School assembly in the good old days and singing hymns! Anyone remember the 'Come and Praise' books!

[ErlingHaalandsManBun]

I was thinking earlier about being a kid in the 70's/80's and how we would have school assembly. All lined up and then would have to walk in and sit on the floor cross legged in rows.

Then we would sing hymns from the book 'Come and Praise'.

I was trying to remember some of them. One was called Autumn Days and it went something like this:

Autumn Days when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell
Jetplanes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things I love so well

No I mustn't forget
To say a great big thank you
I mustn't forget.

Anyone else remember this book and the hymns within it.

I bloody loved singing these in school assembly!! 😂

we had this book. I still well up at ‘Colours of day’ 🥹

We all did this 😂The extra 'of kings' at the end and the teacher would go mad. So we ended up doing it just for fun and everyone would giggle. 😂

Does anyone remember the one that went:

The ink is black
The page is white
Together we learn to read and write

I loved the Michaelmas daisies song too, though most people don’t seem to have heard of it.

Went on a family road trip yesterday with my 4yo and 2yo and we were belting out hymns in the car. 4yo can’t get enough of Lord of the Dance. We are in no way religious but these are the only songs everyone agrees on. 😂

oh yes!! for the hymns our teacher had written them on huge sheets of cardboard because we didn't have books with the words and photocopying hadn't been invented yet.

ETA that was to @ErlingHaalandsManBun for "the ink is black"

And there was one that was called 'He made me'

He gave me eyes so I could see

Something like that 😂

I remember this - absolutely loved it
number 55 - colours of day!!

now it’s all “iSingPop” on an laptop! No piano anymore! Just not the same experience for kids now sadly!

Yes! I can’t remember the rest of it though. As soon as I read your post I knew the tune

Hymn number 55 if I recall correctly…

Aw this thread and the Enid Blyton thread has brought up so many lovely memories this weekend ☺️

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning 😃

Having been in charge of "Hymn Practice' for pretty much my entire career, a good old daily sing is what I miss most in retirement! 😊
I love that there's such nostalgia around singing together at school. It's fun, energising and great for the memory.

He gave me ears so I could hear
The wind and rain and sea,
I've got to tell it to the world

(shout the next bit)

He made me!

I loved that one.

Make Me A Channel Of Your Peeeeace...Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, only light, And where there's sadness, ever joy

The pause between "Where there is darkness...only light" used to make me want to hold my hand up and snap my head to the side...the typical 80's gesture of seriousness.

That's why I was so sad they don't do it any more! I really remember it getting you going and feeling part of the school community.

I don't know any kid who hated assembly. Most of us loved to belt out the hymns and no-one worried about singing. Everyone sang their hearts out. I remember just loving it and loving the music and the singing. It was the best part of my day as a kid.

I really loved the singing. We had a school choir, anyone could join, and we also did the weekly Singing Together programme which was on the radio for schools.

So many great memories of all the singing. Especially at Christmas.

Me too. The teacher on piano. The oldest kids in the school playing the recorder/treble/tenor and whatever the small one was called and everyone just singing their lungs out. It was a great start to the day !

Loved singing at school! Our school didn’t have copies of the books for us each to sing from, they copied the songs out and showed them on acetates up on the slide projector showing on the blank wall at the front. A teacher would play the pianos from the side, I guess from a Come and Praise music book. Or maybe not… maybe they pirated the whole thing. Wouldnt surprise me

Oh every Christmas we would get a coach to go to the next town to sing hymns and Christmas songs in a church with other schools.

I would love to join a choir but sadly I can’t hold a tune

I remember this, I think there was a Come and Praise blue book and a brown book.

I've always been bewildered about what "jet planes waiting in the air to be refuelled" has to do with autumn, and whether this is in fact a thing that people see regularly.

Sounded dangerous the jet planes trying to meet

We had the projector too - we didn’t have individual books. Thinking about it those poor 4 year olds who could barely read 🤣 but everyone soon picked up the words

Makes me want to close my eyes and transport myself back in time to sitting cross legged in the school hall belting out hymns to my hearts content. Such a simple thing that I enjoyed so much. 😊

I much preferred the older hymn books with stuff like 'I Vow to Thee My Country' and 'To be a Pilgrim' in them and I got annoyed when they got used less and less for the more 'pop' hymns!

Oh yes. We had Songs of Praise at secondary with all the old hymns in. I still know all the words. I find some of the words and music very uplifting, even without having any particular religious beliefs.

I remember that after Margaret Thatcher's funeral, where they had To Be A Pilgrim, one of the attendees said it would be such a shame when there was no-one left who knew all those old hymns. (But you can find them all on YouTube)

Here's The Ink Is Black: Am I the only one here old enough to remember this?
Edit: the link doesn't seem to work, but you can find it on YouTube. TOTP 1971.