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This site is the personal website of Ray Charsley & Sandie Croft it includes some of our artwork, music and a little of our working history, with different musical projects ongoing and finished.

Sandie and I got together in December 1979 after meeting at Kings Country Club in Eastbourne Sussex . In those days she was singing in the resident band "Meridian". I was in a local band that played occasionally at the club during the summer months by the name of "Sweet Illusion ". We both liked cream cakes & Indian food and had similar tastes in music.

We decided to get together and began trying out some comedy routines under the name of "Slap n' Tickle" but soon found out we weren't funny, after being paid of at a club in the North East of England "Walker Jubilee".

We realised that music was more us and put together a multi instrumental show featuring Banjo, Trumpet, Post Horn, guitars and vocal harmony and changed our name to the "Turnpennies". We used this name for most of our time in Yorkshire. We managed to get enough work with clubs and theatres and stayed in Yorkshire for about 7 years during which time I (Ray) decided to take my music grades on trumpet and began studying with Alan Morrison (who was then principal cornet with Grimethorpe Colliery Band ) for practical study and at High Melton College for my music theory with Andrew Clark, who introduced me to classical music and gave me an appreciation of it. I also played in a couple of Brass Bands whilst there, the most famous of which was Jaguar Cars City of Coventry brass band.

During this time Sandie was taking singing lessons as a soprano and also studying at High Melton. We moved to Coventry whilst I played for Jaguar cars and our work as the "Turnpennies" took us over to Spain where we fell in love with the sunshine and way of life. On our return to Coventry we began making plans to move out to the sunshine and soon found ourselves on the road. After selling everything and buying a caravan an old Range Rover and made for the Portsmouth ferry to France and eventually arrived here in the Algarve. life before we met

May 2007

In 2005 we teamed up with Steve Leathley, an old friend from Yorkshire, he also had worked the Yorkshire clubs. Steve is a fine singer and guitarist and together we enjoyed singing three part harmony and had a very varied music program of cover versions from Beach boys, Cliff Richard to Michael Buble etc.