During the 1999 Lancaster Maritime Festival, Derek Seed got the idea of forming the Chorus and started recruiting during the following year's festival. The Chorus made its first public appearance at the Mersey International Shanty Festival in June 2000. During that year, we also performed at the Saddleworth and Fylde festivals. In 2001, we performed at nine folk or maritime festivals and have appeared at about ten such festivals in each year since then.

In October 2003, we headed for the USA and sang at the Fall festivals of both the Greater Washington and the New York Folk Societies as well as appearing at Mystic Seaport and other venues. In 2004, we performed at the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen, Holland as part of their annual festival and appeared again in Enkhuizen in 2006. In that year we also sang at the Auckland Folk and Maritime festivals as well as at other venues in New Zealand's North Island including a booking as guest artists at the Devonport Folk Club in the famous Bunker.

The Chorus members were recruited from all parts of England and, although the membership has changed somewhat since the early days, we have members living as far apart as Sussex and Yorkshire.