Caldicot Male Voice Choir - History
A cornerstone of Welsh culture.
Male voice choral singing emerged in Wales in the late 19th Century, fuelled by the Industrial Revolution that was bringing working class men together in the ironworks and coalmines of the southern valleys.
The harmony of non-conformist Christianity, so influential in Welsh society, with the spiritual joy of singing brought comfort from the austerity of daily life. The subsequent link between choral singing and heavy industry provided an uplifting release, from the spectre of morbidity that accompanied every miner into the bowels of the earth and every ironworker into the cauldron of the furnace. Almost every pit village and steel town had a male voice choir and as the workforce adapted to new industries in the 1960s, many of the men who sang in those choirs, relocated for employment. Thus, it was that the commissioning of a giant steelworks on the lowland moors to the east of Newport spawned the genesis of Caldicot Male Voice Choir.
The Choir was founded in 1963. The origins can be traced to the searing heat at the base of a blast furnace, at the new RTB works (BSC Llanwern) that was completed in 1962. Several of the workers, who would regularly harmonise in song, were to become the new residents of the rapidly developing communities of Caldicot and Underwood. Many of them had experience of singing in long established valley choirs. It was decided to try and organise a male voice choir in Caldicot and after an informal meeting in the Cross pub, Ray Hogan, Len Waters and John Grindle walked around Caldicot, knocking on the doors of fellow steelworkers to see if there was any interest. Amongst those who were recruited that night was the fledgling Choir’s first Musical Director, Ralph Hodges and subsequently an inaugural meeting was arranged and then held in Caldicot Methodist Church.
It was decided at that meeting that Len Waters would be The Caldicot and District Male Voice Choir’s first Chairman. John Grindle was to become Secretary and the first rehearsal night was held at the Community College, within earshot of a rousing Amen, from the present day Choir Hall. After a few weeks, the committee of the new Choir were informed that all the choristers would have to enrol as members of the college in order to use the facilities and the weekly hall hire was to be increased. In response to this setback the Choir entered into negotiation with the County Council and were eventually given permission to rehearse at Green Lane School.
The history of Caldicot Male Voice Choir, in its’ unique entity, is a chronicle of fascinating narrative. It is a story that showcases a determination to overcome initial