Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome to the blog for Bay City Ukers! We are a ukulele club who started meeting in February 2011, and now meet up about once a month at the Golf Club, off Nelson Road, Whitstable. The idea was to create a uke group for people living on the coastal strip of East Kent who found it hard to get to groups in the more central towns.

Playing ukulele has become an extremely popular pastime again over the last few years and uke groups are appearing everywhere. Each is different but ours focuses on simply having fun playing together and doesn't take itself seriously. Beginners are very welcome and we can choose some easy songs to play if you have only just started.

Gordon's email zygite@gmail.com if you have any further questions this blog doesn't answer. Hope to see you there! The wearing of tartan is neither necessary nor obligatory, and if you have a non-uking partner, feel free to bring them along to shake their maracas and sing along.

Next Session

BAY CITY UKERS NEXT MEETING IS.... From 7.30 pm on Thursday 12 March 2020, at the new improved Golf Club, Collingwood Road, Whitstable.

Bay City Ukers - Indubitably.

Friday 17 October 2014

Octoberuke


The days are getting shorter, and the cold rain is damping down the last embers of summer, letting us know that winter, in her white cloak and frosted hood, is knocking at the door waiting to be let in....

So what did we do to console ourselves?  Migrate south? Find a tea-chest, fill it with straw, climb in and hibernate? Not on your Nelly! We grabbed our ukuleles, got on down to the Golf Club and served ourselves up a warming musical stew of rich, meaty ballads, spicy canticles, peppery madrigals and oniony airs. 

It was, of course, another excellent and convivial night, and I look forward to seeing you all safe and sound in November. 

Best wishes
Gordon

Friday 26 September 2014

August meeting....

What can one say about August? It nestles there quietly between July and September and has 31 sunny days. A jewel among these was the August meeting of the Bay City Ukers club, in which we felt the love which surpasseth all understanding - that being the sound of 36 people of various ages, colours, sizes and heights twanging through some marvellous songs and singing their socks off.

There's more where that came from,  and I hope you can come along on 9 October to do it all again.

Best wishes, 

Gordon

Thursday 31 July 2014

The July Meeting

Thank you to all the ukanoobists who turned up to give music its usual light-hearted thrashing at the Golf Club in July.

It all went rather well, I think, and Lyn's kind suggestion to try 'Those Were The Days' resulted in a surprise musical triumph! Part sad ballad, part drinking song - who would have thought it?! Needless to say,  we'll be doing that one again...

We're back on 21 August for more high jinks and  four-stringed japery. Come along and replace your woes with woohoos and your lamentations with ...er...lalalamentation (That's enough silly words for now).


See you then,

Best wishes,

Gordon


Thursday 22 May 2014

Ukathong - Definitely not pants!

The first ever Whitstable Literary Festival Ukathon went ahead on 10th May at the Umbrella Centre in the town. Ukists, Ukers, Ukees and Ukanoobas gathered from far and wide to pluck, strum, sing, howl, bark, shoop-shoop and wimoweh to within an inch of their lives. Up to 130 people whooped it up, and by all accounts,  a thoroughly good time was had by all.  

Tom Hodgkinson entertained with a couple of numbers, and Val's team were on hand to man (woman?) the bar and tidy up. Louis and Al were fine wingmen. Many thanks for making it such a great success :-)

We hope that we'll be able to do it again next year - watch this space!

Best wishes,
Gordon

Sunday 27 April 2014

Countdown to the Ukathon!


Dear Ukanauts, 
Cometh the hour, cometh the Ukathon, and indeed it cometh in less than two weeks! I, for one, am almost bursting with excitement, and I hope that you have bought your tickets and printed off your song sheets so that all you need to do on the 10 May is to put on your favourite hat, clean your favourite teeth and slip into your favourite tank-top before making your way to St Mary's Hall for what we hope will be a spiffing evening of hot cocoa and happy songs. 

Don't forget the next club night on 8th May when we will test drive the song book and see how she handles under steam so that it all goes smoothly on the Big Night!

See you there,

Gordon


Friday 4 April 2014

The Ukathon Songbook Has Arrived!!!

With just over one month to go before the Great Whitlit Ukathon, my technical assistant has produced the long awaited Ukathon Songbook (v1.1.1!). 

The contents have been rounded up and kidnapped from numerous other ukulele club sites, to whom we are most grateful.  

So without further ado, you can now print it off and scurry off to your bedroom, attic, conservatory or shed to practice for the Great Whitlit Ukathon! 

Gordon


Friday 14 February 2014

The Great Whitstable Uke-a-Thon!



A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY!! On May 10th - evening - at THE UMBRELLA CENTRE there is to be a grand ukathon as part of the Whitstable Book Week. There will be a bar/open mic during the interval/and the authors of THE NEW UKULELE HANDBOOK will be signing their book. Gordon will be there to tweak the nose of music, leading a multitude of unbeatable songs. 

Tickets will be on sale via the Horsebridge Centre at Whitstable at a princely £5. 

Uke-a-Thon Song List


This list will be published here very soon for you to print out and practice. 

Sunday 12 January 2014

Busting into 2014!!

Dear All, we're going to get the blog up and running soon and will be adding new songs for you to print off for Uke Nights. Next session is on Thursday 23 January 7.30 til 10 ish. Be there, and be square!

I'll be sending out a rough guide to the possible playlist soon.



Gordon