The Lynmouth Shanty Crew is a community group of singers based on Exmoor, where the moor meets the sea. Drawn together by friendship, music and a shared love of the coast, the Crew performs a wide-ranging repertoire of traditional working shanties, maritime songs and folk music with strong coastal roots.

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The Crew grew out of Lynmouth Sailing Club in the period following the Covid lockdowns. After the club acquired a safety boat in memory of a much-loved friend, members began singing together after their regular Thursday evening row. Collection buckets soon appeared, and those informal singalongs developed into a fundraising effort to help provide a permanent boathouse for the boat. Since then, the Crew has helped raise tens of thousands of pounds for the project and for other local causes.

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From those early evenings in Lynmouth, the Crew has gone on to perform at festivals, concerts and community events across the South West and beyond. Highlights have included singing aboard the historic paddle steamer Waverley and representing North Devon internationally at the Kraków Shanty Festival in Poland. Closer to home, the Crew can often be heard at the Ancient Mariner in Lynmouth, where the tradition of communal singing remains very much alive.

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Alongside Lynmouth Sailing Club, the Crew’s purpose is to preserve, celebrate and continue the maritime heritage of the Exmoor coast. Through songs, stories and live performance, we aim to connect audiences with the lives of sailors, fishermen, lifeboat crews and coastal communities — keeping the songs and stories of the Exmoor coast alive.