November was our guest artist concert featuring Harry Hussey. Harry started the evening playing Wheels, 12th Street Rag, Come To The Cabaret, Sunday Monday and Always, Blue Tango, The audience requests continued with Play to Me Gypsy, Whistling Rufus, Stardust, Fascination, A nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, Alexanders Rag Time Band, Black and White Rag, Tangerine, Chattanooga Choo Choo and Brazil. A request for World War 2 songs was rewarded with  Who Are You Kidding Mr Hitler, Kiss Me Goodnight Sgt Major, Siegfried Line, Dambusters and Blaze Away. Harry then continued with The Bluebell Polka, Midnight In Moscow, Whispering, Take Five, Red Sails In The Sunset, Amarillo and Copa Cabana (which was not the Barry Manilow version).  The music continued with Just You Just Me, Stormy Weather, C'est Si Bon and Muskrat Ramble. It was now time for the break and plenty of chat. After the break our first local player of the night was Ann Parker Playing Memories Are Made Of This and Frog Chorus. Sara Daly played a tune I missed the title of and I sat down to play Black Mask Waltz and was joined by Harry. After I left the stage  Harry started the second half with Dark Island and If You Knew Susie. The audience were now getting used to requesting tunes and continued calling out titles for Harry to play. The next request was for a Glen Miller Medley. Harry then played  Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree, Skylark, Autumn Leaves, O Sole Mio, Laura, As Time Goes By. The requests then continued with  Les Bicycettes De Belsize, Sailing By, Chicago, Liberty Bell, The Harry Lime Theme, All Of Me, All Of You, Teddy Bear's Picnic, Under Paris Skies, Calling All Workers, Arrivaderci Roma, La Cumparsita, Hear My song Violetta, La Mere, Charmaine, Under The Bridges Of Paris, Pigalle, Baby Face, Wish Me Luck As you Wave Me goodbye, There'll Always Be And England and Now Is The Hour.  If you decided to stay in and miss this concert then you really missed out. We had heard 60 tunes from harry who had played for 75 minutes in the first half and 60 minutes in the second half. Thanks have to go to Harry for such a great night of music and we look forward to booking him again in 2014

David Batty



The next meeting of the Wyre Club is on Wednesday 22nd January 2014 at The North Euston Hotel on the Esplanade at Fleetwood, FY7 6BN. Further details are on tel. 01772 864887.

This club is on every Tuesday at The Place In The Park, 109 Liscard Road, Wallasey CH44 9AE. The night starts at 7pm. The format of this club is a playaround circle where people sit in a circle and play in order round the circle.

We look forward to seeing you all this Wednesday but would also like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year,  from David and Rebecca.



This Wednesday is our Christmas event and Jacobs Join. Bring along your party piece even if its not accordion playing. If you can bring some sandwiches, or sausage rolls or similar with you that would be nice, we will put the food on one table and all tuck in as normal. Please bring your accordion and use our December night to try something new. The doors are open at 7.30 for 8pm. If you see someone you don't normally talk to then please introduce yourself, you might make a new friend. See you there...

We are starting to collect club membership fees for 2014. Despite increases in postal charges, room hire fees etc. I have kept it at the same price £5 as it was when I started the club in 1997. You can pay your membership on the door in December or January. The proceeds go towards the great artists we have lined up in the coming months, stamps  and also an Internet service to send out the newsletters to those who choose to receive it by email (with colour pictures and working links). Members also get in to the club for £1 cheaper on each concert night so it makes sense to be a club member.

The fee also helps pay for printer cartridges etc. but the colour printer has just broken (hence there are no colour copies of this months newsletter).  Hopefully I will have bought a new printer before I need to print the newsletter again in January. 

If you know of anyone who might like to be a member then please let them know about the club, or treat them to a night out by bringing them along to one of our concert nights.

This Wednesday is our annual Jacobs Join Christmas Party.  This is where we all bring along some sandwiches, meat pies, sausage rolls, cake or something else to make a feast to share. This is the last time you get to see other club members this year. This is also the one club night a year that anything goes, if you play the keyboard then bring it along. Spanish Guitar, singing, juggling and any other talents are welcome at our December night as well as normal accordion playing.  See you there on Wednesday, don't miss it !

The annual Manchester Irish Festival will run from Friday 7th March to Monday 17th March 2014. This years' award winning 2014 Manchester Irish Festival celebrates its 19th Birthday. The ten day Irish cultural extravaganza with over 200 events at 100 different venues is now firmly established as Europe's biggest Irish Festival outside of the Emerald Isle.

An estimated 200,000 visitors from all over the UK and Ireland will descend upon Manchester for the event which runs from Friday 7 March until St Patrick's Day itself on Monday 17 March. The economic value to the city and its suburbs of this annual event is estimated at £10 million.

The community based event is run by a small team of volunteers with support from Manchester City Council. It is funded by contributions from the Irish community and major sponsors such as Tourism Ireland, Ireland.com, Heineken and Guinness.

As well as an action packed Art, Dance, Music & Theatre programme the festival has an Educational programme which involves over 400 children. Its aim is to promote Irish Culture and help develop Tourism links between Manchester and Ireland.

Just over 100,000 visitors are expected to converge on the city centre for the St Patrick's Day Parade, to greet the annual Parade which is now the biggest in the UK.

Unlike other Irish festivals around the world the Manchester extravaganza does not just celebrate St Patrick's Day itself on the 17th March, but instead it stages a 10 day party, which features a full programme of Irish culture, comedy, heritage, literature, music, sport and theatre.

Other festival highlights include the Guinness sponsored ten day 'Tradfest' in Levenshulme village and Burnage which is home to the one of biggest Irish community outside of London. The event will feature a special Mayo Gathering weekend with acts coming over from County Mayo to appear at the event. Other festival hubs which are putting on a full schedule of events include the award winning St Kent's Irish club in Fallowfield, O'Shea's Irish Pub in the city centre and the newly opened Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill.

The Irish party continues in earnest right through to Monday 17 March with events all over the city, which range from special all day traditional Irish music sessions to black tie dinners and special Irish club nights. Full festival listings are up on the official festival website atwww.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk

The Festival website www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk is the world's premier Irish Festival website.

This festival is one of the world's longest Irish Festival lasting ten days.

It's a community based festival, run by volunteers from the city's vibrant Irish community. Levenshulme village is one of the main areas of focus for the festival, it is home to the biggest Irish community outside of London. The village organises its own tradfest during the festival, which features Irish music, Comedy & Dance.

Highlights of the festival include 21 concerts staged in its pubs, most of them free, Special international Photography exhibition 'Manchester Mayo Gathering' which features highlights from Ireland's biggest Gathering Event. One of the highlights of the festival is the annual St Patrick's Day Parade which has over 70 floats representing every county in Ireland is run by the Irish World Heritage Centre. The Parade is the biggest outside of New York and goes right through the city centre. It is solely a non-commercial parade featuring different community groups and run by volunteers.

It has its own very popular annual six day Irish community market attracting traders and visitors from all over Ireland and the UK.

There is a large School based free cultural educational programme, which is run by volunteers during the two weeks of the festival.

The first festival was launched in 1996 by the then President of Ireland Mary Robinson. Other VIP's and celebrities to launch the festival include the late Dr Mo Mowlam, Roy Keane, Michael Flatley, Shay Given, Brendan Carroll (the award winning Mrs Brown) and the Irish Prime Minister - Bertie Ahern.

The festival has played host to the likes of Shane McGowan, The Script, Toss the Feathers, Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Westlife, The Corrs, Van Morrison , Mary Black, Sharon Shannon, Hazel O'Connor, Stocktons Wing and The Oyster Band.

Irish Comedians involved have included Peter Kay, Ardal O'Hanlon, Mrs Brown, Jason Manford, Tommy Tiernan, Jason Byrne and Dylan Moran.

The festival takes place all over Manchester at over 100 venues featuring 200 events and involving just over 1,000 performers.

It annually attracts close to 100,000 visitors to its Parade Day alone.

An estimated 1 million pints of mostly Guinness and Heineken will be drunk during the 10 day festival which takes place all over Greater Manchester.

For more information log onto http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/

The Chester Accordion Club's next meeting is on Tuesday, 21st January 2014. The venue is The Groves Club, Chester Road (A5032), Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. For further details, telephone Lynn McCallum on 0151 339 9850.

Leyland Accordion Club is a club based in Leyland Lancashire England.

We have our concerts at

The Priory Club
Broadfield Drive
Leyland
Lancashire
England
PR25 1QN

Our postal address is  

39 Wray Crescent
Ulnes Walton
Leyland
Lancashire
England
PR26 8NH

You can find our website at www.accordionclub.co.uk  

Buy CD's from our shop at www.accordionshop.com  

Find out about UK festivals at www.accordionfestival.co.uk

Join out Accordionist Forum www.accordionworld.co.uk

Listen to accordion music at www.accordionradio.co.uk  

Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/accordionclub

Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/accordionclub

All the best...

  David Batty

Leyland Accordion Club