Saturday 8 June saw Oddicombe and the surrounding area filled with the sound of hundreds of ukuleles as the 2019 John Ayres Ukulele Proms took place.
Seventeen bands took to the stage in the Music Marquee on Oddicombe, another six played at the Cliff Railway Cafe and Babbacombe Cliff Railway Top Station was home to a further group on a day filled with music and merriment.
Starting at 10am the marquee was packed from start to the finish at around 7pm.
Nicky Allen, one of the organisers, said “We had a really great day. Fortunately, after the terrible weather of Friday, we started Saturday in glorious sunshine and although we had a few showers that really didn’t matter.” She added “It was absolutely lovely to see our Music Marquee so full of smiling, happy people. We were treated to some great music, lots of fun banter and just a terrifically jolly atmosphere.”
This event is now in its sixth year. It started life as the Babbacombe Ukulele Festival but changed its name in 2018 to The John Ayres Ukulele Proms in honour of John who started the event but sadly passed away last year. There were plenty of Devon bands plus some from Wellington, Worthing, Reading, Lyme Regis and Lostwithiel.
Nicky said “Team Babbacombe Cliff Railway is delighted to have been able to continue this event which brings together all sorts of different ukulele groups. Not only is it a day of music, it’s a day of catching up with friends made in previous years. We are inundated with groups and performers wanting to take part which is testament to the success of the event.”
All part of a year of of celebration for Babbacombe Cliff Railway as they mark the tenth anniversary of community ownership of the railway plus their recent announcement that, since the community took over, they have in fact transported over one million passengers.
Open every day from 9am to 5pm, next up in the special event calendar is the very popular “Last Team Standing” on Saturday 14 September.
