Ahh! Good question. The Great St Mary’s “Group” wasn’t quite a youth group, or a music group, or a social work group, but had elements of all those things… Hence its deliberately enigmatic title “The Group”.
It was set up in the late 1960s by Peter Southwell-Sander, a curate from Great St Mary’s and by David and Christine Knight, who had been involved in previous youth and folk groups. Rather than meet in draughty halls it was decided to hold the meetings in people’s houses. Evenings generally revolved around folk music, either the more traditional songs from Peter and David, or contemporary songs by the new sixties singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
On the social work side of things, members from the Group travelled to various work camps to help with community projects, and played music in the community around the Cambridge area.
We are trying to get together as many memories, pictures and recordings from the Group as we can. Have a look at the site and please add anything you can to the blog on this page, or if there’s anyone else you know who went to Group meetings, tell them.
OMG! This takes me back…..singing with Cliff Richard and julie Felix in GSM Church. I remember being soooo disappointed that Cliff was short and his face was pock marked! He was so nice though. I remeber having the meetings at my house on a couple of occasions, Edinburgh House, Hooper Street. My Mum (God rest her) LOVED having the meetings in our house and provided endless drinks and snacks for us all. I recall the endles steps to climb to the top of GSM Tower….tried it again a few years ago and nearly had a heart attack!
I remember lovely Canon Hugh Montefiore. He was such a lovely man. I remember all trying to pile into David Knight’s Mini Estate to go back to his house for Folk Club meetings!
Ahhhhh….happy days……!
Well, I could write a book about the wonderful time I had with “the Group” for a couple of years through 1970/71. Finding myself with a whole bunch of new friends and the opportunity to do things with them and for others; discovering and getting to know those mysterious things called “girls”, and finding – of course – that they wanting to have fun and chat and do things just like anyone else!
Standing up and performing songs and music in front of everyone at the folk evenings, and at other events, was not only fun, it helped grow my self-confidence no end – not to mention my musical ability. On the “good works” side, for example, there were the occasional evening visits to the mentally handicapped home in Milton (St. Edmunds House) where we played endless board games with the residents (who cheated like professionals) and we sang songs to them – remember David Knight at the piano doing “The Quartermaster’s Stores”?. And of course the work camp in Summer 1970 at Sheldon in Devon helping get part of a new Outdoor Activity Centre underway. Then there was the Jo Jonah production in Gt. St. Mary’s. And there was always Peter, Sally, and David and Christine organising things for us, keeping us more or less in line and always ready to offer us whatever help or guidance we might need. And much much more is still in my mind, including of course that through this “Group” I met Ann. Enough said there.
I can remember one weekend when we did a sponsored fast, collecting money for (probably) Oxfam outside GSM, & work-camps in Devon, France, St. David’s in Pembrokeshire, Hawes in Yorkshire (so damp!), & Almondell near Edinburgh. One night there was meant to be a party, but somehow we ended going canoeing in our velvet frocks.
I remember Ruth Speirs, Mike Boursnell, Mary Webb, Eric, John Buckley, Peter S-S, David & Christine, Tom, Mark Turpin, the Hennelly Bros, & lots of faces without names to fit…..
I can remember one or two people from the “Arriving at Beauvais” picture. Barbie the Australian girl (long hair and handbag), who taught us the word “Goobies”. Also Neil Challis with his guitar by his side – he was our hero because he could play “Lady Nothynge’s Toye Puffe” on the guitar… and “Another Monday” as I recall – both John Renbourn tunes. I can’t remember what we actually did at Beauvais apart from a lot of shovelling sand!
Hey, I’ve found Sheldon, place of our 1970 work camp! It’s now a spiritual retreat, and seems to have grown since we were there! Great to see it’s still going after our efforts at destruction. See http://www.sheldon.uk.com, and if you go to “The Place” and “Buildings”, you can check out The Pound House – where the girls stayed (remember, Chrissie?); the “Pig Pens” – nice shiny accomodation now, but where we cooked and ate in what were then the original pig sheds. Fitting, really. And the chapel, on whose roof I spent several days getting it ready to be thatched; and now finally I can see it has been. Great. Wonder if I can find a reason to pass by and drop in.
I have a photo of Ann outside the Pound House, and it matches perfectly to the side view that now has a conservatory built on.
Yes, it was an amazing group. David Mount also was part of it. And it was mainly about the girls, and 12-string guitars. We learned so many folk songs and had an amazing time! Always to be remembered.
I think I was only part of the group in its later years. I did go on the trip to Yorkshire (with Ruth Speirs, David Mount and others). At some point we were kicked out of Great St Mary’s Church (where we used to meet and sing in one of the annex rooms – upstairs I think).
There were then some meetings in the Barton Road flat of the new reverend (Buxton?) but these had a more religious overtone (tea and prayers more than beer and song) and somehow the spirit left The Group then. That must have been in 1971/1972…
There was a loose-leaf file with all the songs in, I wonder if anyone still has that? Words and guitar chords so everyone could learn. The songs included traditional English, Irish and Scottish songs, (Ewan MaColl etc) as well as more up-to-date folk-rock songs (Peter, Paul & Mary (I’m afraid to say) “Puff the Magic Dragon”, The Byrds etc) as well as Bob Dylan (“The Times They Are A-Changin’”) and heavier stuff (“Needle of Death”). Dave Mount tought us all to play ‘Angie’ and somehow we all learned Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’.
In 1971 we were joined for a year by an American guy called Ed Halbach (from Berkeley in the ‘Bay area’, which struck as as really cool) who had a 6-string steel guitar that he claimed to have bought from Steven Stills (even cooler). He couldn’t play it, but could do perfect Donald Duck imitations, which was good enough for us.
After The Group sessions some of us would go to ‘The Gardenia’ – a shish kebab restaurant in Rose Crescent that is still there. We used to sit downstairs till late at night and eat shish kebabs with beer until we were thrown out at 2am.
I believe Great St Mary’s is still there as well.
The sponsored fast that Chrissie mentions was indeed for Oxfam. It was 36 hours long over a weekend in, I think, 1972, and raised 170 pounds for Oxfam. According to the Cambridge Evening News the Group of 12 spent “two nights locked in the church” and distributed 1,500 anti-hunger leaflets around the Market Square. The fast was held as a demonstration against world hunger. Apparently “the fasters spent the time reading and playing folk songs in the church”, but that is just the official version. Rev Francis Buxton was the church curate at that time, he took over the Group in its later stages.
Wow…..what a blast from the past!!
Actually The Group changed my life, or rather it transformed me!
I was forced to join by my parents who were concerned that I only mixed with rabbits and horses! They wanted me to meet people, but I was very very shy and was not at all impressed by humans!! I had been very badly bullied at school…..moving to Cambridge with a Scottish accent and thick NHS glasses was not an easy experience, so I mainly turned to the animal kingdom for companions!
Anyway my parents sent me off to catch a bus to the Curates house wearing my mini kilt and black patent shoes. I was so glad that no bus came and I returned home….but then Dad drove me to the play reading session….it was The Crucible…..and I sat on a sofa between John Buckley and Mike Boursnell, and I was terrified ….and I didn’t say a word to anyone!
But then we had the folk singing evenings which were great for me because you didn’t have to talk….you could just listen to all the classics….mainly Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, John Renbourn and Simon and Garfunkel….and I was in awe of all the cool Perse boys. I made friends with Christine (is that you Chrissie?) and loved the campfires on the Gogs. But David Knight said it was painful being with me as I was so shy……then came the week at Sheldon and I never looked back. I build a pond with Mike B and gazed at the stars and helped to cook spam curry……and had such a good laugh and discussions into the night.
Then Richard Ennals arrived on the scene and invited us to his rooms in Kings every Sunday to debate philosophy and politics and it was great…..I’d never talked so much before, and as one of the only state school pupils there was plenty to discuss about education and class etc etc!!!
We even cleaned up after the Kings Banana to raise money for The Group.
Then we were joined by Mark Turpin, David Mount and Pete Boursnell and the home brew!
So many good times punting on the river late into the evening, wild evenings at the Turpins and plenty of excellent musicians. That work camp in Scotland was an experience…..hanging out with the local boys and the Italians getting very worked up about football!
I really loved The Group……and all the friends. So glad that some of us are still in contact.
I don’t remember much religion, only the play Jonah and the Whale…but I was too ill with chicken pox.
With warm thanks to the Knights and Richard Ennals.
Love to All….. Ruth
Hi Ruthie!
There was something about The Group that was really special, in fact as you say we used to meet up all the time – also at your place in Lensfield Road, punting on the river etc. I also remember going to the St Edmund’s House, which gave us a badly-needed opportunity to perform ‘in public’.
One of the great things about The Group was that everyone was welcome – you just had to turn up an ‘be there’. Musical ability was not a core requirement, and those who were really good tolerated those of us who were just learning to play or sing.
What songs stand out for you??
Mark
I remember what you looked like, Ruth, but don’t remember yr accent!
Mary Webb also came to some meetings, & I think came canoeing with us. At Beauvais, wasn’t there a lad called Tom (not Hennelly), or Tony, with wavy fairish hair? He might have only been with the Group a short while.
Ah, yes, the Banana. The only time I got to walk on the grass.
Hi, All!
Richard
I learned French as well. There was a sign on the King’s lawn that read “defence de marcher sur les pelouses”, which I always understood to mean “don’t tread on the mushrooms”.
I remember crossing the back lawn of Kings at night and the extreme hazard of stepping on sleeping ducks….
What exactly was the Banana? Was it a replacement for a May Ball?