A belated happy new year to all, as we continue rehearsing for our spring concerts. Dates fixed so far are :
| Friday March 11 | All Saints Church Hall, 7.45 |
| Friday March 18 | Trinity Methodist Church, Mirfield, 7.30 |
| Saturday March 19 | Ebenezer Methodist Church, Northowram, 7.30 |
| Saturday April 9 | Denby Dale Methodist Church, 7.30 |
Club nights, all starting at 7.45, will be :
| Friday April 1 | The Mikado |
| Friday May 6 | Pot pourri |
| Friday May 27 | The Sorcerer |
| Friday July 15 | To be arranged |
Don’t forget to sort out your party pieces for the pot pourri, and let Trevor know what you want to do (contact numbers at the head of the Newsletter).
At their meeting following last year’s show, the Committee considered the difficulties that had been experienced in raising cast and chorus for Yeomen , and decided that Princess Ida was too risky a venture for 2011. It decided that this year’s show would now be HMS Pinafore , and that members should make an early start in trying to attract new members, in the hope of retaining them for next year and making an attempt at Ida more viable.
HMS Pinafore will be performed at Halifax Playhouse from Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th November, and auditions for principal parts will be held at All Saints Church Hall on Sunday May 8th from 10.30 a.m.
The AGM will be held on Friday March 25 at 7.45. Papers will be sent, either by e-mail or post, to all members and patrons. After the AGM there will be a pie and pea supper, followed by a sing through HMS Pinafore choruses.
Subscriptions for 2010-2011 are due on April 1. Membership remains at £15.00, while patrons pay £7.50. Please send membership subscriptions to Sheila Simpson, 140 Green Park Road, Skircoat Green, Halifax, HX3 0SP. Patrons should send theirs to Stephanie Bolton, 'Aldwyn', Greenroyd Avenue, Halifax, HX3 0LP.
We were very sorry to hear of Reg Horner’s death in January. Reg and Angela were members of the Society from its early years, and while Angela spent her time on stage or directing, Reg worked behind the scenes, notably as Business Manager in the 1970s and 1980s. When they ceased to be directly involved with the Society’s activities, he continued to show a deep concern for its well-being, and was a frequent attender at AGMs, where he was a tireless cross-questioner of whoever happened to be Treasurer at the time.
Reg, like Angela, was elected a Life Vice-President of the Society, and came to all the shows, where he would occasionally pass comment where naval matters were in question, such as the appropriateness or otherwise of beards and moustaches. His deep involvement with the Navy, and particularly the Sea Cadets, was evident at his funeral, where a guard of honour lined the hall at Elland Crematorium, which he entered to the sound of the Yeomen overture. We left to the jauntier beat of Anchors aweigh . Our sympathy is with Angela and the family.
Reg had many interests, and Harold Galley has provided this memoir of one particular side of his life.
In 1961 I decided my not too notable goalkeeping career had ground to a halt. I decided to take up refereeing. After passing a course in Huddersfield I started to attend monthly referees’ meetings in Huddersfield. It was at these meetings that I first met a then clean- shaven Reg Horner.
We both found that we had some ability and moved through a feeder league system in West Yorkshire, officiating initially in the Huddersfield league then moving up through the higher leagues in the County. Reg and I both became class one referees and in the late sixties Reg was refereeing in the Midlands League and I attained the Central league. Reg visited exotic places like Scunthorpe, Barnsley, Rotherham and Grimsby refereeing their reserve teams. At the same time he gained promotion to the Football league where he ran the line. Initially it was in Divisions Three and Four but eventually he ran the line in the First division (now the Premier League).
The Football league formed a small number of teams of officials who assist the F.I.F.A. Officials and Reg was a member of one of these teams. He linked up with Clive Thomas, one of the top officials of the day. He appeared on television and unlike today there would be only 2 or 3 TV cameras at a match. Hence Reg's legs would been seen running across the top of your screen. Reg was eventually promoted to the supplementary list of referees and spent a season at that level. However a highlight of his career was his appointment to run the line at the FA Cup final at Wembley in 1976 when Southampton defeated Manchester United.
After retiring from refereeing Reg put a lot back into the game. He became a referees assessor and was often seen with pen and notebook on the Northern Counties East league and the North West Counties league. He also enjoyed assessing the men's chorus at Halifax G & S – I don't believe he gave out too many high marks however. I did have the pleasure of assessing Reg's performance as warder in Yeomen when he was resplendent in costume. As we all know his naval and refereeing talents far exceeded his acting talents.
You would think that spending a week on the Isle of Wight with Mike and Kath for half term would be a nice relaxing rest. Well think again! Quite sometime ago now I agreed, along with Christine Johnson and another friend Yvonne Doyle, to spend my half term holiday with the Whitties to help with the show Kath was producing. Mike was of course performing. By now the one show has magically become two! So we have both Trial and Pirates to deal with and yes, Whitty has built the sets for both. Heavy and big is an understatement. We should say that we have also lent various props from our loft, including the arquebus. Thankfully no-one stopped us on our journey south.
When we arrived at the Sunday evening (yes, Sunday evening) rehearsal someone was heard to say, “Oh good, northern rent-a-crew are here”. Rehearsal is interesting but it will get better, we hope. As between us we are Stage Manager, stage crew, props team, makeup lady, prompter, Queen Victoria and, if Kath has her way, soprano chorus in Trial , Christine spends Monday morning working out a plan of action as space is at a premium. Thankfully this works.
During the day we do have some time to ourselves but we are ready for the journey to Cowes by 5.30 p.m. This was always fun as Kath was usually in a hurry and could set off quite fast and without warning which meant that on one occasion she nearly left Yvonne behind. She is still here to tell the tale, I am happy to say.
Monday evening is a technical rehearsal with orchestra which we abandon at 10.30 p.m. not having finished Pirates . Everyone is very tired. It is going to be long week!! Needless to say we did just about survive what was a very happy week as they are a very nice group of people. It was great to see a Mabel and Frederic of the right age and both with lovely voices and good stage presence. Our thanks to John Berry and Pete Arnott, without whom we would have been even more tired - they were great.
Our thanks to Mike and Kath for their hospitality but next time we get up to a snowy Saturday morning in February we might just stay in bed.
Coming up soon
The following shows are taking place over the next few months, several of them involving Society members. Telephone numbers are for advance booking. :
See you at the AGM or a Club Night !