A Cockermouth choir will celebrate its 40th anniversary next month and is hoping past and present members will come together to mark the occasion.

Castlegate Singers will also be staging a Christmas concert with carols composed especially to mark the anniversary by Papcastle composer Philip Wood.

The choir was established in 1976 by Richard Bennett, who taught music at Cockermouth School. It is for female voices, and has a lively and diverse repertoire of music, from requiems to barbershop.

The singers, aged between 16 and 80-something, have performed alongside other local choirs, and been involved in twin-town exchange visits to Marvejols.

Several pieces have been composed and adapted for the choir over the years, and a sequence of carols, composed especially for the 40th anniversary, will be a highlight of the the Christmas concert on December 10 at Christ Church in Cockermouth.

Philip succeeded Richard Bennett as musical director in 1998, handing over the baton to Val Hetherington in 2009, when the Christmas concert raised funds for the floods charity.

The choir will host a party at the Hundith Hill Hotel, near Cockermouth, on Saturday, October 15.

All members, past and present, are invited to attend. Tickets, including a meal and entertainment, are £25 and available from Win Cornwall on 01900 826637.