Characters from the past

Many people who have been members of the choir over the past 40 years have been 'characters' but it would be unfair to include anyone still living - so here are a few memorable characters from the past, who sadly are no longer with us.

Albert Clark

Albert in 1983 at the Choir Christmas Party

Albert was sacristan for many years - before Paul Coleman took over the role. A sacristan has many jobs - including making sure that everything is ready for each service, lighting candles etc.

Although not a singer, Albert attended every choir practice and every service - sitting on the end seat nearest the Altar on the north side (nearest the choir vestry.) He was one of the kindest people you could have met - and he had always looked the same, with most of the boys thinking that he was well over 100 years old ... He wore a red cassock and white surplice, and when I took over in 1981 I realised that they had probably not been washed for several decades. I asked one of the choir mums if they could wash his robes, and she said that it took 4 washes to get them clean ...

One lasting memory of Albert was his enthusiasm to lead the 'said' parts of the service - as in the early days the choir were not so good at leading these parts ..In particular the opening phrase of the confession at Evensong ' ... we have erred and strayed from thy ways..' which Albert always said in a very loud voice .. we 'ave 'erd 'n strayed ...' remains in my memory !

This was my cue to encourage the choir to take a lead and say these parts confidently - something which the choir does well to this day.

Albert had charge of the choir registers - a job which he undertook at every practice and service, until his eyesight began to fail, and he could no longer see the register properly.

He carried the processional cross (which had been given by the Maples Family) and one of the most amusing memories that we have is of Albert walking out with the cross, and accidentally catching a pumpkin with his foot. (At Harvest time produce was laid out along the chancel.)

He continued to walk towards the altar, with the pumpkin in front of him - like a footballer dribbling the ball. When Albert died, the lamp outside the choir vestry and a vestry clock were dedicated to his memory as a reminder of his life's dedication to the church. In my mind I compare him to a character like Simeon in the temple...

Wilf Bishop

Gerry German

Gerry German sang bass and always sat on the north side. When I took over he was convinced that I was going to ask the most elderly singers to leave - to make room for some younger members. His fears were ill founded - as I had no intention of doing this.

Gerry had worked for Lincolnshire Free Press, until his retirement - and was a very knowledgeable person. He had quite a droll sense of humour, and would often make comments from the back row during a choir practice.

When he died, he left all of his money (£3000) to the choir fund. £2000 of this was spent on a new piano for the chancel - the piano we still use today, and the other £1000 was invested for future use by the choir, if needed.

Rex Pitts (More about Rex can be found in chapter 31)

Rex - my dad - sang tenor in the choir, and always sat on the south side.

Those of you that know me well will know that I have very traditional views and values, and dislike change of any kind - unless it can be proven that the change is for the better. Rex had even stronger views and could not see any reason to 'modernise', or change anything at all with regard to church services or music.

When the 1980s saw the introduction of the ASB (Alternative Service Book) he could not comprehend why the proposed 'new services' were any better than what we already had.

Rex had the habit of muttering comments under his breath when things in a service annoyed him. One of his particular dislikes was the Old Testament stories about the Creation - and when these were referred to, he would mutter something along the lines of ... 'fairy stories' ..

One of his other grumbles could be heard when services started late - he would mutter - 'Don't the clergy have watches ....' and many of his colleagues will remember how he used to like to unwrap a boiled sweet (as noisily as possible) and then put the wrapper over the back of the choirstalls.

When his contemporaries Roger and Tony were no longer in the choir to sing tenor, he teamed up to sing alongside Adrian and Paul - teenage tenors who had been in the choir as a treble. These were most unlikely friendships, but they actually got on as they say - like a house on fire ....

Francis Hanson

Francis and his father had been choristers at St John's Church in Spalding prior to Francis joining our choir as a Bass.

Although a great supporter of the choir, he refused to sing on a Sunday morning at the Sung Eucharist, and would only sing at Evensong.

Despite my best efforts to encourage him to attend both services, it was only in later years that he began to do so.

Francis obviously knew a lot of music, and had professional singing lessons (although this may have been very useful as a soloist, I am not convinced that this actually helped him singing in a choir).

He was the only singer that refused to use music. He insisted on having a words-only copy, even when we were learning a new hymn ... I am not sure how that worked !

In the last few years of his life, he managed to access funding for the choir, which enabled me to concentrate on what was important - the training of the singers, and development of the choir, rather than having to sort out fund raising events.

This funding continues to the present day, and I am most grateful for this.

The donations at his funeral amounted to about £1,500 and this money was given to the Choir Funds, and have been used over the years for Chorister Training.

Jennifer Chappell (Churchwarden)

Jennifer was a highly respected teacher at Spalding High School for many years - one of the 'old school' who stood no nonsense ...

During the 1970 she had the experience of teaching groups of boys from Spalding Grammar School 'A' level music, as there were no facilities at the Grammar School to teach that level of music. I happened to be one of three boys that she taught in 1973/74, and I think she found it rather a novelty, and somewhat different to teach boys instead of girls. We managed to get around her normal authoritarian attitude - and were able to get away with all kinds of things.

On occasions we would miss her lessons, claiming that we had 'got stuck in a snow drift', or 'been detained helping someone' on the journey between schools. She took it in very good humour, and we had quite good fun, as well as learning a great deal from her.

After she had retired, she later became a churchwarden at our church, and was a great supporter of the choir. She helped with singing Alto in the choir for several years when we were particularly short of alto male singers - and really enjoyed being a part of the choir.

Very surprisingly we managed to persuade Jennifer to come as a helper on our choir camps - and she was a really good sport. Being somewhat 'old fashioned' she asked if she could have a larger tent just for herself. When we arrived, and set up camp we could see why! She had brought along what looked like a small four-poster bed, which took up most of her tent.

Everyone else slept in sleeping bags, but she was not having any of that, and needed some home comforts. Jennifer joined in with the boys - playing cricket, and helping with cooking ets - and her teaching skills came in very useful when organising the boys to wash up, and other chores. On one of our choir trips Jennifer tried to reverse her car into a rather muddy driveway, but there was an anseen incline that completely wrecked her car exhaust ...

I think that she really enjoyed bwing with the choir - and after each choir camp she would say - where are we going next year then?....

When Jennifer died, she very generously left legacies to the Church and also for the Organ Fund, in addition to leaving money for the choir which was spent on outings.

Malcolm Holloway

Malcolm sang tenor in our choir, and always sat on the north side.

He had worked for many years in the Post Office, and really enjoyed singing in the choir.

Most boys who remember Malcolm, will remember him for his wig. Malcolm was completely bald, and wore a wig - which many would say did not look the best.

He made no attempt to hide the fact that he wore a wig - often taking it off in front of everyone to comb it..

On one occasion when processing out from the vestry into the North Aisle through the rather narrow and low door under the organ, his wig caught on a nail. Malcolm carried on walking, and the wig hung in the doorway - much to the amusement of the younger members.

Following a choir visit to sing at Brothertoft Church everyone was invited for refreshments in the church hall. Towards the end of the visit we all embarked on the coach, which then travelled towards Coningsby for a short distance - in order to turn around.

Travelling back, past the hall, we were greeted with Malcolm standing on the roadside, waving his wig at us. We had almost gone without him!

My over-riding memory of Malcolm involves his singing of one particular hymn, which is no longer in our hymn book 'The Radiant Morn has passed away' - an evening hymn, of course.

The tune opens with a particularly high Tenor line, one that Malcolm sang with such gusto, that it made everyone look round. He obviously enjoyed that tune, but I dropped it from the repertoire ... no need to say any more.

When Malcolm died he left a gift of £500 for choir funds, which was spent on music.

John Didlock

John Didlock sang tenor in our choir. Having sung in the choir previously, he returned to sing after his wife Eileen died.

John was extremely keen on the latest technology - mini discs, mp3 players, Cds etc.

He head a keen interest in recording, and delighted in recording our choir singing at various events and different venues. He also made copies of CDs for parents - again using his knowledge of technology to edit, and produce inserts etc.

One of my lasting memories of John will be his 'offerings' of solo items at our choir open evening concerts. All choir members were invited to sing items of their choice as part of the programme. John usually chose an item to sing by Flanders and Swan, and Jennifer Chappell accompanied him on the grand piano. Although they had rehearsed (a bit) John's rendition usually broke down - resembling a sketch from a Morecambe and Wise show. After much amusement from the audience, and several false starts, the piece eventually concluded. I decided in later years to ask only the boys of the choir to sing a solo item of their choice ...

When John died, the money given at his funeral service was kindly donated to the choir. This was spent on some replacement robes.

Ken Barker (Choir helper)

Ken Barker had been a friend of mine for many years before I took over as choirmaster. In 1981 he volunteered to assist with choir activities, and helped with planning the first choir camp. He owned a trailer, and a small towing caravan - which proved eventually to extremely useful in which to prepare food on camp, when the weather was not so good.

The old 4ft x 8ft trailer had high sides, and was ideal for transporting items to the campsite, and I am sure ity was often overloaded well beyond its legal limits - with tents, tables, cooking utensils as well as everyone's luggage. Anything that would not fit in the trailor went in the caravan ...

Ken was very kind hearted, and would help with anything that needed doing - but he did have some rather unusual (and rather annoying habits). One of these was to find a 'bargain' but then have to travel miles to fetch it - costing more in petrol than the potential saving.

He amused the boys by using a shopping bag on wheels which he pulled behind him. The boys referred to it as his trolley - actually it was probably not such a silly idea in reality.

Ken loved the idea of boats, and decided on a whim to buy a boat for the choir - after we had all enjoyed official boat trips on Swanage Bay during one of the choir camps.

His boat would hold about 4 - 6 people, and Ken also bought an outboard motor. So now we had three things to transport - trailer, caravan - and a boat on its own trailer!

As far as I remember, the boat was a total disaster. It was taken all the way down on the Devon / Cornwall choir camp, and tried out at Exmouth. It was soon discovered that the boat actually leaked, and so it went back to Spalding unused ... The novelty of this boat soon wore off and it then lay unused in Ken's warehouse on Double Street in Spalding.

When Ken died, he left the three items to the choir - which I attempted to sell for choir funds.

The boat went to place at Oundle. They tried the boat on the water and said they would phone me with an offer. Apparently the boat sank, and was not worth anything at all. The trailer had seen better days and the chasis was completely rusted out .... When we eventually managed to get to look at the caravan in his garden we found that vandals had smashed the windows and broken in.

So all in all, the three items were not of any value at all. Despite this, I will always remember how much time Ken gave to the choir - helping with all the events - including the trip to Speyer.

Please let me know if any other characters come to mind ......