Hitting all the right notes

THIS week, we're in Audley, as always with one eye on community history but also with a song in our hearts.

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Members of Audley Male Voice Choir strike a festive note during rehearsals. Pictures courtesy Allan Wright.

(Allan Wright)

Like myself, Allan Wright is a Wolstantonian with fond memories of playing football on the village Marsh. But our mutual interest in singing brought us together recently to discuss Allan's passionate involvement with the renowned Audley Male Voice Choir.

Allan, aged 78, the treasurer of the choir, worked for the fire service for around 40 years before retiring in 1998, by which time he had become well-established with the choir.

He is well-placed to explain some of its history: “At the time that Audley Male Voice Choir was set up in 1954, there was a school headmaster by the name of William Bowers who ran a ladies’ choir, a children’s choir and a mixed choir and he thought that there must be room for a male voice choir in the village.

“So he duly advertised and attracted in the region of 10 or 15 members initially. He did everything - secretary, treasurer, etc - and he developed the choir to the extent that it entered local competitions and won a few trophies. The choir was helped by the fact that wherever the choir travelled, Mr Bowers tended to pay for the bus. At that time, Audley was quite parochial, with a workforce that served the local pits and the four or five chapels were thriving.”

There's one thing about Audley’s Male Voice Choir - it has certainly enjoyed continuity since its inception - as Allan is keen to confirm: “We've only had five musical directors, William Bowers being the first but when his health began to suffer Philip Broadhurst MBE, below, who was a local pharmacist and the accompanist with Bowers, agreed to succeed him. Philip was our conductor for 44 years, not having been musically-trained.