Blog

Christmas with The Kingsmen

Every year for the last 27 years on Christmas Eve, The Kingsmen have performed at The Cottage Hotel at Hope Cove in South Devon. So when the owner thanked us after last year’s show and said, ‘Same again next year please’, little did any of us know what was around the corner.

We’d had at least a dozen events last December, ranging from the switching on of Christmas lights in Modbury and Plympton to a Christmas Show in Ivybridge, not forgetting singing live in the BBC studios followed by an emotional visit to the Children’s Ward at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.

Here we are under the direction of our MD Roy Hann at The Watermark, Ivybridge for our Christmas Show

It’s going to seem really strange that the ritual for most of the chorus on Christmas Eve isn’t going to happen this year. We might have to help prepare the veg for Christmas dinner and other tasks that we’ve happily avoided for many years! 

And every year, as far as I can remember – and I’ve been with the chorus since 2003 – we start off at the Buckland Tout Saints Hotel, deep in the South Hams near Kingsbridge. We entertain guests as they gather for a glass of sherry before dinner and help get them into the Christmas spirit. Sadly, last year’s appearance will be our last there. One of the many business casualties of 2020 has been the hospitality industry and the owners of the Buckland Tout Saints have taken the decision to close for good.

In recent years we’ve then headed to the Crabshell in Kingsbridge. It’s a fantastic pub by the estuary and is always bustling with diners and drinkers. We crowd into the bar and to the great surprise to many of the customers who are visitors, the pitch pipe sounds and off we go with our Christmas repertoire. Big smiles and cameras capturing the moment remind me how much people enjoy our presence. Our reward, if we needed it, were the amazing pizzas before we headed off to Hope Cove.

kingsmen blog chrismas hope cove Hope Cove is a gem. It’s tucked away in the deepest south of the South Hams and its beaches and harbour are the seaside sanctuary of families during the summer months. The village consists of Inner Hope, Outer Hope and is separated by the curiously named Hope By-Pass! As you can see from this selfie – the sun always shines in Devon!

Our arrival at the Cottage Hotel coincides with the end of the serving of the last course to the residents. And as we take the stage you can’t help but notice the regulars who’ve been coming for years with their enthusiastic welcome.

And our final performance of Christmas songs is always really good fun. The familiar songs are met with smiles and rapturous appreciation. Less so our Christmas cracker jokes that are met with groans and general disdain! 

And as we streamed out of the restaurant to enthusiastic applause and shouts of ‘Merry Christmas, see you next year’, we knew it was our final sing out of the year, but little did we know that would be our final sing out, probably until the Spring of 2021 at best.

We’ll miss the ‘Night before Christmas’ this year, but nothing – not even Covid – can take away our memories, as we bounce back in 2021, filled with vaccine, ready to entertain communities in our towns and villages with some gusto!

Stu Newberry, Chairman, The Kingsmen, Kingsbridge, S. Devon

With David Fitzgerald, BBC Radio Devon, December 2019