Christmas special — 1978
A Chelmsford Folk Club Christmas special is listed in the Essex Record Office's Christmas sources guide.
Reference: SA 30/6/94/1
Source guideExternal collection research
Chelmsford Folk Club Collection
A dedicated index of the surviving Chelmsford Folk Club recording evidence identified in the Essex Record Office's catalogue and research publications. This is a research collection, not a replacement for the site's confirmed event records.
Why this collection matters: the Essex Record Office says Jim Etheridge recorded almost every Chelmsford Folk Club between 1978 and 1986. His recordings often preserved the whole evening — announcements, floor singers, guest spots, interval, raffle and encore — and the guide describes the unedited tapes as a unique record of the dynamics and atmosphere of live performance. The guide says the wider Jim Etheridge series contains 770 tapes. Read the Essex Record Office folk-music guide.
Indexed Chelmsford Folk Club recordings
18 July 1982
Surviving recording featuring Mick and Sarah Graves and Geoff and Penny Harris.
Reference: SA 30/6/402/1
Catalogue record17 October 1982
Martin Carthy, introduced by Colin Cater; the catalogue records the first and second half material across two tapes.
Reference: SA 30/6/425/1
Catalogue record7 November 1982
Floor singers including Annie Harding, plus Chelmsford Morris celebrating its tenth anniversary.
Reference: SA 30/6/428/1
Catalogue record1982 — Chelmsford Morris
The traditional-dance guide separately identifies a Chelmsford Morris recording at Chelmsford Folk Club, corresponding with the detailed 7 November catalogue record.
Reference: SA 30/6/428/1
Traditional-dance guide1983 — Blackmore Morris
A surviving recording of Blackmore Morris at Chelmsford Folk Club is identified in the Record Office's traditional-dance guide.
Reference: SA 30/6/478/1
Traditional-dance guide3 March 1985
Singers' night including the Popular Wobblies, Peter Billing, Geoff Harris, Simon Ritchie and Steve Morris. The catalogue notes that the recording ends abruptly.
Reference: SA 30/6/653/1
Catalogue record22 December 1985
Paul McCann and Jill Palmer-Swift performing on East Anglian Dulcimers at Chelmsford Folk Club.
Reference: SA 30/6/712/1
Record Office research article20 April 1986
Singers' night including the Residents' Band, Pete Billinge, Roger Johnson, Countryman's Favour, Tony Wynn, Annie Butcher, Seven Straw Braid and Phil Heath-Coleman.
Reference: SA 30/6/736/1
Catalogue recordBrowse the recording evidence
| Date / period | People / material | Archive reference | Evidence route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Christmas special | SA 30/6/94/1 | Source guide |
| 18 Jul 1982 | Mick & Sarah Graves; Geoff & Penny Harris | SA 30/6/402/1 | Catalogue |
| 17 Oct 1982 | Martin Carthy; Colin Cater | SA 30/6/425/1 | Catalogue |
| 7 Nov 1982 | Annie Harding; Chelmsford Morris | SA 30/6/428/1 | Catalogue |
| 1983 | Blackmore Morris | SA 30/6/478/1 | Traditional-dance guide |
| 3 Mar 1985 | Popular Wobblies; Peter Billing; Geoff Harris; Simon Ritchie; Steve Morris | SA 30/6/653/1 | Catalogue |
| 22 Dec 1985 | Paul McCann; Jill Palmer-Swift / East Anglian Dulcimers | SA 30/6/712/1 | Record Office article |
| 20 Apr 1986 | Residents' Band; Pete Billinge; Roger Johnson; Countryman's Favour; Tony Wynn; Annie Butcher; Seven Straw Braid; Phil Heath-Coleman | SA 30/6/736/1 | Catalogue |
What the archive lets us say — and what it does not
Strong evidence
The Essex Record Office catalogue can establish that a particular recording survives, its date, archive reference and, where catalogued, named performers or the contents of the tape.
Still separate
A surviving recording does not automatically establish a complete advertised bill, ticket price, attendance, venue capacity or every performer present. Those details remain separate research questions unless another source establishes them.
Collection context
The Record Office says Jim Etheridge recorded almost every Chelmsford Folk Club between 1978 and 1986, normally capturing the whole evening. The wider series contains 770 tapes, but this page is only an index of the Chelmsford material identified so far.
How to read this index
- Recording evidence: the archive catalogue says a particular sound recording survives.
- Performance detail: the catalogue may identify performers, songs, dances, compères or the structure of an evening.
- Confirmed event record: this site's Events layer requires its own evidential basis and is not automatically populated from an external catalogue recording.
- Coverage is not completeness: the Essex Record Office's statement that Etheridge recorded almost every club night from 1978–1986 does not mean this page is a complete list of every surviving tape.
Related research
External Archive Sources collects the wider oral-history and catalogue leads, including Colin Cater, Sarah Graves, Annie Harding, Simon Ritchie and others.
Venues provides the site's own venue histories, while Where & When remains the broad surviving source index.
External catalogue descriptions and research material are linked for further study. The Essex Record Office notes that it does not generally own copyright in these recordings; access and permissions therefore remain matters for the archive and rights holders.