Our Name

Our name is derived from ‘The Mariners’ Way,’ a fabled ancient route used by sailors to travel between the ports of Bideford on the North Devon coast and Dartmouth on the South Devon coast. South Zeal lies en route, and the King’s Arms in the village is believed to have been one of the hostels.

How it All Began

Mariners Away’s home port is the village of South Zeal on the northern flanks of Dartmoor (although we are at least 20 nautical miles from the sea!).

Without fully realising its significance at the time, our history began on 22nd November 2007 when Bill Murray, a well-known folk music singer and storyteller based in Dartmoor, was asked by Mike Eastman, a member of the Lyme Bay section of The Cruising Association (one of the oldest and largest cruising yacht clubs in existence), to provide some musical entertainment at the association’s annual dinner in January of the following year. Hence, Mariners Away’s very first performance is recorded as 17th January 2008.

Accompanying Bill and Mike on that memorable night along with a number of other local notable characters were Steve Mathewson, Bev Hilton, and Ian Solomon – an unlikely trio who are still pro-active members of Mariners seventeen years on. Chris Aylen is another founder member who still joins us from time to time.

While membership of Mariners tended to fluctuate in the initial years following that inaugural gig, in addition to the aforementioned trio of Steve, Bev, and Ian (‘Solly’), a dependable and talented core of singers emerged over time. This core included Dave Denford, Peter Ritchie, Lew Bean, Trevor Munkenbeck (who is now the crew’s musical arranger and primary songwriter), David Ashby, Ian McAvoy and Paul Mills, with the occasional ‘guest’ appearance by the very talented folk singer/songwriter and true Devonian, Jim Causley.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 subsided and artists were once again allowed to perform in public, the addition of Eric Partridge, Glenn Bearne and Adrian Cornelissen added to Mariner’s numbers while Chris Just reinforced the core some eighteen months ago until, more recently, Danny Reddington has now bolstered the latest 2024 line-up, pictured below, to create a formidable sound at full force.

MARINERS AWAY 2024 line up. Top three: David Ashby, Chris Just, Adrian Cornelissen; Middle two: Ian McAvoy, Danny Reddington; Outside flanks: Paul Mills, Bev Hilton; Front five: Steve Mathewson, Trevor Munkenbeck, Eric Partridge, Ian Solomon, Glenn Bearne.

Remembering Those we Have Lost

Sadly, in 2019 Mariners said farewell to a great shipmate, Peter Ritchie, a late Commander RN, who passed away in January of that year after a long battle against cancer. Founding member Dave Denford, the ‘Singing Blacksmith’ and husband to Shirley (aka Roger the Cabin Boy), also passed away in May 2020.

Despite his incredibly positive outlook after receiving the damning prognosis, the redoubtable Lew Bean also sadly lost his seven-month battle with cancer in June 2022. We are delighted that Lew’s wife, Celia, still supports the occasional Mariner’s gig, and we are always delighted to see her.

And so to the present day

Led by our musical impresario Trevor Munkenbeck, we practise on Thursday evenings at the King’s Arms in South Zeal, in the hope that “practice makes perfect.”

Mariners Away perform throughout the year at events in Devon, Dorset and Cornwall and occasionally further afield too such as the Weston-super-Mare Shanty Festival. Over the last two years we have appeared at a veritable fleet of events including shanty festivals, folk festivals, beer festivals, cider fests, wassails, coronation celebrations, birthday parties, weddings, funerals, WI Christmas parties, hospital wards and in September 2023 we were even aboard SV Britannia, the historic fishing smack, at her relaunch and now berthed in Exeter Quay as she undergoes her finishing touches.

We’ve also had the unique honour of appearing on BBC Spotlight, the early evening magazine news programme when we serenaded the South West TV audience as the regional airwaves were handed back to the national network.

From Lyme Regis to St Ives, Bideford to Plymouth and all points in between, our recent journey has been nothing short of incredible. In 2022, we delivered 42 sets across 28 gigs, and by the end of 2023, we had added a further 45 more sets over 27 gigs. Not bad for a crew with a combined age of 712, or an average age of nearly 72!

So this year, after deciding to ‘reign it in a little’, by the end of 2024 we will actually have performed a remarkable FIFTY TWO sets at 30 different events!! What does 2025 hold in store?

Contacts

For details of our performance rates, set lists, media info or any other questions, please contact one of the following:

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