Half a Century of Traditional Folk Music in Swindon
Founded by Ted & Ivy Poole and friends in 1960, Swindon Folksingers’ Club has a long history of keeping traditional music alive in this busy town in north-west Wiltshire. From its beginnings in the folk revival, the club has seen Swindon’s character change from railway town to a modern centre of new technology and financial services; but through it all, Swindon Folksingers’ Club has remained as a friendly, relaxed and welcoming place where anyone can come and sing or listen.
Click here to see what's on in our current programme.
(You'll need Adobe Acrobat reader to see this - get a free download here).
Highlights include:
The club runs a mixture of “club nights” – informal singarounds for floor singers – and guest nights (the guest spots are about an hour and a quarter, with a break). You can come along and just listen, or you can sing a song or play a tune. Our material is mainly traditional, but with a large smattering of songs from the current folk scene, as well as other stuff.
We welcome performers of all abilities. The atmosphere is friendly and encouraging, so come along and have a go! It doesn’t matter how good you are – we all had to start somewhere!
We currently meet at Milton Road Club, Milton Road, SN1 5JA (the club has a licensed bar), on Friday nights from 8:15 – 11:00. (During July and August there are no official events, but you should find a few of us there anyway!)
Milton Road Club is on the south side of Milton Road, between the Canal Walk Bridge and Tennyson Street. This is buried in Swindon's one-way system, so we recommend you use Multimap or Google Maps - even if you have satnav. Enter the postcode and figure out your route beforehand! (Google's Streetview will be helpful too.)
When you get inside Milton Road Club, turn to your left and you'll see the Function Room, where we meet, in front of you.
A reasonable place to park is Brunel West car park in Farnsby Street - you can easily walk to the club from there.
The club is currently run by Eric Stott. Call on 01793 521301, or you can e-mail us.
Membership of Swindon Folksingers' Club is free, but regular visitors are requested to take out annual membership of the Milton Road Club (£10, or £5 unwaged).
Guest Nights: £4.50, concessions (student/OAP) £3.50
Club Nights: £3.50, concessions £2.50.
Swindon Folksingers’ Club is a not-for-profit organization.
