PEOPLE across the Somer Valley and beyond are invited to a performance by the Hotwells Howlers which will raise money for charity.

The Hotwells Howlers is a group of friends from Bristol who organise a monthly song session and have been actively participating in a variety of folk activities in the area for many years.

They will be performing at Conygre Hall in Timsbury at 7.30 pm on Saturday, September 21, with admission priced at £5.

Their involvement in the local folk scene is long-established and they have become a well-known group within the community.

Two members of the group sadly died from pancreatic cancer during the lockdown period from pancreatic cancer and over the past two years has held fundraising gigs in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Two years ago, the group wrote and performed a show titled The Hammond Brothers of Priston, which featured at the Priston Festival.

The show tells the story of two brothers from the village of Priston who travelled hundreds of miles on their bicycles searching for music.

In August 1905, the brothers from Somerset set out on the first of a series of marathon cycle trips across Dorset in pursuit of English folk songs. One of the brothers, Henry, despite having health challenges, had previously represented England in football, while his brother was a former soldier who had served in the Second Boer War.

Henry and Robert Hammond had already collected more than 100 songs in Bath and West Somerset and by the time ill-health prevented further journeys in 1908, they had added a further 800 to their collection.

Many of these songs, which would otherwise have been lost forever, are now commonly sung by professional and amateur folk singers in Britain and across the world. Despite their significant contribution to England’s musical heritage, the Hammonds are not widely recognised in Somerset. Their work has had a lasting impact on the preservation of traditional music, yet local acknowledgment remains limited.

The Hotwells Howlers are comprised of Brian Ainley (fiddle, voice), Jeff Blake (concertina, voice), Dave Byrne (guitar, voice), Margie Fowler (voice), Harry Langston (English concertina, recorder, voice), Carolyn Rogers (voice), Brian Ross (mandola, voice), Jacqui Ross (recorder, voice), and Geoff Woolfe (melodeon, harmonica, voice).

Timsbury is located just outside Midsomer Norton and Conygre Hall has served as a central hub for local activities and community functions.

For more details, please contact [email protected] or call 01761 419224.