Wedding Processional played by Terry Wallis

Описание: St Chad's Church is an Anglican church on Hunter Street in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England.

This became the family's "Home Church" when I joined the choir in the mid 50's as a choirboy: at that time there was very large choir comprising some 25-30 choirboys (often with a waiting list) and around 12 men. The choir was affiliated to the Royal Schools of Church Music and very vibrant.

St Chad's Church in Burton upon Trent is in the diocese of Lichfield and the advowson is vested in the bishop. In 1979 the church was registered as a Grade I listed building. It was a gift to the town by Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton at a cost of £38,000. The architect was George Frederick Bodley but he died before the church was completed and it was finished by his partner Cecil Greenwood Hare. Work started in 1905 and the church dedication to Saint Chad of Mercia took place in 1910.

The church was designed in the Decorated style and built of red Hollington stone. The building includes a polygonal vestry and a detached north-west tower linked to the body of the church by a vaulted passage. There is a fine Bodley reredos in the north chapel.

It has been described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "the finest building by far in Burton-on-Trent" and in the listing text as "one of Bodley's best later works".

The organ inside the church is a three manual organ built by Peter Conacher and Co of Huddersfield (installed by 1909). The organ has 32 stops and consists of a swell, great, choir and pedal organ. The organ has a stop key system and has pure tin pipes which gives it a sweet sound.

The tower was intended to house a peal of eight bells. The frame was installed in circa 1909 along with just one bell. The bell and frame were made by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, the frame is a two-tier H frame with sub A frames on top. The bell that Taylors cast was the Tenor bell and weighed 21-1-8 Cwt and was tuned to the note of E. In 1999 the church at Newchurch became redundant and the six bells in it were put up for sale, the then vicar Paul Skillings put in a successful bid. The bells went back to Taylors for refurbishment and two new trebles were cast to take the peal up to an eight; one bell was donated by local football club Burton Albion F.C. whose ground is in the parish.

The new eight became a 13cwt ring in the key of G. However, due to this the bell that was already in the tower was incompatible and it was decided to sell the bell. Finally in 2000 the church had a peal of eight bells after ninety years.

I began my time in the choir at St Chad's Church in the mid 50's as 6 Decani when Peter Copeland was Head Choirboy and Gerald Wright was Deputy Head Choirboy: having my voice trained by Rene Marlow and being successful in many local and other music competitions, I became a principal boy soloist at the church, eventually becoming the Head Choir Boy.

When my soprano voice broke, I retired from the choir in July 1960 and was presented with the gift of The Book of Common Prayer and Hymns Ancient and Modern, signed by the Vicar (the Rev G Harris-Jones) the Organist (Harold Jardine) and the Choir Secretary (Charlie Kirkland) - the latter a very strict disciplinarian ! Rehearsals were on Tuesday nights for choirboys (an hour each separate for Juniors and Seniors) as well as on Friday evenings, to be joined after an hour by the men of the choir !

Having completed my Pianoforte examinations to Grade 8 standards of both Trinity College of Music, London and the Associated Board, Harold Jardine took me under his wing to teach me the organ and my first appointment as a church organist and choirmaster was at a Victorian church built in 1864 - designed by architect Vincent Cook - in the small village of Branston, south of Burton upon Trent.

An opportunity arose for an organist at Christ Church in Burton upon Trent and my application was successful - duties included Sunday morning visits to the nearby Burton General Hospital to accompany on the piano hymns that were sung on a different ward each week - the major service of the year was to celebrate St Luke's Day when it was a delight to have the church filled to capacity with dignatories, doctors, nurses and their families etc.

Sadly, Harold Jardine became unwell as organist at St Chad's Church in Burton upon Trent and for a period I covered both Christ Church as well as St Chad's Church services - quite a busy period for me with three choir rehearsals a week and three services each Sunday!

When unfortunately Harold Jardine passed away, my application to become Organist and Choirmaster at St Chad's Church was successful and I remained there until around 1974 when my banking career took me to work in the City of London.

I was encouraged to pursue an pipe organ diploma but the direction of my banking career and its own demands for banking qualifications deemed it to be impossible: that said, where ever my banking career took me, I maintained my much cherished organ skills.