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The Goldhanger
Musicians With a church, a
school, two public houses, and a village hall, with no radio or television
available, there must have always been many musicians in the village over the
centuries. Sadly we only know of those recorded in our archives during the
20th and 21st century. Local musicians from the past in the first part below
are arranged in approximately chronological order. In some cases there are
links about them to dedicated webpages on this site. They all had established
reputations as either classical or popular instrumentalists and performers. current well known local musicians are identified towards the
end of this page ... |
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Ernest Mansfield
was a gold prospector who moved to Goldhanger in 1904 and organised many prospecting trips to Spitsbergen with the help of
the Revd Gardner and Dr Salter. He played the banjo, the trumpet and the
piano, and gave banjo lessons in New Zealand early in his career. Amazingly he took
a piano to Spitsbergen so that he could play while “overwintering” in his
prospector’s hut, which enabled him to watch over his mineral claims and
write two books. |
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Angela
Gardner |
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Angela was the daughter
of the Rector, the Revd. Frederick Gardner. A long
newspaper article recording her wedding in 1927 described how she “trained
the choir, played the organ in the Church and superintended the Sunday
School”. The article included this portrait of her. |
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Crawshay Frost lived
in Fish Street between 1926 and 1964, and was known for the diversity of his
pursuits and eccentric lifestyle. Here is a summary
of his life, and many newspaper and magazine
articles were written by and about him. Amongst his many talents, he
played the organ in St. Peters Church and the piano in The Chequers.
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Charles Ruffle |
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Charles Ruffle, or “Happy Sam” as he was
know was a long-time employee of Wilkin & Sons and live in Gate Cottage
at Bounds Farm. In the 1930s, with Stanley Wilkin’s
encouragement, he formed a village brass band which mainly performed in the Wesleyan Chapel. It was wound up at the outbreak of
WW-2. |
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The Spooner bothers |
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Lou Spooner, shown here, lived in Fish
Street and was just 3ft 7inches tall. He was a regular in the Chequers tap
room in the 1940s when he was not travelling with a circus. At weekends he
entertained other customers by tap-dancing on a table in the pub accompanied
by his brother playing a piano-accordion. Sadly we don’t know his brother’s
name nor have any other photos. |
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Sir Gilmour Jenkins, lived at the former Rectory, Goldhanger House in the 1950s and
60s. He as a senior civil servant who reached the level of Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Transport before his retirement in 1959. His
main interest was music, and was an accomplished armature baritone. Through
his conducting of London based choirs he established a place in the musical
world and was a lifetime friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams. |
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John lived all
his life at Bounds Farm, and was managing director of Wilkin & Sons and
the grandson of the Company’s founder. For many years he supported of his lay
priest father,
Stanley Wilkin by playing the
organ in the Wesleyan Chapel. He also played in
the village Brass band based in the Chapel and played the piano with a
particular interest in jazz. John died in 2006. |
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Oliver Warin went to the village school in
the late 1930s where his mother was the headmistress. At an early age Oliver
was recognised as a talented pianist and could frequently be heard playing
his mother’s piano in Head St., while occasionally playing the organ in St
Peters. Some recall that when he came home from Cambridge University he would
play well known classical music followed by his favourite jazz pieces. In
1955 he began travelling the world and became a very well known geologist,
ending his career and life at his home in California in 2008. |
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Kate Wright |
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Kate was Organist
and Choir Master in St Peters Church up until her sad premature death in
2009. She had trained as a school teacher but her great passion was music.
She had a fantastic voice and was a member of the local Camerata Singers. She
also played the piano well and for many years gave private lessons to young
people on her treasured grand piano at her home in Head St. |
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Ken had a Hammond
organ in an upstairs room in Fish Street which he played enthusiastically to
the delight of passersby who would sit on the wall outside his cottage and
listen. For many years he was the tower captain at St. Peters Church. On the
occasions when insufficient ringers were available he would play hymns on the
tower’s Ellacombe chimes. He arranged concerts and musical events such as
hand-bell sessions in the Church and was the stand-in organist. |
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Mick lived in
Fish St. for many years, and was a professional guitar player and composer
who played with many top bands during his long career. He had made a
significant impact on the pop music scene over a long periodof his live and
there are several websites that record his musical
achievements, including 4 videos, 24+ audio recordings and information about
his career. |
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For 30 years
Chris worked in various music departments of the BBC in London while living
in Goldhanger. He had a small pipe organ installed in his living room in
Church St. and played the St. Peters organ for special occasions, such as
weddings. He is best remembered as a lay preacher, at St Peters, and the
United Reform Church in Maldon. |
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These local musicians have an existing
presence on the web as the links to external sites demonstrate. Over time these external
links may become out of date. They are not presented here in a particular
order... |
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Jim Hulbert |
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Jim was the son
of Chequers Landlords Jim and Mary Hulbert and regularly played the Guitar with
his friends in the pub. He took part in a BBC TV programme about the history of
Osea Island made in the early 1980s. At that time Jim was working on the
Island’s farm. |
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Keith
Goldhanger /Chapman |
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Keith Chapman, alias
“Goldhanger” grew up on the Hall Estate and became a punk rock guitar player
in the 1980s. He moved to London and became a punk band leader in the 1990s
and a producer of recordd albums under the Headbutt, Bardard Kestrel and Goldhanger labels. He then switched into a punk radio journalist
and disk-jockeying. Today he hosts louderthanwar.com which
includes LTW-Radio. |
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Ian
Cooper with Paul
Hammond |
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Since 2013 Goldhanger
resident Ian
Cooper has produced music under the Ultramarine label together with business
partner Paul Hammond. “Ian moved his studio to Goldhanger in Essex where it
overlooks the estuary”.The Genres of their music has been described as “Ambient
techno”. Their latest release is dated 2023. |
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his website.. |
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Colin has lives on a local farm for many
years having previously lived on Osea Island at a time when it was a haven
for artists, musicians and writers. He created his debut solo album at the
aged of 17, and he has been performing and recording since the late
seventies, writing and playing all the instruments himself. There are many
early images on his wesite. His most recent album is dated 2022. A search
for “Colin Lloyd Tucker” finds many
websites referring to Colin and his music, such as discogs.com |
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Michael
McKell |
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Michael was a singer and song-writer before
he studied acting and performing classical roles on the stage. There followed
years in television support roles a villain. He was a leading player in the
police series Murder Investigation Team
and in TV afternoon soaps Doctors
and Emmerdale. He appeared in
several West End shows and well known films. In more recent years he has produced
several music albums singing and playing the guitar. Michael recently sung
and played at Gwenda’s
Thanksgiving Service more about
Michael Michael's film trailers
Michael’s YouTube trailers |
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Clive
Roberts |
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In the 1980s Clive was a member of the
Chelmsford based pop group “Vane” in which
he played the guitar. The group released only a few records before splitting
up, he then acquired “Trace Elliot”, a Maldon based guitar amplifier and
electronics company. That business was taken over by USA based Gibson Guitars
and Clive spent some time with them before returning to the UK and headed up Peavey Electronics, UK. Which is a
similar electric guitar support company. Clive recently played at Gwenda’s Thanksgiving Service. Vane on
YouTube - debut single from 1980
Clive recalls his early days |
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Ray and Kim |
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Kim singing solo accompanied by Ray on the
guitar, make an impressive musical couple. They have been performing in the
Church and at Village Hall events for many years with photos appearing on the
Village
Hall photo gallery. |
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Penny Adams |
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Penny has been the conductor of the Jubilee
Choir in the village ever since the 2012 Jubilee celebrations and has
conducted at many village events since then. She is currently the Performing Arts Faculty Leader at the Plume Academy in
Maldon and is a Goldhanger resident. |
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Andrew Kelso |
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Andrew is an accomplished cello player who has
been invited to play at Church and village Hall concerts and events many
times. As well as solo performances he has taken part in concerts elsewhere
as a member of string ensembles including at the NHS Barts Hospital. He is also St. Peters Tower Captain
and is Master of The Essex Association
of Change Ringers... www.eacr.org.uk/Master’s blog: Author Andrew Kelso DWN
revised in Oct 2023 |
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