Appointment as choirmaster in 1981

I joined Spalding Parish Church Choir when I was 8 years old as a treble, in 1964, and remained a singer in the choir until 1974 when I went to Bede College (Teacher Training in Durham).

On returning to Spalding in 1977 I was appointed as a teacher at Spalding Parish Church Day School, and in 1979 I was invited to become Assistant Choirmaster, working alongside Colin Martin - with a view to taking over when he retired.

The choir had begun to lose some of its 'sparkle' the late 1970s, and when I became assistant choirmaster in 1979, I began to recruit some new boys from the Parish School.

Unfortunately the arrangement working with Colin Martin did not go as well as I had hoped, as Colin had a very authoritarian manner, and many of the new boys left after just a few weeks.

When Colin Martin retired on Easter Day 1981, I took over the post of Choirmaster. The incumbent at that time was Canon Graham Jakeman.

I remember being very excited - but also very nervous. I had never actually conducted the choir before, and had absolutely no idea how to conduct - as I had not had any training at all ...

I also knew that some of the senior men would possibly resent a much younger choir trainer, with a somewhat different approach to Colin Martin.

I really did look that young once ...

The membership of the choir in 1981 was very different to currently - with about 20 boys, and 14 men. Many of the boys had been recruited during the previous two years. The group as a whole did not gel all that well together, and so one of my first tasks was to introduce some social events.

Even though I was relatively inexperienced at running a choir, I had already realised that it would be best to keep things as they were, and only implement changes very gradually - and only if absolutely necessary...

The pattern of choir activities initially was:

Mondays: Boys' practice 4pm to 5.30pm

Fridays: Full practice 7pm to 8.30pm

Sundays: Morning and Evening services.

The vicar at that time chose all the hymns and psalms, and wrote these in a small black book, week by week (with no forward planning.) So, the first obstacle that I encountered was the difficulty in receiving this black book on a Monday in time for the boys' rehearsal. I found myself regularly ringing the Parsonage doorbell at 3.45pm on a Monday in an attempt to find out what we needed to rehearse!

I really wanted to know in advance by at least two weeks what music was going to be required - so this system was not working for me.

Unfortunately, my working relationship with Canon Jakeman was to be short lived, as he suffered a major heart attack, and died later the following year.

The churchwarden, Ray Matthews, invited me to choose the music for the time being - and that proved to be an enormous help, as it enabled me to plan a month or more in advance.

During the interregnum (the time without a vicar) I contacted Martin How of the Royal School of Church Music, and he visited Spalding with ideas about revitalising and developing the choir.

One of his first suggestions was to add 'Choir Club' to the agenda, and to consider moving the Monday practice to another day of the week - when the church hall was available to use.

Initially I added in a Thursday practice for the boys, which included a period of choir club.

Later in the 1980s the current Wednesday pattern was established - Choir Club after school until 4.30pm; practice from 4.30 - 5.30pm - followed by choir club again until 6.15pm.

I also changed the Friday evening practice slightly to allow the first half an hour to be with the boys only, with the remaining time with the full choir. This also remains the same to the present time.

The piano used for rehearsals was a small folding 'ship' piano which, although very compact, had a very poor tone, and was not ideal for our rehearsals. That was something else that I would need to replace eventually - if any funds became available.

Martin How had given me good advice on how to recruit more choir members, and I was well-placed at the Parish School to invite more boys to join us. The recruitment campaign that followed resulted in over 20 new boys joining the choir (and a couple of the older gentlemen leaving as they did not really approve of my changes...).

I also began to plan more outings for the choir. Up until now there had been the occasional annual choir outing - I remember as a treble visits to Duxford and Heathrow Airport to watch the planes....

The actual training of the boys to sing seemed to happen relatively easily, and the 'club' feeling seemed to develop a sense of comradeship. I had great help from one of the younger choirmen - Mark Sanderson, who over the coming years would prove to be extemely helpful in instigating all kinds of improvements to the choir. He also used his musical knowledge to help train the boys, and was the driving force behing the recordings, the Cathedral Visits, the Choir Open Evenings and the choir camping trips. I am very grateful to Mark for all the time and effort he gave to the choir during the 1980s before moving away from Spalding.

We began to plan simple outings, and initially we took groups of boys to Ayscoughfee - using the putting green, and playing football and cricket on the grass near the old bandstand, and I distinctly remember a game of 'golf' on the Gleed School field when a golf ball inadventently 'disappeared' through a window in the groundsman's hut .... We also visited a steam rally for the afternoon, and went for picnics at Barnack, where the boys paddled in the River Welland. (Before health and safety regs became the norm...)

A choir camp was planned for August to Kelling Heath Camp Site, near Weybourne in Norfolk - see section entitled 'Camps'.)

Up until now, the PCC (Church Council) had not allocated any funds for the choir, and seemed very unwilling to fund anything at all. After a great deal of persuasion a sum of money was allocated, but this was only allowed to be spent on choir necessities - music or robes - not on any 'frivolities' such as outings ... The church council did not see the choir as a club of any kind, and did not see the need for any outings or other activities. We therefore decided that we would have to do our own fund raising.

So began a sustained plan to raise money with sponsored hymn singing, jumble sales and, most importantly, selling refreshments and other items at the annual Tulip Parade in May.

As you will appreciate, it is often tricky to recall exactly when various events occurred, and so from here I am going to change from chronological events, and place similar events into categories.