A 'band' photograph sent in by David O'Connor (G 59-65), found by Grant Muter (G 60-65) - Can anyone help? “Vicky Jones, Grant Muter's wife, has emailed to me a photograph taken at St Bees in 1963 which they recently discovered in the attic of their Welsh farmhouse. Grant's memory is not so good these days and the hope was that I could confirm the lineup and shed some light on what was going on. Written on the back in Grant's handwriting is 'Grant Muter, Grindal House, St. Bees School, 1963' and he identifies the sitters, starting in the top row, as 'Hay, Goldthorpe (Wand-Tetley), Grant Muter, 'Hiram' Richard Bourne, David O'Connor, Anderson, Adrian Lees, Sam .., ... ...'.  Damage means that the last two names are incomplete, but they must be Sam Morton and I think Geoff Steven.
The band comprises in the top row: David Hay on horn, D.J. Goldthorp with rifle, Grant Muter on trumpet, Richard Bourne wearing fives gloves and David O'Connor on bugle. In the bottom row Michael Anderson, appropriately attired in CCF uniform, on trombone, Adrian Lees holding I'm not sure what (a cricket bat?), Sam Morton on trumpet and Geoff Steven on cello.
I'm afraid I have no recollection of the occasion which looks a bit like a restaging of a Surrealist Group event in 1920s Paris or Dada in Zurich in the 1930s! In his dressing gown and false moustache Grant might be standing in for Salvador Dali. Most, if not all of us, were in the choir so may be the band was formed as part of the entertainment which used to follow the termly choir dinners at the Abbots Court Hotel. But given that we are all Grindalians, we may have been rehearsing for an end of term House concert. I think 1963 pre-dates the Grindal Grinders, a small orchestral group got together by Mr Stanion when Assistant House Master. Four of the brass players in the photo were in the Corps bugle and drum band and are included in the 1963 school photograph of that ensemble. Most evenings it was Grant who climbed out of a window onto the roof at Grindal to sound the Last Post down the valley at the end of the day. Others in the group had to stand in for him from time to time and I have a recording made in 1965 with Sam carrying out this task in the background. I can't make any sense of the setting, though the presence of the tuck box suggests that it is likely to be somewhere in Grindal. I'm hoping that everyone in the photo is fit and well. I have been pleased to read news of some of them in past issues of the OSB. If anyone can shed further light on the occasion, the setting or even possibly the photographer, then Grant and I would be pleased to hear from you. Fortunately, Richard is the only person to whom Grant has attached a nickname. I seem to remember that this came about because of his supposed resemblance to an American sitcom comic character, Hiram Holliday, whose adventures were broadcast on BBC tv in the early 1960s.” A link to the band photograph which is displayed on the Society website may be seen here.

 

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