120

2 Chris#

Newsletter of Old Boys & Friends of 70

London BB Company

REFLECTIONS

Talk to any OB and most will speak of the

impact the time in 70th had on their lives.

Not only an impact on their formative

years but so too on their lives beyond the

70th. The interviews conducted in

preparations for the book A Positive

Contribution endorse this fact. Regularly

mentioned by the interviewees were the

positive and long-lasting effects of the 70

on Discipline, Teamwork and Comradeship.

In previous editions of Reflections, OBs

have recounted stories on how time in the

Boys’ Brigade impacted their lives. One

kind of influence however not covered in

any detail before is the awakening of

musical talent and interest. In this Edition,

Dave Richardson explains…

We now have an OBs web presence! I

recently set up a very simple set of pages

at... www.70thlondonoldboys.org.uk

The original idea was to create a means of

making recordings of some Bugle Calls,

Drum Solos and Bugle Band pieces available

online. Having done this, it was a small step

to include contact details in the hope that

any ‘missing’ OB’s might light upon the site

and get in touch with us. Have a look and

let us know what you think. Any ideas for

extra content etc. are most welcome.

7070

thth

OB’s Website Launched!

OB’s Website Launched! OB’s Website Launched!

OB’s Website Launched!

Edition

April 2011

Whilst hopefully I still have your attention...

On behalf of you all, thanks to Alan for his

continuing excellent work in putting

Reflections together and to John and Keith

for their valuable ‘behind the scenes’

committee work. Thanks also are due to

those of you who, past, present and future

contributed and will contribute to our

newsletter.

Now enjoy the rest of Edition 5...

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two OBs Jack Fishpool and Dave

Richardson, tell us in what way this

happened for them.

Friendships naturally come and go and it is

a shame we have lost touch with many of

the ‘boys’ who have passed through the

. Nevertheless many friendships have

endured and blossomed with the passage

of time as the now regular reunions bear

testament. Alan Cagney writes in this

Edition about his strong and long-lasting

friendship with Malcolm

[Sam] Smith.

We would love to hear your

‘story’ however short

or long.

The

The The

The Life Changing 70

Life Changing 70Life Changing 70

Life Changing 70

thth

…

… …

…

This is one of those questions that occurs

to me periodically... but after a few

minutes thought on the various influences

we have all been subjected to - family,

education, experiences, friends, work, it

becomes clear that the question is

unanswerable, particu

larly when one starts

to think of what proportion each influence

has exerted.

But, however unquantifiable, many OBs,

myself included, count their years in the

as having made a significant

contribution during that formative period

when moving from boyhood to manhood.

For myself, aside from sharing the belief,

held by many of us that the discipline,

guidance and comradeship ‘stood us in

good stead’, one of my major continuing

interests, that of making music, is I think,

strongly linked to the influence of the 70

From playing the bugle in the band and at

camp to the singing of hymns and choruses

at Bible class and in Church, I was instilled

with a love of actually being part of

creating music, rather than just listening

to it.

REFLECTIONS

Page 2

How has all this manifest

ed itself in adult

life? Well I took up the guitar - blame

skiffle and Buddy Holly - played the

trumpet in a trad jazz band at university

and the flute in recent years. And

I carried

on singing singing in ‘congregations’ with

folk clubs, community choirs

and Churches.

For the past 20 or so years I have been

attending Shape Note singings, both here

and in the USA. This type of singing uses

differently shaped noteheads in its music

notation, to aid sight singing, and forms

the basis of a lively, unaccompa

nied, hymn

singing tradition that originated in America

in the 1800s. I mainly sing bass and my

earliest recollection of someone singing

that part is Arthur Yerill in the Tooting

Junction Baptist Church Choir in the late

1950s. He was known affectionately as ‘Mr

Yell’, which reflected his strong singing

style, one I find myself still trying to

What Happened Next……….

What Happened Next………. What Happened Next……….

What Happened Next……….

Two OB’ tell how their time in the 70

awakened a lifetime

interest in MUSIC

Dave Richardson

What made us the

individuals we are…?

REFLECTIONS

Page 3

SHAPE NOTES

Shape notes are a music notation

designed to facilitate congregational

and community singing. The notation,

introduced in 1801, became a popular

teaching device in American singing

schools.

emulate…

So the flame, lit more than 50 years ago,

has continued to at least flicker…

But, where might all this be leading?

Well my guess is that at least some of you

share my enthusiasm for singing those

hymns and gospel songs that we, ‘of a

certain age…’ were brought up with. The

pieces I am thinking of here are the BB

related ones like ‘We Thank Thee O Our

Father’ and of course ‘Will Your Anchor

Hold’, hymns like ‘He Who Would Valiant

Be’ and gospel songs like ‘Blessed

Assurance’. The latter popularised in the

UK by the visits of Moody & Sankey in the

late 1800s and by the Billy Graham Missions

in the 1950s and 60s.

I hoped that we might have had sung some

of these at the last Reunion and had

prepared some booklets to that end, but

the opportunity did not present itself as,

very appropriately, we spent much time

discussing the sad losses and events that

Dave Richardson

Dave RichardsonDave Richardson

Dave Richardson

…… continued

had taken place in the previous months.

The next Reunion, planned for 2012, will

hopefully give us the opportunity to make use

of the booklets and raise our voices, albeit

‘tucked away’ in the small hall so as not to

disturb those who wish to continue chatting

in a quieter environment…

Please let me know if this is of interest and

also any pieces that you would particularly

like to sing again.

Other OBs under the influence….

Dave Richardson and Jack Fishpool were not the only OBs whose musical talents were influenced

by their time in the BB.

John Pizey writing in ‘A Positive Contribution’ recalls…

… it can be said that my experience in the BB introduced me to the world of entertainment. I

went on to learn the trumpet and trombone in my spare time. I became a part time entertainer

and indeed still perform at a small club in Australia… not the trombone or trumpet now as

health and teeth won’t allow!

Jack Fishpool

Jack Fishpool Jack Fishpool

Jack Fishpool

…. I enjoyed all my activities in

the 70

, but band was my main

interest and passion

My memories of the 70

London go back a

long time. I was in the Life Boys from 8 yrs

old prior to joining the BB main company.

As soon as I could I joined the Company

band, learning the basics of drumming

under Peter Knights. As I progressed, and

others aged out, I became the solo

drummer also playing solos at the Albert

Hall in the Battalion Massed Band.

I enjoyed all my activities in the 70

, but

band was my main interest and passion.

When I reached 18 it was time for me to

leave the BB and around this time I met my

future wife Margaret who at that time was

a colour Sargent in the 2nd Brixton Girl’s

Brigade Company. I was only a Lance

Corporal so was outranked by her [still

am!!]. She became my new passion!! We

started courting and planning our future

together so my drumming ceased. We were

married in 1964 and moved to Crawley in

1968 with our 1yr old son Steven.

My chance to start drumming again came

when a colleague at work who played an

accordion was looking for a drummer to

accompany him at Weddings and Parties

etc. I bought a Drum Kit [£27] and started

practising. I got the bug again for playing

and also decided to join a local Brass Band.

My father had played drums and

grandfather played cornet in Brass Bands,

so I was carrying on the family tradition.

My drumming experience progressed and I

was soon asked to play with various other

bands. By this time we had a daughter

Sharon, born 1970.

In 1974 I went to work for British

Caledonian Airways at Gatwick Airport,

(later to merge with B.A), as an engineer.

Working for an Airline enabled me to travel

at little or no cost world-wide. I stayed

with B.A until I retired in 2000 keeping my

Staff Travel.

My drumming took a new direction when I

was asked to join a newly formed Jazz

Swing Rock Band (5 players). This band

called Pendulum soon became a great

success playing clubs, dinner dances,

REFLECTIONS

It all started with Peter Knights in the 70

Page 4

Jack and his

first Drum

[aged 13/14]