Snow, Chaos and Rescheduled Concerts
The end of season jollificattions were somewhat spoiled but that lovely white stuff from the sky that we all sing about at Christtmas. 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, when all the pipes and motors freeze etc. etc!!!'
We did manage the Friday night concert in Sherborne and about half of the people who had booked struggled through arctic conditions to attend but the Saturday was a complete no no. For those that bought tickets for these two shows and didn't manage to make it we have booked The Digby hall again for the 21st of January. Your Christmas tickets will get you into this event . We thought, at first, it would be too late for carols etc. but people have specifically asked if we would do our Christmas Show, so come prepared to sing. Carol sheets will be provided as usual.
The other date to suffer was the Christmas Singalong at Drayton Village Hall, near Didcot, on the 19th of December. This has been re-booked for the 30th of January. This really is way past Christmas so we will be doing a usual Yetties mix of material.
On Friday the 17th we tidied up after the concert and left The Digby Hall in Sherborne a little before midnight. It was so cold that the handbrake on the minibus had frozen on. I slid around the car park for a bit to try and release it but in the end had to give up and we all walked home. Next morning I went back to work on it only to discover that a car park attendant had ploughed through 3 inches of snow to the bottom of the car park, cleaned part of the windscreen and popped a ticket under the wiper blade. How thoughtful!!!!!!
Fifty Golden Yers DVD
This was finally born just before Christmas. It turned out to be one hour forty five minutes long instead of the planned one hour, hence the delay. I have had nothing but high praise for it so far. Several people have said they sat down to watch the first 20 minutes and finished up watching the lot, all other plans, Christmas shopping etc. went out the window. We've tried to take a bit of music or song from every LP and CD we've made to illustrate the progress of the band. The first piece of film dates from 1961 when we were dancing as The Yetminster and Ryme Intrinseca Junior Folk Dance Display Team and with The Wessex Morris Men. Uncle Charl came out of retirement specifically to do the introduction and there are interviews with Jim Lloyd, who was out manager for 13 years, and Jill Loach, who's mum and dad booked us for our first tour north of Bristol back in 1967. The clips of film come from various TV shows we have done over the years, our DVDs for Classic Media and footage taken by members of the audience. The price is £21.45 including post and packing from the web shop or from the address on the bottom of page 4.
Yetties Final Fling Weekend 8th, 9th, 10th of April
I still have a few tickets left for the Sunday afternoon gathering and sale (£2.50 each). I haven't dug into the depths of the loft to find Yetties memorabilia for sale yet. It will be interesting to see what's accumulated over the years. I know there is a rather splendid rooster costume, photos, furniture, posters, various instruments etc. tucked away under the eaves. The minibus has already been claimed (in fact we have had 3 offers for it) and the lager phone/jingling johnny/rhthym stick has found a home. Someone also mentioned in passing that they would like a 'Back N Back' board but most bits and bobs are for the highest bidder. Someone MUST want a slightly used cymbal to show off above the mantle or as a hub cap for their limo. The tickets are available from the web site or send a cheque made out to 'The Yetties' to [contact details removed].
Friends are descending on Sherborne from all over the place and the B & Bs and hotels are doing a roaring trade. If you haven't booked a bed and you want to stay best get in touch with Sherborne Tourist Information [contact details removed]
The Future
We will still keep the web site going so that you can top up your Yetties CDs and DVDs and there may be bits of news appearing from time to time. Maybe I'll have to get into blogging but I would much rather answer specific questions via e mail or post. If you wish to keep in contact please do, with modern communications it should be easy. I'm sure there will be the occasional booking or talk, which we will do individually, that is open to the public and these will appear on the date sheet. I've got a talk at The Dorset County Museum in Dorchester on the 18th of November for instance.
The Past
There can be no doubt that for three young erks from the country we have led a very interesting and fulfilling life. But it just would not have worked at all without the support of organisers, friends and fans, some of whom have been loyal for practically the whole period of our professional career. You've been absolutely brilliant. Thank you all very much.
LPs to CD
I'm making quite a lot of these now. While I was putting them on the computer I, naturally, had to listen to them all once again to make sure they were OK and I came to the conclusion that we did a pretty fair job one way and the other.
50 Stone of Loveliness 1969 Who's A'fear'd 1970 Keep A Runnin' 1970 Our Friends 1971 The World of Irish Dancing 1971 Dorset is Beautiful 1972 Mornin' All (backing Bob Arnold, Tom Forrest of the Archers) 1972 All at Sea 1973 Up in Arms (with Sherborne Town Band) 1974 The Yetties of Yetminster 1975 The World of The Yetties 1975 Let's Have a Party 1975 The Village Band (with Sherborne Town Band) 1976 Up Market 1977 Dorset Style 1978 Focus On Double Album 1978 In Concert 1979 A Little Bit of Dorset 1981 A Proper Job 1981 Cider & Song 1983 The Sound of Cricket (with John Arlott) 1984 The Yetties 1986
There's not room in the Newsletter to put every track for all these LPs but I do have lists I can e mail to you or post if you are interested. I don't keep the CDs in stock but give me a couple of days and I will make them for you. The cost is £6 per CD (including post & packing) for the single LPs and £10 for the Focus On double. For some customers I have done the whole collection of 23 and for this the charge is £120. Cheques to 'The Yetties' please at the address below.
Yetties LPs
If you don't want to go the CD route or would like to collect the LPs as well then I have the following in stock: Keep a Runnin' Our Friends Dorset Is Beautiful All At Sea The World of The Yetties Up In Arms The Yetties of Yetminster Let's Have a Party Up Market In Concert Proper Job A Little Bit of Dorset The Yetties Dorset Style Mornin' All with Bob Arnold
We sell these for £6 each including post and packing. Cheques to Halsway Manor Society Ltd.
Doing the Dorset Dirt
We had wonderful weather this year. The countryside looked absolutely beautiful and the company was fun to be with. Every year more and more people seem to venture out on this 50k off road ride, over 200 this time around. It's comforting to know that we aren't the only nutters in the area and you generously donated, through my little legs, £775 to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. Thank you very much indeed. Bonny
Many Thanks, The Yetties.
Old Dorset Toast
Yers to you and yours;
The Good you and yours done to we and ours,
We and ours will do to you and yours,
If it be in our powers.
Bonny