Category: About Us

Margaret is a solid, reliable foundation in our choir with a fabulous, friendly and caring personality. She guides us through the tricky passages in our repertoire and is always on hand to help, whatever the issue. Margaret is the second longest serving accompanist in the 75 year history of the choir and we are so lucky to have such a talented musician in our music team; I know our MD Ian Grice highly values her support and experience – as do we all.
Instead of featuring a chorister this month, Margaret kindly wrote a blog piece for the website. You will see what we mean when we say she is invaluable!. Thanks Margaret.
Geoff Mansfield

I was born in Sutton in Ashfield and grew up in Mansfield Woodhouse with my parents and older brother. I was lucky that there was a piano in the house which had belonged to my dad’s mum. Grandma, who died before I was born, was a pianist and violinist. I started piano lessons when I was 4 years old and later played duets with my brother who also had lessons. My mum loved singing and possessed a good voice which I sadly did not inherit. My dad had had some piano lessons from his mum as a boy but gave it up as his brothers were outside playing and teasing him through the window! He could play the piano by ear though.

I used to enjoy listening to old 78 records on the gramophone, popular songs and pieces from the 1940s and 50s. As a teenager I collected a few classical music LP’s as my interest in classical music developed. I started learning the clarinet at the age of 16 and later went on to study music at Birmingham University. I enjoy listening to a wide variety of music in addition to classical. I had ballroom dancing lessons up until the age of 17, when the draw of the school hockey team became too great and Saturday mornings were set aside for matches rather than dance lessons! However, I have happy memories of waltzing around the ballroom above Market Chambers to the strains of Moon River; it has been a favourite song ever since.

My working life involved music as I taught in primary schools for 20 years; this included teaching music and taking choir practices. This was followed by nearly 10 years working in customer services for the county council.

I started to accompany the Male Voice Choir in November 2002 after an invitation from the then chairman to come along to choir practice and I have been there ever since, excepting during Lockdown of course! I have always found the choristers and supporters very friendly and welcoming and have enjoyed the music making, the concerts and social activities too. The younger members of the choir are valued and hopefully will attract and encourage more of their peers and friends to join. A variety of music in the repertoire including contemporary alongside the more traditional Male voice standards encourages engagement and enthusiasm from choristers and audiences alike. I like the distinctive sound and the power that the men’s voices can produce. There is a great camaraderie among the members and supporters, and it is great to be part of a team, meeting different people and making music together. New members can find a buddy to help and support them and all members are encouraged to practise at home in order to improve; this includes me too as I practise the piano parts at home.

I have always been actively involved in the Catholic Church, playing the organ for 40 years, latterly at St Philip Neri Church in Mansfield. I accompanied the church choir and played for services and concerts. When I moved to Nottingham in January 2020 I joined the Good Shepherd Parish. There has been no live music of course for over a year but I have been helping with stewarding at Mass. My Christian faith is a very important part of my life.

Aside from music I enjoy sport, especially football, cricket and tennis (spectating nowadays), jigsaws, walking in the fresh air and spending time with my family – my brother, daughter , son-in-law and grandsons who are aged 9, 7 and 4 as well as my 94 year old aunt. I keep meaning to begin a painting hobby soon – of the artistic kind not the decorating! I have the materials and instructions to hand and now just need some inspiration! I have also been sporadically trying to learn Italian with a CD and increasing the number of chords I can play on the guitar to more than 4!

I love to sing! – John Scanlon, 1st Tenor

Our chorister this month is John Scanlon. John is a quiet, unassuming gentleman who, 52 years ago, at the age of 19, emigrated from his hometown. His story is fascinating and as you will see portrays a full life. He is a valued member of our 1st tenor section and helps the choir as Assistant Librarian with Gerald Houldsworth.

I was born in Galway, Ireland. I had a happy childhood surrounded by family and friends and my brother Maurice and his family still live in Galway. My wife, Jo and I, often visit and thoroughly enjoy the family gatherings when we meet. Here is an early photograph.

I started singing in both primary and secondary school and really enjoy my singing today. I grew up an Elvis fan and used to enjoy watching show bands in Ireland in the 1960’s. This is my era and I still enjoy listening to 60’s music as well as some classical works.

In December 1969 I decided that I needed a bit of an adventure and to strike out on my own. My uncle lived in Bedford, so I moved to a new country to live with him and to seek out a career for myself.
Within a year I moved to Surrey to take up a job as a student nurse which led to a career as a mental health nurse. It was through work that I met Joanna in 1979 and we got married in 1981. It will be our 40th wedding anniversary in 2021.
Jo and I resided in the county of Surrey until 1988 when we made the move to Mansfield.
We have a family of four sons, John, Sean, Paul and Daniel and one grandson Maxwell born in 2020 to Sean and his partner Ruth. I retired from my last job as a mental health nurse eleven years ago.

I have maintained my Irish roots through the Mansfield Irish Association which is a group whose aims are to promote Irish culture, music , contacts and to arrange social activities.
We encourage fellowship and of course, we have a fortnightly luncheon club which keeps us meeting and socialising. It was through this association that I was lucky enough, in 2014, to meet the Her Majesty the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.

It was Keith Turner, a friend of ours, who told me about the choir and encouraged me to come along and give it a try. I wanted to try something different, and I found that I was made very welcome. I settled in very easily and the support was excellent. I was specifically helped and mentored by a long serving member, John White, together with support from Dave Gee and our now Musical Director Ian Grice. I have now been with the choir for seven and a half years and really enjoy singing, learning new songs and the camaraderie of my fellow choristers. My favourite moment was the Royal Albert Hall in 2018; the atmosphere was exciting, and it was fantastic to experience the massed singing of programme and to see all our hard work in practices come to fruition.

Male Voice Choirs are special as they provide a sense of bonding and the activity benefits both physical and mental health and your social life.
To encourage new choristers, I think we should consult with schools, colleges, and universities to promote the choir and the benefits of singing and encourage younger members to ask their friends as well as advertising on social media.

Apart from music, I enjoy walking (Jo and I belong to a local walking group), reading, watching murder mystery programs on the TV, most sports and spending time with the family. The best thing about being in the choir is a sense of belonging and my advice to a new chorister would be to enjoy the experience and to be keen to learn and have faith in your own ability.

In our series “I love to sing!” about the characters in our choir here is a biography of Ian Bartle. Ian is a true and faithful member of our 2nd tenor section. He loves everything to do with the choir, not only is he a perfectionist singer and an occasional concert compere, he has contributed to the running of the choir as Membership Officer through his attendance on the choir committee. He always volunteers to help, has established up maintains the Health and Safety requirements for our choir and has a designated role at our “Breakfast Morning” social events as chief washer up; a role he says he is made for! A cracking chap, here is his story.

Birth, Education, Jobs, Family
I was born at home in Mansfield in February 1955 in a small terraced house off Littleworth, Mansfield. I am the eldest of three children and the only son. My late father worked as a Drayman at Mansfield Brewery for most of his working life and my late mother worked part time as a cinema usherette, cafe waitress and a cleaner at Mansfield Brewery. Neither of them learned to drive a motor vehicle so we never had a car but we managed to get around on the bus and train for days out and our childhood was happy.

I attended King Edward Infant and Junior schools and passed my 11 Plus. I gained a place at Queen Elizabeth’s School (then a boy’s grammar). I left school in 1972 and joined Barclays Bank, where I worked for 6 years. I left to join the National Coal Board (as it was then) to be a Time and Wages Clerk at Thoresby Colliery. I remained there for just over 15 years until the pit closure programme enabled me to take voluntary redundancy in 1993. I had met my wife to be Sue in 1983. We were married in March 1986 at St Mark’s Church, Mansfield and have two daughters, Sarah (born 1987) and Kate (born 1992). So when I left British Coal I was 38 years old and with a young family – I needed a job! I was taken on by the Benefits Agency as a Fraud Investigator just 3 weeks after leaving my job at Thoresby and I remained there for just over 2 and a half years. Then in 1996 I joined Nottinghamshire Police as a member of support staff, working in Crime Management and Force Intelligence for a total of 21 years, taking early retirement in 2017. I now have 2 grandchildren, Harry and Holly, aged 5 and 2 respectively and they keep me busy!

My eldest daughter Sarah studied Contemporary Lens Media (that’s photography to me) at Lincoln University and until the pandemic was a photographer at weddings and events. She now works for the Health Service. My youngest daughter Kate studied music at West Notts College Mansfield and Hull College and is now a teacher in Nottingham.

How did you get to join the Choir?
I have always had a love of music from a very early age when my cousins (who were all a few years older than me) were buying the latest records from the late 1950s and the 1960s and I loved to hear them on the old record player, as well as on the radio. My favourite band will always be The Beatles but I like many other artists such as Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits etc. I could go on (and many people say I do). As I said previously, my daughter Kate studied music and plays the saxophone and piano. She was playing in a concert in 2010 at St Mark’s Church, Mansfield for the County Band who were appearing with the Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir. I had been a member of St Mark’s Church youth club and football team in my younger days. It was the first time that I had heard the Choir and I was very impressed with their sound. Sue urged me to try and join them and in 2011 I attended one of their rehearsals and the rest as they say is history. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner, and I mean that most sincerely folks (didn’t Hughie Green use to say that?).

What was your favourite appearance with the Choir?
Singing in the Choir has enabled me to sing in venues that I could never have dreamed of including The Manchester (Evening News) Arena, Derby Assembly Rooms, Albert Hall, Nottingham, Derby Cathedral and other much smaller places too numerous to mention. The one that would have to take top spot was our participation with over 800 male voices (mainly Welsh) at the Royal Albert Hall, London in 2018. When I thought of the great acts that had appeared on that stage before us, many of them hero’s of mine, I was filled with awe and pride to be representing my home town of Mansfield in front of so many friends and family. I wasn’t quite so chuffed when I realised that I had left my jacket undone for almost all of the first half of the concert and I was on the front row. I have the DVD to remind me too! I also enjoy singing at Queen Elizabeth’s Academy as it is now called, my former secondary school.

What keeps you going?
I look forward to our rehearsals at St Augustine’s Church, Abbott Road, Mansfield every Tuesday evening as it is like having an extended family but everyone is a friend. I was made to feel welcome from day one almost 10 years ago and being in the Choir is a classic example of the more you put in, the more you get out. I also like the way that the wives and family can become involved via the Ladies Support Group, who have helped to raise thousands of pounds through social events such as our breakfast mornings, which are held a few times a year and are always popular. They are a great opportunity to come along and meet some of the Choir members, have a breakfast and a chat and get to hear us sing a few songs. Don’t be shy, give it a try.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to spend time with my family, looking after my two grandchildren, walking my two dogs, DIY, gardening, listening to all kinds of music, singing with The GentleMen, reading, playing a bit of guitar, trying to learn the piano and watching documentaries and dramas on TV. I am also an ardent follower of Manchester City FC and go to games when I can. We also have a static caravan in North Yorkshire so we go there as often as possible, and Sue and I enjoy our City Breaks, both abroad and in the UK.