Winter Songs & Feasting with Andy Watts, Giles Lewin & Maddy Prior

TITLE: Winter Songs & Feasting with Andy Watts, Giles Lewin & Maddy Prior

DATE: Thursday 26th November 2026 2:00pm - Sunday 29th November 2026 2:30pm (4 days)

PRICE: (NON-REFUNDABLE Deposit to secure place £150)

• Non-Residential ticket £495

• RESIDENTIAL ticket £675

LED BY: Andy Watts, Giles Lewin & Maddy Prior

VENUE: Stones Barn CA6 6PW

PARTICIPANTS: Maximum 22

IMPORTANT INFO:

*** £150 IS THE NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT PAYMENT ONLY. This will secure your place on the course. We will ask you to pay the remaining course balance 4 months before the course start date. ***

*** Accommodation (£60 PP/PN) and lift booking fees (£40 PP) ***

Hot & cold breakfast is included for those staying with us residentially. Lunches & Evening meals are provided for all course participants (except for possible pub evening meals on the Friday).

CONVIVIAL HARMONY FOR THE SEASON:
From Andy Watts:
"As autumn slips into winter we gather round the fire, glass in hand, to cheer our spirits with rounds, catches, glees and ballads. The harvest is gathered, the cider apples are pressed, the puddings are stirred and we look forward to the midwinter feast. Andy and Giles, founder members of The Carnival Band have stored an abundance of songs garnered over 40 years of working together. Andy is the band’s chief arranger, creating wonderful harmonies for the much-loved Carnival Choir. Giles is a gifted songwriter and several of his songs have been recorded by Maddy and The CB. Maddy will be with us to inspire and lead the singing. Let the celebration begin!"

https://carnivalband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BU6VxxozA/?mibextid=wwXIfr

THE COURSE LEADERS: The Carnival Band are an English early music group. Their broad repertoire focuses on popular music from the 16th and 17th centuries, and traditional music from around the world. Presentation is informal and humorous, and in the spirit of medieval and renaissance Carnival. The band was founded by Andy Watts (principal bassoon in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and Giles Lewin (Dufay Collective) while they were members of the Medieval Players touring theatre company in the 1980s. They have had a long association with Maddy Prior.  

Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band were first brought together in 1984 for a BBC Radio 2 broadcast of Christmas carols. This became the basis of the album A Tapestry of Carols (Saydisc CD-SDL 366) which was enthusiastically received by the press and the public. As a result, Maddy and the band gave three U.K. concert tours and made several TV and radio appearances. Another Radio 2 commission led to their recording Sing Lustily And With Good Courage (Saydisc CD-SDL 383), a collection of gallery hymns which was also acclaimed.

COURSE CONTENT: Since medieval times, carols and dancing have gone hand in hand; in fact the word carol probably comes from the old French “carole’ meaning a round dance. Today’s Christmas carols are a far cry from the sung dances of the middle ages - there are hymns, spirituals, lullabies, feasting and wassail songs as well as dance carols. So what makes them all “carols’? Partly the plain fact that they are sung around Christmas and celebrate the birth of Jesus, but more importantly their combination of good tunes with simple words to express the religious feelings of ordinary people. In addition, they contain a strong feeling of celebration which means that secular carols like The Boar’s Head and dance tunes like Old Joe Clark can rub shoulders with Away in a Manger and a Scottish cradle song. Join us to learn a collection of songs spanning five centuries. Learning, singing, feasting, laughing, and maybe even a drink or two. In fact, the meeting of heaven and earth, the divine and the human, is what Christmas is about.

WHO IS IT FOR?: Anyone who is feeling festive and would like to learn a mixture of hymns, spirituals, lullabies, feasting and wassail songs as well as dance carols to expand their repertoire, eat good food and make new friends.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://forgottenlands.org/local-events

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/how-to-choose-a-course

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/course-timetables

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/cancellation-policy

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/stay-onsite (important info)

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/where-to-stay(some suggestions)

Bookings@stonesbarn.co.uk 01697748424

CANCELLATION POLICY:

We allow just a deposit payment to book and secure your place on any and every course. This deposit amount is currently £150. If you notify us of your cancellation within 3+ months of the course you will receive £100 of your £150 deposit back.
Any Notification after this time, regardless of reason, shall not be deemed a reasonable amount of time for us to try to re-fill your place so all of the deposit will be withheld. For this reason, we strongly advise you to book separate event/travel insurance so that you may recover all of your expenses should unforeseen circumstances arise.

We can no longer afford the costs of last-minute refunds in terms of admin or advertising or empty places. Around 5+ people per course are now dropping out for reportedly very serious reasons. This is unsustainable for us because we are a micro business with very fine margins and have not taken this decision lightly.

We will email you four months before the course, to inform you that you have 2 weeks to pay the balances. After the 2 weeks has expired, you may lose your place if payments have not been received. Non-payment of invoices is at your own risk and we will not/ cannot be held responsible for missed payments.

Add emma@stonesbarn.co.uk as a ‘trusted email’ to make sure emails arrive.