Todmorden All-Day
Saturday 17 October 10.00am-4.00pm
Central Methodist Church, Union Street, Todmorden OL14 5AW [map]
Sunday singing from The Christian Harmony – venue & timing details tbc
Saturday 17 October
Chair : Tom Sprackland
Book : Sacred Harp 2025 edition
Venue : Central Methodist Church
Manchester Sacred Harp look forward to welcoming beginners and experienced singers alike to nearby Todmorden, West Yorkshire for an all-day singing from the 2025 edition of the Sacred Harp. Because we are hosting the UK Convention this September, we will not be hosting the usual Manchester all-day singing. We’ve organised this special Todmorden singing as an alternative – for this year only!
All are welcome regardless of experience level. No membership or entry fee is required. Loaner books will be provided (but please bring your own if you have one). A collection of optional donations will be taken to cover the costs.
Schedule
10.00am registration
10.30 start
4.00pm close
There will be breaks for refreshments and lunch. (TBC: dinner on the grounds vs bring your own picnic – please check back)
Venue
The venue for the singing is a stunning, spacious upstairs hall at Central Methodist Church, which has all the signs of an excellent acoustic and atmosphere.
It is in the centre of the town, only five minutes’ walk from the train station and well-served in terms of car parking too.
Travel & parking
Todmorden is approximately 25 minutes by train from Manchester Victoria and there are generally five trains per hour. In the other direction it is around 50 minutes from Leeds.
It’s also easy to get to on major road networks (about 1 hour from Manchester, 1h20 from Leeds, 1h40 from Sheffield).
The venue is in the centre of a small but vibrant town. The car park next to the church is large but often busy at the weekends. Alternative parking can be found at the train station and at George Street, Dale Street, Lever Street and Oxford Street, all of which are a very short walk to Central Methodist Church. Parking is cheapest at Oxford Street at £2 for the day, and 90p per hour at the other car parks.
The train station is a five minute walk to the venue – turn left out of the main entrance/exit and take the steps down to the right before the White Hart pub, head downhill and cross the main road in the direction of the outdoor market, head past the market and you will see the church on your right hand side after the car park.
For step-free access, head directly down the hill to your right from the station and turn left at the bottom of the road and follow the road in a straight line until you see the outdoor market on your right, as above.
Access
We will be singing in the main hall at Central Methodist Church. which is up a flight of stairs. It can also be accessed by a lift. There is a wheelchair accessible toilet at the venue.
Todmorden is full of old stone buildings and winding streets, so is difficult to navigate by wheelchair – some roads are rather steep for wheelchair use, dropped pavements can be hit & miss and many cafes and shops are not wheelchair accessible. However, it’s not impossible to get around, it just needs a bit of patience and planning – so if you need advice just let us know.
There is a step-free route from the station to the singing venue – see travel section above.
Blue badge parking is limited. The nearest car park with designated blue badge spaces (4 spaces) is Bramsche Square, OL14 5DL. There are 2 spaces at Halifax Road, OL14 5AG and 2 spaces at School Lane, OL14 5AG. If you just need to be close, rather than a flat/wide space, you may find a convenient on-street pay & display space. Here you may use your badge to park for free and without time limit.
New to Sacred Harp?
Sacred Harp is a shape note singing tradition that originated in America in the late 1800s, drawing on the hymns and folk tunes of the time. It is sung in four part harmony, with no instruments accompanying the singers.
Sacred Harp is accessible, communal and participatory, not performative. So there’s no ‘choir practice’ – you just turn up and sing.
We sing from a book of hymns called The Sacred Harp. People from all faiths and none are welcome: our focus is purely on the camaraderie of making music together.
Manchester Sacred Harp is a friendly group who get together for the love of singing. We’re a small group – numbers fluctuate each time, depending on who can make it (there’s no expectation to always attend). It’s not a fixed group – it’s open to anybody, so you’re welcome to just come along and try it.
There is a mixture of abilities, and the voices of the most experienced singers help you to follow the tune. You won’t be asked to sing alone, and there’s no audience. It’s all about power of many voices joined in harmony.
Participants sit in an open square, the singers in each of the four sections facing towards each other. Each section sings a different part of the harmony.
First of all, everyone sounds out the tune together using just the four shape notes (fa, so, la, mi). Then we sing it through with the words using the Sacred Harp tune book. Shapenotes were designed to make it easier to follow a tune for people who don’t read music. But there’s no real need to follow the notes – you simply need to listen and join in – you’ll pick it up as you go along.
Go to FAQs for more information, and our page What is Sacred Harp? gives more background on the tradition.
Alternatively this lovely short video gives a useful explanation of Sacred Harp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVYYoxSYqIk
Any questions?
Manchester Sacred Harp 