Port of Bristol Shanty Crew

Ship, Mates and Bristol Fashion!

Ship, Mates and Bristol Fashion – traditional shanties as they should be sung. Fun and friendship, melody and mirth. Available to book for all occasions, in exchange for a reasonable donation to our annually nominated charity.

Ian Dye and Steve Hawkins have been singing shanties together for over 30 years and have now formed a new shanty group ‘The Port of Bristol Shanty Crew’. We aim to be ‘Shipshape and Bristol Fashion’.  We have strong connections with the Bristol seafaring tradition with family members building ships at Charlie Hill’s Shipyard and sailing as merchant seamen  on the Bristol City Line.  We sing traditional shanties and modern songs of the sea with passion and a sense of humour.

Port of Bristol Shanty Crew are the stuff of legend, singing traditional working sea shanties and songs of the sea, often celebrating Bristol’s renowned maritime history. – Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival musical act roster.

The Crew was founded by Ian (Nobby) Dye and Steve (The Rev) Hawkins in February 2022.  Nobby has been singing shanties since 1972 and has been singing with Rev since they met and became shipmates in 1985.  The two incorrigible rogues recently found themselves marooned, but encountered a few more shipwrecked sailors washed up on the shore.  These like-minded souls were soon press-ganged into service and so Skipper, Fish, Art, Paddles, Chuffer, Doc, Old Bill and Ash duly joined the crew.

In the last year POBSC gained two new volunteer recruits: Bill ‘Chilli’ Hillier has brought a new daring and hilarious dimension to the crewmates and Justin ‘Oggy’ Blackett is our podcast ‘whizz kid’ from deep down in Cornwall.  We continue to support the Teenage Cancer Trust and recently broke through £43,000 for the funds raised to date.

Over a short period we have become not just a Shanty Crew but a group of friends who simply enjoy each other’s company, singing our hearts out together and dressing up as sailors.

Whether the weather be stormy or balmy, the seas rough or calm we can be found singing Shanties and Songs of the Sea in pubs, folk clubs and at Shanty Festivals.  Nobby even acts as resident composer and has written some wonderful songs around Bristol’s strong sea faring tradition such as Welsh Back Quay, Walton Bay and Bristol Johnny.  Humour is a key part of our performances (and our rehearsals!) – we like nothing more than connecting with an audience and encouraging them to join in with the choruses of our songs.  We are a group of friends who love to sing shanties and play our part in sharing and keeping alive these wonderful songs from the days of sail and having a few pints and sharing a  merry yarn at the same time.

The Port of Bristol Shanty Crew organizes and operates the Real Ale & Sea Shanty Festival; the second annual edition happening on Saturday and Sunday, 10-11 May 2025.