Fifty years ago was a very different time from today. There were but two TV channels – and those didn’t broadcast much during daytime. There were no computers in homes. People might have felt that wartime austerity was coming to an end, but in fact people had much less ready money then than they do these days.

Perhaps it meant people were more willing to enjoy the simple things in life – like singing in the church choir. For choir boys this could also have meant earning a few coppers or maybe the chance to go on a treat.

The Market Lavington Church Choir of 1961 certainly looked popular. It was quite a large body of people.

Market Lavington Church Choir in 1961

This is one of the well captioned photos. We can name all of the people except one on this photo.

The six people at the back are (from left to right):

• G Sheppard
• R Pickering
• G  Davis
• K Davis
• P Bailey
• K Davis

There are ten people in the middle row who are:

• Edmond Gibbs
• Carol Davis
• Wilf Francis
• Gail Pickering
• Sandra Oram
• Chris Cox
• Rose Bailey
• Bert Oram
• May Bishop
• Unknown – please let us know if you can help here.

The eleven people in the front row are:

• James Perry
• Caroline Bailey
• Arthur Phillips
• Winnie Osmond
• John Titt
• Reverend W Davies
• Desmond Perry
• Florrie Giddings
• Daphne Arnold
• Barbara Wilkins
• Anthony Titt