Photographs relating to this article, including those in this extract, may be found in Gallery 2.1.3
After an evening service at Wylam Methodist Church one Sunday in 1903 a group of eight men sowed the seeds of what was to become a choir of national repute. Joined by other men from Prudhoe Methodist choir and after singing together in a field, the “Gleemen” came into being with Wylam’s butcher, Tom Leathard, as their first conductor.
In 1904 or 1905, for members’ convenience, a base was made in Prudhoe and rehearsals were held in the Wesleyan Hall. Miss Leathard was their first accompanist for concerts and festivals as well as for singing carols in the “big houses” in Wylam, including those of Sir James Knott (the first recorded President of the Gleemen) and Sir Charles Parsons.
In 1912 Tom Leathard retired and was succeeded by Harold Harland who held the post of conductor for thirty-eight years. During that time, in 1924, the Gleemen were invited by the Duke of Northumberland to sing at Alnwick Castle for Her Majesty Queen Mary. This trip necessitated a three hour trip each way by char-a-banc and, following a substantial meal in Alnwick, the proud singers arrived back in Prudhoe well into the early hours of the morning.
In 1904 or 1905, for members’ convenience, a base was made in Prudhoe and rehearsals were held in the Wesleyan Hall. Miss Leathard was their first accompanist for concerts and festivals as well as for singing carols in the “big houses” in Wylam, including those of Sir James Knott (the first recorded President of the Gleemen) and Sir Charles Parsons.
In 1912 Tom Leathard retired and was succeeded by Harold Harland who held the post of conductor for thirty-eight years. During that time, in 1924, the Gleemen were invited by the Duke of Northumberland to sing at Alnwick Castle for Her Majesty Queen Mary. This trip necessitated a three hour trip each way by char-a-banc and, following a substantial meal in Alnwick, the proud singers arrived back in Prudhoe well into the early hours of the morning.
Prudhoe Gleemen in Castle Courtyard c. 1920
Back row: L to R: 1st Joe Appleby, 2nd Fred Willis, 6th Harry Heslop, 11th Bob Hunter, 12th Billy RobsonThird row: 2nd John Harris, 9th Billy Willis, 15th Alfie Glendinning, 17th Tom Appleby
Second row: 7th Andrew Patterson, 8th Pearson, 9th Harland (conductor), 10th Marshall, 11th Isaac Murray, 12th Jack Fletcher
Front row: 4th Alf Appleby, 6th Willie Rutherford, 7th Rosborough, 10th Tom Leonard, 12th Gillespie
Back row: L to R: 1st Joe Appleby, 2nd Fred Willis, 6th Harry Heslop, 11th Bob Hunter, 12th Billy RobsonThird row: 2nd John Harris, 9th Billy Willis, 15th Alfie Glendinning, 17th Tom Appleby
Second row: 7th Andrew Patterson, 8th Pearson, 9th Harland (conductor), 10th Marshall, 11th Isaac Murray, 12th Jack Fletcher
Front row: 4th Alf Appleby, 6th Willie Rutherford, 7th Rosborough, 10th Tom Leonard, 12th Gillespie
In 1928, the GLeemen made their first recording for Columbia Records. Among many broadcasts from the BBC’s Newcastle studios, the Gleemen even made a concert in Esperanto in 1931 at the request of the British Esperanto Society’s secretary, Mr A R Fairbairn of Ryton, the grandfather of the Gleemen’s current secretary.
In 1935 the choir returned to Alnwick Castle, this time to sing before the Duke of Kent. It was Harry Harland who began the annual celebrity concerts by the Gleemen. Among those to feature were Owen Brannigan, Peter Dawson, Kathleen Ferrier and Ian Wallace. The Gleemen also sang with Gracie Fields in “Gracie’s Working Party” at Newcastle City Hall in 1947. This programme was designed to entertain local workers and was broadcast on the BBC’s Light Programme.
In their heyday the Gleemen had over eighty members. Successes at festivals have been numerous and frequent and included contests at local shows such as the Prudhoe Flower Show Choral Contest, Wylam Flower Show, Greenside Flower Show, Mickley Flower Show, Stamfordham Flower Show, Stocksfield Choral Contest and the Tynedale Musical Festival, together with successes at Carlisle Musical Festival, Birtley Choral Contest, Heworth Flower Show, Chester-le-Street Eisteddfod, Ryton,
Blackpool and Harrogate Festivals and the North of England Musical Tournament.
High tributes were paid to the Gleemen by many famous adjudicators over the years. For examples, at the Blackpool Festival of 1922, Mr Joseph Nesbett, the conductor of the world famous Manchester Orpheus Choir remarked “The inspired singing of this choir’s second piece was most charming. The performance will rank as one of the outstanding features of this year’s Festival”. In the following year at Tynedale Musical Festival, Mr Sidney Nicholson of Westminster Abbey declared, “I think this choir is simply splendid. They are invincible on today’s singing, and I award them maximum marks for their rendering of the Folk Song”. In the same year, at the North of England Musical Tournament, when the choir won the ‘Plummer Challenge Cup; Dr R Vaughan Williams said of the Gleemen, “The pianissimos of this choir were simply wonderful”, and at Blackpool in 1925, Sir R R Terry and Dr Tysoe, in their adjudication said, “we have had before us four of the best choirs in the country. The Northumbrian choir gave a masterly interpretation of a peculiar test bristling with difficulty. Their whole performance was most outstanding”.
In 1928 the Gleemen, with other united choirs and the Prudhoe Military Band performed at the opening ceremony for the Prudhoe District War Memorial, namely the Nurse’s Home on West Road. This is now a private house.
The choir’s last major engagement before the outbreak of the Second World War was at Alnwick Castle Garden Party. The war years were difficult ones for the choir, but it survived, giving concerts to help the Red Cross, the Soldiers’ Comfort Fund and other wartime efforts. Two of the choir’s members gave their lives during the war. Throughout the war years, the Gleemen’s secretary, Philip Marshall (secretary for 32 years and later chairman, who guided the Gleemen through the tragic years of two World Wars and the Depression of the 1920’s and 1930’s) arranged for all the choir members who were serving in the armed forces to receive, at six monthly intervals, a letter and a five shilling postal order: a small token, but a valued link with home.
The end of the war saw a rapid resurgence of the Gleemen. By 1946, they had grown to such an extent that members had to be ‘selected’ for concerts and new members had to serve for a year before being allowed onto the concert platform.
In 1951, Robert W Hull succeeded Harry Harland as conductor and continued in this post until 1982. Under his leadership the choir’s major interest was the entering of festivals, not least of which was the annual trip by Gleemen and their families by Primrose Coaches to the Blackpool Festival.
In 1978 the Gleemen were involved with the Prudhoe and Mitry Mory twin town initiative and for the first, and only time to date, the choir went abroad to France. The Ensemble Vocal Jean-Paul Gipon made a reciprocal visit to Prudhoe the following year.
In 1981, the Gleemen took part in BBC Radio Newcastle’s 10th Anniversary Birthday Show at the City Hall with Mike Neville, George House, Bill Steel, Frank Wappatt and the Shiremoor Marras. The following year the present conductor, Colin Smith, took over on Bob Hill’s retirement, so becoming only the fourth conductor in the choir’s history to date.
In recent years the emphasis has changed with less involvement in festival work, but the choir is in much demand for local concerts and those further afield. The choir also invites up and coming singers as its celebrities at its annual concerts as a means of assisting with the development of young talent. In the 1990’s a strong link has been forged with young musicians from St Petersburg (an initiative developed through Graeme Gilmore, who, at the time, was a member of Prudhoe High School staff and the Gleemen’s Deputy Conductor).
The commitment to the Gleemen, which is apparent in reading through the choir’s extensive records, can perhaps be best illustrated in the fact that six men have each given fifty or more years’ service in the choir, namely George Stokoe, Jack Butler, John Jacobson, John Peel, George Parkinson and Howard Taylor - a truly remarkable record!
In 1935 the choir returned to Alnwick Castle, this time to sing before the Duke of Kent. It was Harry Harland who began the annual celebrity concerts by the Gleemen. Among those to feature were Owen Brannigan, Peter Dawson, Kathleen Ferrier and Ian Wallace. The Gleemen also sang with Gracie Fields in “Gracie’s Working Party” at Newcastle City Hall in 1947. This programme was designed to entertain local workers and was broadcast on the BBC’s Light Programme.
In their heyday the Gleemen had over eighty members. Successes at festivals have been numerous and frequent and included contests at local shows such as the Prudhoe Flower Show Choral Contest, Wylam Flower Show, Greenside Flower Show, Mickley Flower Show, Stamfordham Flower Show, Stocksfield Choral Contest and the Tynedale Musical Festival, together with successes at Carlisle Musical Festival, Birtley Choral Contest, Heworth Flower Show, Chester-le-Street Eisteddfod, Ryton,
Blackpool and Harrogate Festivals and the North of England Musical Tournament.
High tributes were paid to the Gleemen by many famous adjudicators over the years. For examples, at the Blackpool Festival of 1922, Mr Joseph Nesbett, the conductor of the world famous Manchester Orpheus Choir remarked “The inspired singing of this choir’s second piece was most charming. The performance will rank as one of the outstanding features of this year’s Festival”. In the following year at Tynedale Musical Festival, Mr Sidney Nicholson of Westminster Abbey declared, “I think this choir is simply splendid. They are invincible on today’s singing, and I award them maximum marks for their rendering of the Folk Song”. In the same year, at the North of England Musical Tournament, when the choir won the ‘Plummer Challenge Cup; Dr R Vaughan Williams said of the Gleemen, “The pianissimos of this choir were simply wonderful”, and at Blackpool in 1925, Sir R R Terry and Dr Tysoe, in their adjudication said, “we have had before us four of the best choirs in the country. The Northumbrian choir gave a masterly interpretation of a peculiar test bristling with difficulty. Their whole performance was most outstanding”.
In 1928 the Gleemen, with other united choirs and the Prudhoe Military Band performed at the opening ceremony for the Prudhoe District War Memorial, namely the Nurse’s Home on West Road. This is now a private house.
The choir’s last major engagement before the outbreak of the Second World War was at Alnwick Castle Garden Party. The war years were difficult ones for the choir, but it survived, giving concerts to help the Red Cross, the Soldiers’ Comfort Fund and other wartime efforts. Two of the choir’s members gave their lives during the war. Throughout the war years, the Gleemen’s secretary, Philip Marshall (secretary for 32 years and later chairman, who guided the Gleemen through the tragic years of two World Wars and the Depression of the 1920’s and 1930’s) arranged for all the choir members who were serving in the armed forces to receive, at six monthly intervals, a letter and a five shilling postal order: a small token, but a valued link with home.
The end of the war saw a rapid resurgence of the Gleemen. By 1946, they had grown to such an extent that members had to be ‘selected’ for concerts and new members had to serve for a year before being allowed onto the concert platform.
In 1951, Robert W Hull succeeded Harry Harland as conductor and continued in this post until 1982. Under his leadership the choir’s major interest was the entering of festivals, not least of which was the annual trip by Gleemen and their families by Primrose Coaches to the Blackpool Festival.
In 1978 the Gleemen were involved with the Prudhoe and Mitry Mory twin town initiative and for the first, and only time to date, the choir went abroad to France. The Ensemble Vocal Jean-Paul Gipon made a reciprocal visit to Prudhoe the following year.
In 1981, the Gleemen took part in BBC Radio Newcastle’s 10th Anniversary Birthday Show at the City Hall with Mike Neville, George House, Bill Steel, Frank Wappatt and the Shiremoor Marras. The following year the present conductor, Colin Smith, took over on Bob Hill’s retirement, so becoming only the fourth conductor in the choir’s history to date.
In recent years the emphasis has changed with less involvement in festival work, but the choir is in much demand for local concerts and those further afield. The choir also invites up and coming singers as its celebrities at its annual concerts as a means of assisting with the development of young talent. In the 1990’s a strong link has been forged with young musicians from St Petersburg (an initiative developed through Graeme Gilmore, who, at the time, was a member of Prudhoe High School staff and the Gleemen’s Deputy Conductor).
The commitment to the Gleemen, which is apparent in reading through the choir’s extensive records, can perhaps be best illustrated in the fact that six men have each given fifty or more years’ service in the choir, namely George Stokoe, Jack Butler, John Jacobson, John Peel, George Parkinson and Howard Taylor - a truly remarkable record!