Ten Mile Bank village hall hosts The Vintage Blues Company

A Blues band hopes to help get the bells ringing again at a Fenland church with a fundraising night on Saturday.

The Vintage Blues Company will be performing at Ten Mile Bank village hall (PE38 0EP) to raise funds to help restore the bells at the village’s St Mark’s Church.

The trio – Mark Remmington, vocals and guitars; Eddie Miles, drums and harmonica; and Stuart Bond on bass – will play a mix of Sixties Blues from Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac era, Eric Clapton’s time with the Blues Breakers, as well standards from the likes of Muddy Waters and Big Bill Bronzy. They might also make the odd foray into Fifties rock ‘n’ roll!

Doors open at 7.30pm, with the music starting at 8pm, and tickets are £3.

Mark says: “Bring your own drinks – you bring the booze, we’ll supply the Blues!”

The bells at St Mark’s Church fell silent three years ago as the cords had degraded and now the aim is to get them ringing again.

In 2002 the church fell into a complete state of disrepair and was declared unsafe due to subsidence, with the beautiful 150-year-old building facing becoming derelict.

However, villagers pulled together and raised over £40,000 and won a large grant to underpin the church and, by 2008, it was back to being a functioning site with regular services for the community every Sunday, as well as weddings and christenings.

Mark added: “As such a very small village, restoring St Mark’s has been a great achievement. The community would love to be able to call people to service by being able to ring the bells once more.

“A few weeks ago I asked my mum what she wanted to do on her birthday. She said it would be really nice if I could play some music and raise some money for the church.

“We are three local musicians – in our spare time at least – and have been talking about forming a Blues band over the last six months.

“The fundraising gig gave us the perfect reason to gather ourselves together and start a band – The Vintage Blues Company.

“And we have a good vintage ourselves. Eddie was an original part of the London Blues scene in the Sixties when Blues really exploded.

“I was a professional musician for many years, playing rock and punk, and Stuart has been in numerous acts – both professional and semi-professional – over the years.

“We would love to see as many people as possible come along and help support this community and have some fun.

“The fundraising and upkeep for the church is ongoing – and, as a band, we plan to go on after this gig also!”