afternoons and evenings in a wide variety of locations across the county, and occasionally further afield. The venture yielded two CDs of live performances, All at Sea and All Ashore, both recorded in Wells-next-the-Sea, the former on the Albatros ship and the latter in the Granary Theatre – hence the names of the discs. (7)

So, the idea of a “concert party” in this traditional, rural context is a forum by which tradition bearers can perform, in a varied evening, held together by a band playing tunes with a local provenance. It has proven to be very successful and enjoyable in equal measure. Even though most of the older generation traditional performers have now passed away, it is hoped that the “concert party” aspect of the “Norfolk Tune-Up” events will continue in this vein, offering people the chance to perform as part of a vibrant event, which also showcases the region’s rich musical tradition for the wider public. Another aspect of the “Tune-Up” shows is to give people the opportunity to play along with the tunes, as played by the band, to enable those to have wider currency too. In all, the emphasis is on the entertainment value of this music, and hopefully this is fully in keeping with the former Old Hat Concert Party events in Suffolk and the Rig-a-Jig-Jig shows in Norfolk, as well as retaining the spirit of rural concert parties and similar events in years gone by.

Chris Holderness
February 2026

Notes:

1. Who Owns the Game? Traditional Songs and Melodeon Tunes from Central Suffolk Home-Made Music HMM LP302. Reissued as Veteran VT130CD. Reviewed in the last newsletter.
2. Given in the sleeve notes to the Topic reissue of English Country Music. 12T296. Reviewed in December’s newsletter.
3. Ray Hubbard Norfolk Bred Veteran VT155CD. Reviewed in an earlier newsletter. The quote at the top of this article is the title of one of his comic monologues, a regular feature of his repertoire, and included on the album. With reference to the two different spellings of ‘accordion’: the older performers rarely used the term ‘melodeon’; ‘accordion’ refers to a piano accordion and ‘accordeon’ to a melodeon.
4. Much information is given at eatmt.org.uk/old-hat-concert-party/
5. The Old Hat Concert Party OH1CD (CD reissue; 1999) The review was published on 02/02/2000
6. John and Katie Howson, as (4) above
7. Rig-a-Jig-Jig and Friends: All at Sea (SEA002) and All Ashore (SEA003)

A Good Ole Norfolk “Tune-Up” at The Reindeer, Norwich
Sunday 25th January 2026

On a rather dank and chilly winter afternoon a fair throng decided to get in out of the weather and found themselves in The Reindeer for the first of the “Norfolk Tune-Up” events. As to the name, when the old boys got together for an occasion of music making, it was never a ‘session’, even less a ‘concert’ of any kind; most likely it was getting together for a ‘tune-up’’, as they would have it, and so we have decided to use the phrase, as singularly appropriate. By the start time of 4.00, the pub was gratifyingly full and others added to the company as the afternoon wore on.

What followed was the best part of three hours of music, song and step dance, just about all with a Norfolk provenance in one way or another. It kicked off with a couple of sets of tunes, the music being led by the fairly recently-formed Unthank Irregulars band, but with many people playing along, ranged around the stage area. More sets of tunes – hornpipes, polkas, jigs, schottisches and waltzes, the usual fare – followed at intervals, being interspersed with songs from several different performers, as well as a step dance, as fancy took. Of particular note was the couple dancing of Barry Mobbs and Monica Rackham, adding grace and a visual spectacle to the proceedings, with impressive frequency. In addition, both Richard Blake and Tom Knights gave us several dulcimer solo pieces. Too many people contributed to be noted individually, but special mention should perhaps be made of Sheila Park, who gave us several songs, some of which she learned in person from Harry Cox.

A wonderful atmosphere pervaded the proceedings and it was gratifying to see people of all ages enjoying the event. By the time things were drawing to a close, the pub had apparently run out of cask ale and everyone seemed contented that it was a great success.

Future events

The plan is to continue with these “Tune-Up” events monthly, in different places around the county. The stand-alone events are on Sundays, at different times, depending upon what suits the venue. In addition, there will be a “Tune-Up” aspect to other, larger events – dates below. In many ways a cross between a ‘led session’ and a concert party, the emphasis is on varied entertainment, but also on participation. Many of the tunes have been posted online on the website and more will follow. In addition, there are plans to add recordings, all to help people to learn the tunes. Do come along to join in the tunes, sing a song or do a turn, or just soak up the atmosphere of this vibrant local musical heritage.

Dates

“Tune-Up” dates – all Sundays:

• 26 April: Briston Three Horseshoes 1-4pm
• 17 May: Erpingham Spread Eagle 4.30-7.30pm
• 14 June: Shotesham Globe 4-7pm
• 30 August: North Lopham King’s Head 4-7pm
• 18 October: Dereham Cock Inn 3-6pm

In addition, there’ll be a “Tune-Up” element to the following:

• Saturday 28 March: Briston Copeman Centre 12.00 – 4.00: A Celebration of Norfolk Music, Song and Dance
• Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 July: Strumpshaw Tree Fair – details to follow
• Sunday 19 July: Warham Three Horseshoes – Stepdance Day – details to follow.
• Saturday 8 August – Thorpe Abbot Folk Day – details to follow
• Saturday 5 or Sunday 6 September – Bungay Folk Festival – details to follow
• Saturday 19 September: Stowmarket Traditional Music Day – details to follow

Further dates to be added in due course.

Chris Holderness

Review
Who Owns the Game? Traditional Songs and Melodeon Tunes from Central Suffolk
(Home-Made Music HMM LP 302; reissued: Veteran VT130CD)

This LP seems to have come about as a joint venture between Mike Yates and John Howson, and was first issued on the former’s short-lived Home-Made Music label, before being reissued by Veteran, first as a cassette and later as CD VT130CD. (1) I have to admit that it was one of the very first recordings of local traditional music that really captivated me, and inspired me to seek out more. It features three singers and three melodeon players, all seasoned pub performers from central Suffolk, with a programme of a selection of the sort of stuff that would have been heard in traditional music gatherings in the pubs of the area. Having said that, what seems immediately striking is just how unusual many of the offerings are, and how different they are from some of the more usual fare.

Of the three melodeon players, Cyril Barber’s two tracks demonstrate well the function of the music, with his Stepdance Tune, and also the means of transmission, with Sonny’s Tune, got from his brother. (2). It also shows that, to some musicians at least, tune names were not that important; less so than a description of function or origin, although this supposition cannot be applied across the board. Cyril Barber was a good step dancer in his day, and his contributions reflect well the functionality of this music

Cecil Pearl is rather more extensively represented, with eight tracks, and here again we have direct reference to the source of tunes, with such as Dick Iris’ Hornpipe, Peachey’s Polkas and Alf Peachey’s March. (3) Of named tunes, La Russe, Marlborough’s March and Speed the Plough have not been commonly collected in the area, although they are broadly well known and the last of the three is the regimental march of the Royal Suffolks. Both men are solid, seasoned players with interesting tunes.

Dolly Curtis really is the star of the show though, as regards the melodeon playing. Her bright, rhythmic playing sparkles across all five tracks of her playing, with tremendous lift, particularly with Brian Felgate’s piano backing. Seasoned collector Keith Summers, when advertising this LP’s forthcoming release in Musical Traditions magazine, stated that it comprised “three singers and three musicians, including my favourite melodeon player, Dolly Curtis. My original recordings of Dolly, intended for the LP Earl Soham Slog sadly were stolen, so this is good news indeed.” (4) Of her tunes presented here, the closing medley of Dennington Bell / On the Waggon still features prominently in Suffolk music events, or at least did until recently. (5)

Of the singers, Charlie Stringer gets two songs, the unusual and rather comic Tommy Doddler and the locally better-known Kibosh the Cobbler (more frequently as Fagan the Cobbler), which he delivers in the declamatory style of someone well used to an audience. Fred Whiting has been much more extensively recorded as a fiddler, and a fine one at that, but he also had a large store of songs, collected along his travels, including the rare Poison Beer and rather defiant Who Owns the Game?, a reminder of the power of property rights invested in the landowning gentry and the dire penalties for poaching. This is coupled with Roy Last’s Botany Bay, on a similar theme, one of two occasions on the LP when a track is made up of a composite of similar or related material, although mercifully not at the expense of completeness.

Roy Last is showcased with seven songs, and once again his repertoire, as given here, is unusual, from the historical William Rufus to the locally topical Peter the Paynter. You can almost see the twinkle in his eye as he works his way through Little Cock Sparrow, learnt from an aunt when he was a little boy.

In all, this is a very satisfying record, one that I return to time and again. A good selection of the type of music and song prevalent in mid Suffolk pubs, when they were host to such goings-on, and also refreshingly different in content from some that is frequently found in the area. It is also well served by John Howson’s notes and a small booklet giving the words to the songs. The album is currently available as both CD and download from Veteran, and it’s one I would strongly urge the curious to seek out, if not already familiar with it.

Chris Holderness
February 2026

Notes:

1. Who Owns the Game? Traditional Songs and Melodeon Tunes from Central Suffolk Veteran VT130CD (reissued in 2001) The CD version has a different cover from the LP.
2. Sonny Barber can be heard on the two CD set: The Pigeon on the Gate: Melodeon Players from East Anglia Veteran VTDC11CD, where there is also more from the three players showcased in this LP.
3. Alf Peachey’s melodeon playing was never recorded, apparently due to him keeping to an unfortunate promise made to his wife never to play again. He can be heard diddling tunes and singing on Out With Me Gun In the Morning Helions Bumpstead Gramophone Company NLCD14.
4. Musical Traditions No 3, Summer 1984, News section, p.26. John Howson’s article The Barber Family of Wingfield, Suffolk can be found in Musical Traditions No 2, Early 1984, pp. 19-23, and also online at www.mustrad.org.uk.
5. A recording which reflects this is The Old Hat Concert Party Old Hat OH1CD, which also has Cecil Pearl’s Hornpipes and Cyril Barber step dancing.