Darlington Folk Workshop is celebrating its 60th birthday tomorrow.

The folk club started its weekly Tuesday evening folk song sessions in October 1964 at the Golden Cock Pub in Tubwell Row.

It was one of only a handful of such clubs in the North East at that time, and except for the Covid lockdowns, it has met on Tuesday evenings ever since.

The Folk Workshop was set up by Tony Foxworthy, of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, who invited anyone with an interest in folk songs to come along and sing something.

One of the early attenders noted that Tony was very encouraging, and if someone only knew one song he would invite them to sing it every week until they learned something new. Participation was everything, hence the term “workshop”.

The club has always been known for powerful chorus singing, quickly built up a following and was soon being visited by singers from out of town as its reputation grew.

Some of the club’s earliest attenders went on to have professional careers in singing. Over the years the club moved from the Golden Cock to the upstairs room of the Boot and Shoe, then to the snug at the Britannia and it now meets at the Travellers Rest in Cockerton, still on a Tuesday evening.

The popularity of traditional folk songs has ebbed and flowed over the last 60 years, but the club has maintained a good following. It was feared that the Covid lockdown would have a permanent detrimental effect on attendances, but the club has actually seen an upturn in numbers attending, post-Covid.

These days the informal “singaround” nights are interspersed with “guest nights” when a semi-professional singer is booked to perform alongside the regulars. Tomorrow, Saturday October 12, a special concert will take place during the afternoon, featuring The Wilson Family from Teesside, JIB from Tyneside, plus Ruth and Sadie Price, with their harpist, Lisa Oliver, from Yorkshire. The concert is a sell-out.

On the Saturday evening the fun continues with a special singaround cum party at the Travellers Rest, when it is hoped that singers from the last 60 years will call in for a song and a get together. The evening event is free for anyone to attend.

Organisers are taking the opportunity to raise some funds for a good cause, Prostate Cancer UK, as part of the celebrations.