Music has always been at the heart of the Moulding family

Both Mary and I were born into homes where music flourished.

Tim Moulding – once termed by Pulman's Weekly News – "The Mr Music of the District"

My grandparents, Hilda and George, had realised that as a small boy, Tim loved music. The family didn't have a piano at that time, but when Tim succeeded in passing his entrance exam to Colyton Grammar School, his reward from his parents was a new piano accordion.

Eventually, the family acquired a piano, but although Tim had piano lessons, he preferred the accordion. I'm sure this led Tim to become the accomplished pianist that he ultimately became. The piano accordion enabled him to pick out a tune, on the keys with his right hand, whilst by using the buttons with his left hand, he was able to select the appropriate chords to accompany the melody.

Tim becomes a dance band pianist in Gibraltar

As I mentioned in "Moulding's memories – Early Years", my mother and father met when they were both serving in Gibraltar during the Second World War. Tim was a flight-sergeant in the RAF and Beryl was a petty officer in the Wrens.

Tim's ability with the piano and piano-accordion as a boy led to his selection to play in the air-force band, whilst based on "the rock".

There were very few Wrens serving in Gibraltar, so the women on the island were probably out-numbered by the men, by a ratio of about 50 to one! As the pianist in the band, Tim was in a prime position to "eye-up" those few ladies attending the weekly dance evening.

He soon spotted Beryl and went into action, by finding one of his colleagues to play the piano, whilst he asked this new Wren for a dance. The rest is history! They were married in Gibraltar Cathedral in August 1945.

Harold Whitley – pianist and church organist

Mary's grandparents, Tom and Annie, encouraged their son, Harold to learn to play the piano. Harold became a skilful pianist and a church organist. The family always had a piano as Mary was growing up and Harold would entertain the family, playing dance tunes and melodies from the musicals. When they lived in Gloucester, Harold played the organ for services at Saul Church and other nearby country churches in that area. Later, whilst living in Cheltenham, he also accompanied one or two dance groups.

Harold's sister, Mary's Auntie Edna, also played the piano and was a wonderful singer, with a rich contralto voice. Her voice was in great demand in the churches where Edna lived – in Handsworth, Birmingham. Whilst I was working in Birmingham, work was being carried out in my digs and for six or seven weeks I lodged with Aunty Edna, where music featured on most evenings.

Axminster Town Silver Band

When Tim left the air-force in the early 1950s, his musical prowess was soon in demand. For a short while, Tim played the trumpet for the Axminster Town Silver Band. I remember as a very small boy going along to the rehearsals at the Plaza ballroom, where I can recall some of the members of the band – Charlie Turner, Chris Philby, Roy Searle and Derek Dimon – father of those lovely local singers Annette Wraxall and Vanessa Loader.

Tim's dance band music

From his experience playing dance music with the RAF in Gibraltar, Tim joined the Metronomes, an extremely popular band in the wider Axminster area, as their regular pianist. The Metronomes were about a 12-piece band, based on the style of the Glenn Miller Sound and played popular swing music, ideal for dancing or just listening to. I can well remember Tim playing the piano at home, familiarising himself with the Glenn Miller/Count Basie/Ella Fitzgerald tunes, which I still recollect. Tim never used any sheet music – he played totally by ear and all the bass chords fell into place. His memory was amazing – all he had was an exercise book, with the names of tunes written down. He could read the name and just sit down at the piano and play the tune.

Warner's Holiday Camp

I can't remember when the Metronomes ceased to exist, but in the mid-fifties Tim played piano at Warner's holiday camp, Seaton, where there is now a Tesco, Premier Inn and housing development. Tim had a resident band of four – piano, drums, double bass and either a guitar or saxophone.

It was hard graft for Tim in those days – working full-time as a decorator for the family building company and playing six evenings a week at Warner's! However, as a family we were never really "short of anything" – thanks to Tim's day job and the Holiday Camp earnings in the evening. Occasionally, as a young teenager, I would join Tim at the holiday camp – I appreciated the music and every week at Warner's there were a new crop of visiting young ladies!

Tim was even asked to spend Sunday afternoons at Warners, playing the piano and judging the "lovely legs" competition for the ladies and "knobby knees" for the men!

Tim Moulding and his band

Tim must have had seven or eight years at Warner's and he became keen to relinquish the six-night a week commitment at the Holiday Camp. This was the trigger for Tim to start up his own band – "The Tim Trio", or "Tim Moulding and his band" if there were more than three instrumentalists.

The band played in many hotels for dancing or background music and were also in great demand for the annual dinner dance for organisations throughout East Devon.

 The three other regular members of the trio were Les White (double bass), Gus Kensdale (Saxophone) and the drummer (I can't recall his name). All three lived in or around Sidmouth – so a number of their gigs took place in that area.

Tim found that the quality of pianos available at a number of function venues was poor – and so in the early history of electronic keyboards, Tim bought a "Clavioline". This was somewhat unique in local circles, as the Clavioline (just like modern keyboards) could be switched to replicate the sound of a variety of instruments – trumpet, violin, bagpipes, etc!

Tim enjoyed playing with his band, although the late nights, with several pints of beer under his belt (pre breathaliser!) were always an issue. 

Tim also had one or two favourite local hostelries, where he would play solo piano, greatly enjoyed by local revellers. One of these was the Tucker's Arms at Dalwood, where the custodians of the pub were Jim and Doris Heard. Tim had a regular Saturday night slot at the Tuckers, and as a family we would occasionally join Tim, particularly if we had a birthday or anniversary to celebrate. These evenings always involved raucous singing by the pub's customers, including our family, with my grandfather George Moulding, often leading on the rudest songs!

Piano Lessons for Andrew and Gill

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, it was decided that I should have piano lessons, followed a year or so later by lessons for my sister Gillian.

Our music teacher was Herbert Mearing, who lived in King Edward Road. After ringing the door bell, before we had stepped over the threshold we were greeted by Herbert Mearing saying "has mother sent the money" and out came the wallet, before we even sat on the piano stool!

Gill and I did reasonably well with our early years' music exams, sailing through the first three grades without too much trouble. However, by the time I reached Grade 4, more practice was required, which cut across my love for football and cricket.

I think that Herbie Mearing realised I wasn't going very far, as he would occasionally be bashing away at his typewriter, whilst I was struggling with the more difficult pieces.

I scraped through Grade 4 and then embarked on Grade 5. I'm not sure if it is still the same today – but to pass, you had to get a mark of 100, with the maximum being 150. I failed the first time I took the exam, with 97 marks. I took the exam again a few months later and passed with a score of 103. At least I had passed Grade 5, but I realised then that this was the time to stop and get on with scoring goals and taking wickets, rather than taking music exams. 

Gill, who is much more musical than myself, continued with her lessons and I believe she passed Grade 6. However, Gill and I learnt a few duets during our early years and we performed at one or two events, including at Warner's holiday camp. I suppose it was quite a novelty for a brother and sister to play piano duets together.

Gill still pursues her music in Australia, where she leads a choir, singing and accompanying a large choral group, who perform at a number of public venues.

Piano lessons for Mary and Rachel

Mary's father, Harold was keen for his daughters Mary and (a few years later) Rachel to have piano lessons. Mary tried hard but didn't get too far, although even today, she occasionally struggles through a few tunes on the piano. Rachel pursued her piano lessons considerably further than Mary and plays well to this day.

Music in the fifties and sixties

As I reached my teens, the group of the day was "The Shadows" and although I had given up music lessons, I bought the sheet music for the Shadows' tunes and was able to bash out "Apache", Man of Mystery" and a few others on the piano. I well remember attending a party at Musbury Village Hall and playing those tunes at the end of the evening, with my friends either listening or jiving.

Axminster Operatic Society

In 1961, the Axminster Operatic Society were preparing to perform the operetta "The Vagabond King" by Rudolf Friml. They were desperately short of male chorus members.

Frank Rowe was either President or Chairman of the Operatic Society at the time and approached myself and a few friends as he was trying to round up some lads to take part. I have to say that at 15 years-old the idea of being in the Operatic Society was not at the top of my list. However, Frank was keen to point out the attractions – "There are some lovely young ladies in the female chorus – and below stage there is a barrel of beer"! We were very soon on board! 

We were termed "The Archers" – the ruling military in that arena. The Captain of the Archers was played by the late Jack Gill – a lovely man and a stalwart of Axminster Opera for many years. The first call on stage for the archers was when a load of vagabonds were milling about on stage and one of them says "look out! – here come the archers"! Sadly on our first night, when the call came for the archers to round up the vagabonds, dear old Jack Gill was all by himself as the newly installed archers were below stage sampling the beer! The Musical Director was not well pleased!

Music at School and College

At Colyton Grammar School, the music teacher Mr Cox, was inevitably nicknamed "Elvis" (Elvis Presley being all the rage at that time)

When students at Colyton reached the fourth form (Year 10) the last lesson on Friday afternoons was dancing. We all had to learn ballroom dancing.

At first, all the boys sat down on one side of the hall, whilst the girls gathered together on the other side. "Hoppy" Henwood was the master in charge and when the music started and no-one moved at the commencement of each dance, Hoppy would grab you by the ear and pair you up with one of the girls. We soon realised that if you wanted to land one of the prettiest girls for a dance, you had to make the first move – and not wait for Hoppy!

However, I have always been glad that I can dance the quickstep, waltz, fox-trot and even the barn-dance and gay-gordons!

When I left Grammar School and went to college in Cheltenham, I always enjoyed the college hops – barn-dances, etc. and met my wife-to-be Mary, at a Tithe Barn Dance at Bishops Cleeve. (That will be a story for another time!)

Whilst in Cheltenham, from 1962, "beat music" (as we used to call it) was beginning to captivate all teenagers. I enjoyed all the performers which we used to see – from Elvis Presley impersonators and Screaming Lord Sutch, to all the groups springing up from Liverpool, Manchester, etc.

The birth of the Beatles

At my digs, one of the lads, training to be an architect, was from the Wirral, near Liverpool. He had bought a 45 RPM vinyl record of a group called the Beatles. This record was "Love Me Do", which reached No 17 in the charts – but we were all enthralled by the Beatles sound.

The rest of course is history, as far as the Beatles and the Mersey Sound is concerned. However, I have all the Beatles LPs and CDs and still consider that they were the best!

My son Robert also took to the Beatles, despite the music being a generation earlier than Robert in the 1980s. He was such a Beatles enthusiast that during his time at school, he was known as "Beatle Bob".

Mary and I went to many gigs in the early sixties and loved jiving – we would jive all night. The Twist also took dancing into a new era, as the dance meant that there was no contact with your partner – not great! However, I enjoyed that twist and although I am not necessarily very supple – I can still manage most of the twist moves to this day!

Whilst at college, our group of budding building surveyors had great evenings touring the local pubs, which generally finished up with a boisterous sing-song – with me usually to the fore. Frank Rowe once said "You don't really have a very good voice - but you're OK at singing in pubs!"

In Part Two of Moulding's Memories on Music, I will talk about music associated with the younger Moulding family.