THE TOLLHOUSE COMPANY
Previous Collaborations
From 1990 - 2002 I worked as a professional musician touring primary schools throughout England with 'The Tollhouse Company'.
Based in Cambridgeshire the company was set up by three people: myself, Barbara Griffiths and John Crowe.
As a touring musical theatre company we worked in schools presenting history based musical shows for 4 - 11 year olds using folk based music and song.
The Tollhouse Company toured primary schools throughout the UK from 1990 until 2002. Conceived by Barbara Griffiths, John Crowe and myself the history based shows were designed to tie in with the national curriculum KS1 and KS2.
The shows were usually performed to the whole school. Every song was a chorus song to encourage joining in and volunteers were asked to come onto the stage area and assist with demonstrations at the same time. Each show was designed to last one hour.
During that time we produced three CDs together with accompanying A4 sized books for schools to use a a resource.
We also produced a double CD of our ‘adult’ show, Between the Flat Land and the Sky, with which we toured village halls.
Our first venture into recording was a cassette tape under the name of ‘Witcham Toll’ way back in 1988.
Seasons for Sale
A Musical Journey Through the Seasons
Horses, Housemaids and Hard Old Times
Victorian Life Through Song
From Where We Are Today
A Musical Journey Through Time
Between the Flat Land and the Sky
A Fenman's Life in Song and Narrative
Witcham Toll
Mainly Traditional Folk Music
Tollhouse Company Recordings
(Clicking on an image will take you to more information, audio and pdfs)
Horses, Housemaids and Hard Old Times
The Tollhouse Company
Victorian Life Through Song
Horses, Housemaids and Hard Old Times was the first CD and Book package produced to allow follow up work by the schools we visited.
Initially there were fourteen tracks but when a reprint was necessary we also added four new tracks.
Listen to the full album below or go to Bandcamp where you can listen to individual tracks and download this and other Tollhouse Company albums for free. (Opens in a new window)
A book containing music, lyrics and further information is available as a free download
Seasons for Sale
The Tollhouse Company
A Musical Journey Through the Seasons
A musical journey through the year taking in the customs, traditions, pastimes and the way of life in old England.
In Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Old Johnson the pedlar sets up his stall on the village common, his wares reflecting the changing seasons.
Seasons for Sale was the second CD and Book package produced to allow follow up work by the schools we visited.
We were also fortunate in receiving a grant from The National Lottery towards the production of this CD and accompanying book.
Listen to the full album below or go to Bandcamp where you can listen to individual tracks and download this and other Tollhouse Company albums for free. (Opens in a new window)
A book containing music, lyrics and further information is available as a free download
From Where We Are Today
The Tollhouse Company
A Musical Journey Through Time
A historical journey through time from 1066 and the Bayeux Tapestry to 1956 and Rock 'n' Roll.
From Where We Are Today was the 3rd and final CD and Book package produced to allow follow up work by the schools we visited.
The production of the book and accompanying CD was partly funded by an award from The Golsoncott Foundation.
Listen to the full album below or go to Bandcamp where you can listen to individual tracks and download this and other Tollhouse Company albums for free. (Opens in a new window)
A book containing music, lyrics and further information is available as a free download
Between the Flat Land and the Sky
The Tollhouse Company
A Fenman's Life in Song and Narrative
John started working on 'Between the Flat Land and the Sky', a musical theatre production aimed at a more mature audience, in 1988 and later in 1993 the narration and incidental music were added. It was not until 1996 that the final song was written.
The company toured the production around village halls in East Anglia with some backing from Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire (ADeC) and Vaughan Moll guesting as Walter, the narrator.
Between the Flat Land and the Sky is Walter's story:
Fifty years on the land beneath the great Fenland sky - a way of life fractured by war and threatened by change.
Walter is one of the last manual workers to make his living from the flat black fenland soil. Now he has retired.
Sitting alone in his front parlour; his regimental photograph on the mantlepiece, an album of snaps and a bottle of wine at his elbow, Walter reminisces - work, war, friends, lust, love, struggle, change and the misty impassive fen.
He remembers how it all was - how it will never be again . . .
Listen to the full album below or go to Bandcamp where you can listen to individual tracks and download this and other Tollhouse Company albums for free. (Opens in a new window)
NOTE:
This is the FULL version which is a reproduction of the entire show complete with the narration. A version of the album with just the SONGS is also available at Bandcamp for free download
Witcham Toll
Witcham Toll
Mainly Traditional Folk Music
Together with Barbara Griffiths and John Crowe "Witcham Toll" was formed in the mid 1986 to work on a project about Frank Kidson with Eric Cowell of Brewhouse Music who was one of his descendants.
We subsequently performed at festivals and clubs throughout the country.
The album was originally made and recorded onto cassette tape in 1988 so apologies for the less than perfect sound quality!
In 1990 we created a musical theatre company to tour primary schools, changed our name to The Tollhouse Company and toured the UK from then until 2002.
Listen to the full album below or go to Bandcamp where you can listen to individual tracks and download this album for free. (Opens in a new window)