From Derrick Ellershaw

I am writing about the photo supplied by Thelma Caddoo. My memory of this photo is that it is of the under 12s choir. The cup and shield represent first places in the musical festivals at Blackpool Opera House And Blackburn Town Hall. The choir was made up of boys from the 3 forms of the 1954 intake.

I am the small boy seated on the far right of the photo.

If memory serves me correct the boy second from the left seated is Jimmy Noble and the boy next to him is "Big" Dougie Hudson.

The boy holding the cup I think is Kenneth Hitchen (Trevors Warehouse) and the boy fourth from the right seated is Jimmy Lord.

I think the boy's surname third from the left second row is Andrews and the boy third from right second row is Stuart Robinson.

I think the boy top left back row is Robert Simpson.

Hi Martin,

I was intrigued by the above photo and comments from the Meliora website. I was unaware of an under 12's school choir. I know that certain people in the photo were earlier than 1954 intake.

The tall boy in the middle at the back, Edward Ellis, was, I think ,1952 like me. We both sang solo on the local music festival circuit. Looking to his immediate right is Peter Laycock, 1953. Fourth from the left on the second row is Barry Wild,1952.

The choir won the Blackpool Music Festival first prize in October 1954 when I was a member. My absence from the photo was, I suspect because it was taken after roughly April 1955 when my voice began to break or I was simply absent at the time. I wonder, if anyone else can approximate the date of the photo. Many of the faces are familiar to me as fellow choir members.

Regards
George Pickup

e-mail :- George Pickup

The boy holding the shield on the left (as you look at the photo) is Peter Teale. For many years Peter was in the St. John's Church choir and is now an accountant.

I am 5th from right, second row: Steve Scholes.

I don't think the choir was just under 12s because I remember singing in it until about the third year (now Year 9) when I decided I had had enough and left. It was probably better described as the Junior Choir. The music master was Mr. Whittaker. We also entered the Lytham St. Annes music festivals as well as the ones mentioned - and one year nobody entered against us so we did a concert there instead. We just were too good!!

So far I can find no mention of the old School Song - "Tarantara" from the Pirates of Penzance. Always great fun as the junior and seniors raced each other and the soloist (first Bill Breeze, the Deputy Head, and later Ken Topping who took over when he retired) to see who could finish first! I can still sing it! I never did understand how it came to be chosen with such delightful sentiments as "Go ye heroes go and die!" Much better than the more 'proper' public-school-like "How blessed are they who have seen a great light" which HM Luft (known to all as 'Herman') tried to introduce to give more gravitas. It never did catch on.

When I can lay my hands on it I have a complete Grammar School magazine for around 1962 which I can make available in one format or another.

You should add to the distinguished former pupils internationally acclaimed conductor David Atherton. (You can get details of his achievements by doing a net search on his name.) I remember David being on a school camp I attended - either at St. Ives, Cornwall or at Greystones in Eire. (Both organised by Denis Quinlan - who bought much of the food from my Dad's shop. I had to serve him on several occasion as he lived only a few streets away. (Very nerve-racking for a young lad to serve one of his teachers!)). I have some photos somewhere which I could search out to see if they are reproducible.

Steve Scholes

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