At Wareside Church on 10th May, eleven members of the group called the Motley Crew gave a recital of sea songs and shanties that variously moved, roused and amused, and even involved the whole audience in some rope hauling.
The men, who are nearly all sailors themselves, come from Brightlingsea in Essex and it was after a night at the sailing club some years ago that they hit on the idea of singing sea songs and shanties for fun. From that initial impulse, the Motley Crew was born and they have gone on to sing for free at fetes, matches, regattas, dinners, weddings and other events, raising money for their chosen charity, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The Wareside event raised £400 for the RNLI and another £100 for the Friends of Wareside Church who had been inspired to organise the event and who provided wine and refreshments in the interval. It gave us all a heart-warming and uplifting spring evening.
Gilda Deterding
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