Kings Pond Shantymen

Kings Pond Shantymen were formed in 2001 and over the years have performed at many events in their home patch of Hampshire and Surrey in England as well as further afield. Our repertoire covers a wide range of shanty styles: long and short hauls, pumping and capstan as well as forebitters and whaling songs. All the well-known favourites are included and audience participation is actively encouraged. In addition to the maritime material we also perform a few folk ballads, drinking songs and odd ditties. At Christmas we sing carols and on Old Twelfth Night we sing wassails. We aim for an authentic shanty style: unaccompanied male voices singing together in a lively fashion with harmonies thrown in rather than pre-planned.

We all like to sing and drink a pint or two of beer, but not at the same time as it tends to waste the beer.

Our name originates from Kings Pond in Alton Hampshire and reflects both our nautical incompetence and our base of operations.

The Men appeared on UK National Television series ‘Escape to the Country’ singing on HMS Warrior in Portsmouth, the episode frequently gets re-aired – you can see the clip on our Facebook page.

We have two sea-dees available at a very keen price, available via the group’s website;

• Hold Your Course – March 2020
• Take a Turn Around the Capstan – December 2014

At street events we collect donations for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – if you give us enough money we’ll even stop singing! Our generous listeners have contributed thousands of pounds in donations over the years.