Box and Fiddle
Year 21 No 06
March 1998
Introducing the Clubs
No 26 – Glendale A&F Club
by Sheila Smailes
The Glendale A&F Club have just celebrated their 25th birthday on 19th January, 1998. It all began in 1973 when local bandleader Robert Whitehead had the idea to start a Club in the area as he had to travel a good distance across the Border to the nearest Club. He got together with some fellow musicians and decided to try and form a Club. Preparation started in 1972 and a ceilidh was held to raise funds with adverts in the local press. The response was tremendous and a Committee was formed – Chairman and compere Mr Ron MacDonald, Robert Whitehead himself became the first Secretary, drummer Tom Wilson became Treasurer and the remaining members of that original Committee were Mr and Mrs Alan Brown (pianist), Mr John Wilson, Mrs K. Rogerson, Mrs Whitehead and Mr Geof Purvis (fiddle). The first President of the Club was Mr Jim Johnston. There was a closed membership of 172 with a waiting list of nearly 100. Fees were £1 membership and 40p entry. The first meeting was held in the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Wooler in January, 1973. The guest artiste was Jim Johnstone and his band and the supporting artistes were Robert Whitehead and his band, John Dagg, Willie Weddell, Tom Wilson, Jock Wilson, Robin Wilson, Will Atkinson, Willie Taylor and Geof Purves.
After the first season the venue had to be changed to the Black Bull hotel, where it is still held, owing to the large membership. The following months guest artistes were Jimmy Lindsay, Iain MacPhail, Bobby Crowe and Angus Fitchet. A concert was held in the September at the Glendale School, Wooler. Guest artistes were Jim Johnstone and Bobby Crowe and the year continued with Ian Holmes, Bobby Harvey and finished with a Dinner Dance with Jimmy Lindsay’s Band.
The first AGM was held in June 1974, and all reports showed a very successful year. In the early 1980’s exchange visits were arranged with Clubs at Perth and Falkirk. It wasn’t until 1985 that the waiting list for membership was cleared and the Club was open to all. The Club continued to have a Ceilidh, Concert and Dinner Dance for many years. There have been various changes to the Committee but we still have Will Atkinson as our President who took over office from Jim Johnston 23 years ago and has been re-elected every two years since. By 1991 membership had fallen to about 90 members therefore income had fallen too. It was decided to raise membership fees to £6 with £2 entry fee and £3 for non-members which included a buffet-supper provided by the Black Bull Hotel. It was also decided to hold a large raffle to bring in extra money for the Club 1st Prize being a Weekend Holiday for two people. This proved to be very successful. The following year 1992, four Committee members resigned at the AGM, including three of the main officials, the reason being pressure of work and long service on the Committee. There were no nominations for the three officials, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, however three members were proposed for Committee and they agreed to try and form a full Committee during the summer break.
There was a guest artiste already booked for September, the start of the new season. With encouragement and support from members and the local artistes a full committee was formed and although there have been changes since, the Club is running very successfully. We always have a good raffle on Club nights with prizes being donated by the members and Committee. When we celebrated our 21st Birthday it was decided to have as many of the original 1st night artistes as possible to play. They included Jim Johnstone as the guest artiste, Robert Whitehead, Geof Purves, Adrian Ions, Bobby Rae, Sandy Ramage, Will Atkinson, Jimmy Mitchell, Willie Taylor and Joe and Hannah Hutton and the opening band to be the Tillside Trio (John Dagg, Willie Weddell and Robin Wilson). The Club had a very successful visit to the Windygates Club in June, 1995, with a return visit in September, 1996 which ended tragically but another visit was arranged for June, 1997 and this night was tremendous and now in January, 1998 the Club has celebrated 25 years of enjoying Traditional Accordion and Fiddle music. We celebrated with Robert Whitehead as guest artiste, Wiggy Brown as our compere and our very own Tillside Trio for our opening spot. At our 21st Birthday we had a beautiful iced cake made by Jock Wilson which was cut by our President of 23 years, Will Atkinson, who was also celebrating his 90th Birthday (like his dear friend Jimmy Shand) at the end of January. Will was presented with a birthday cake, card and a basket of goodies. With it being near to Burns Night the Black Bull Hotel provided us with a haggis and neeps supper. The haggis was piped in by Richard Johnston on Northumbrian pipes and was addressed by our compere, Wiggy Brown. We have regular support from 3 other local bands – Norman Forster’s ‘Glen Aln’, Alan Cockburn from Dunbar and Joan Kirk’s ‘Kirkcowan Sound’. We also have players who come from Kelso and Hawick. We now have a regular membership of 75 plus many regular supporters. I hope the Club will have the support of members, guests and artistes for many years to come.
No 26 – Glendale A&F Club
by Sheila Smailes
The Glendale A&F Club have just celebrated their 25th birthday on 19th January, 1998. It all began in 1973 when local bandleader Robert Whitehead had the idea to start a Club in the area as he had to travel a good distance across the Border to the nearest Club. He got together with some fellow musicians and decided to try and form a Club. Preparation started in 1972 and a ceilidh was held to raise funds with adverts in the local press. The response was tremendous and a Committee was formed – Chairman and compere Mr Ron MacDonald, Robert Whitehead himself became the first Secretary, drummer Tom Wilson became Treasurer and the remaining members of that original Committee were Mr and Mrs Alan Brown (pianist), Mr John Wilson, Mrs K. Rogerson, Mrs Whitehead and Mr Geof Purvis (fiddle). The first President of the Club was Mr Jim Johnston. There was a closed membership of 172 with a waiting list of nearly 100. Fees were £1 membership and 40p entry. The first meeting was held in the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Wooler in January, 1973. The guest artiste was Jim Johnstone and his band and the supporting artistes were Robert Whitehead and his band, John Dagg, Willie Weddell, Tom Wilson, Jock Wilson, Robin Wilson, Will Atkinson, Willie Taylor and Geof Purves.
After the first season the venue had to be changed to the Black Bull hotel, where it is still held, owing to the large membership. The following months guest artistes were Jimmy Lindsay, Iain MacPhail, Bobby Crowe and Angus Fitchet. A concert was held in the September at the Glendale School, Wooler. Guest artistes were Jim Johnstone and Bobby Crowe and the year continued with Ian Holmes, Bobby Harvey and finished with a Dinner Dance with Jimmy Lindsay’s Band.
The first AGM was held in June 1974, and all reports showed a very successful year. In the early 1980’s exchange visits were arranged with Clubs at Perth and Falkirk. It wasn’t until 1985 that the waiting list for membership was cleared and the Club was open to all. The Club continued to have a Ceilidh, Concert and Dinner Dance for many years. There have been various changes to the Committee but we still have Will Atkinson as our President who took over office from Jim Johnston 23 years ago and has been re-elected every two years since. By 1991 membership had fallen to about 90 members therefore income had fallen too. It was decided to raise membership fees to £6 with £2 entry fee and £3 for non-members which included a buffet-supper provided by the Black Bull Hotel. It was also decided to hold a large raffle to bring in extra money for the Club 1st Prize being a Weekend Holiday for two people. This proved to be very successful. The following year 1992, four Committee members resigned at the AGM, including three of the main officials, the reason being pressure of work and long service on the Committee. There were no nominations for the three officials, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, however three members were proposed for Committee and they agreed to try and form a full Committee during the summer break.
There was a guest artiste already booked for September, the start of the new season. With encouragement and support from members and the local artistes a full committee was formed and although there have been changes since, the Club is running very successfully. We always have a good raffle on Club nights with prizes being donated by the members and Committee. When we celebrated our 21st Birthday it was decided to have as many of the original 1st night artistes as possible to play. They included Jim Johnstone as the guest artiste, Robert Whitehead, Geof Purves, Adrian Ions, Bobby Rae, Sandy Ramage, Will Atkinson, Jimmy Mitchell, Willie Taylor and Joe and Hannah Hutton and the opening band to be the Tillside Trio (John Dagg, Willie Weddell and Robin Wilson). The Club had a very successful visit to the Windygates Club in June, 1995, with a return visit in September, 1996 which ended tragically but another visit was arranged for June, 1997 and this night was tremendous and now in January, 1998 the Club has celebrated 25 years of enjoying Traditional Accordion and Fiddle music. We celebrated with Robert Whitehead as guest artiste, Wiggy Brown as our compere and our very own Tillside Trio for our opening spot. At our 21st Birthday we had a beautiful iced cake made by Jock Wilson which was cut by our President of 23 years, Will Atkinson, who was also celebrating his 90th Birthday (like his dear friend Jimmy Shand) at the end of January. Will was presented with a birthday cake, card and a basket of goodies. With it being near to Burns Night the Black Bull Hotel provided us with a haggis and neeps supper. The haggis was piped in by Richard Johnston on Northumbrian pipes and was addressed by our compere, Wiggy Brown. We have regular support from 3 other local bands – Norman Forster’s ‘Glen Aln’, Alan Cockburn from Dunbar and Joan Kirk’s ‘Kirkcowan Sound’. We also have players who come from Kelso and Hawick. We now have a regular membership of 75 plus many regular supporters. I hope the Club will have the support of members, guests and artistes for many years to come.