Whitakers Resedential Home Burns Night concert 25th January 2025

Whitakers Resedential Home Burns Night Concert, 25th January, 2025.

by Phil Barr videos/photos Jane Barr, Joe Fisher

In a week where there was an array of planets prominent in the night sky, it seemed only right that the stars of the Wakeylele band should have the opportunity to dazzle the residents of Whitaker Grange in Ossett.

    As our age group tends to give an ample amount of time in considering the issue of parking everyone had arrived by half past one which in the event proved a tad early but that meant there was plenty of time for gossip and refreshments provided by a very welcoming staff in the attractive dining cum entertainments room. Our event could be seen already up in lights on screens and even larger photographic images of our performance were transmitted onto the wall during the afternoon, reflecting the up to date facilities of this smart establishment. 

  When half past two arrived, with the spacious room bulging at the seams   David began by paying tribute to Mike Hindley who of course organised this event and who is already sadly missed. I think with this in mind, the band were determined to make the afternoon a success and the feeling was confirmed in a strong opening before Beryl, suitably draped in a Scottish flag, together with David in a smart tartan waistcoat performed A Man\’s a Man for a\’ That which was beautifully done and rightly received wholehearted applause.  

  The next song, The Blackpool Belle was dedicated to Mike as he had originally brought it to the Gaslighters group and so, him being a proud Lancastrian, is a great example of a ditty which contains the humour which made him and the rest of us smile. Chris then entertained the whole room with a clever and amusing rendition of Donald, Where\’s Your Troosers, even having a go at replicating the sound of bagpipes on his uke  –  (warning – don\’t try this at home).

Then, before the interval came more full band songs including the well-received Loch Lomond punctuated with a solo about a Scot, (male) wearing a kilt, this time performed with panache by Mike S, the  climax of which brought great guffaws from all around the room. 

  So far so good as the interval arrived quickly and yet more tea, coffee and bicuits were offered to boost energy levels for after the break. It should be said that as one looked round it was clear that there was a very healthy turnout from the band despite Rob, Sue, Carol and Melvyn all having to withdraw for good reasons, two at the last minute. John W meanwhile bravely turned out notwithstanding that he was recovering from a cold and who had another gig in the evening but such is the metal of this committed group! Maria had also had to make a last-minute solo journey with Sue and then later still Carol unable to make it, risking a parking fine in the process.

  We were now all set to resume but not before David unearthed yet another terrible joke from his vast catalogue. So, it was with some relief that we were \’Back on the Road Again\’ before we \’Sat Down\’ prior to the boy band trio of Dave Blackburn, Tony and Pop, rocking the place with a Bay City Rollers Number

which had Mags leading a mock teenage swaying of bodies around her which made me feel a bit seasick.  Nevertheless, the enthusiastic audience immediately picked up on this and I\’m sure I saw two or three residents near the back standing on their chairs unable to restrain themselves – I also heard that someone intended to surf the crowd before he or she thought better of it. To bring some semblance of civility back into the room, there followed a gentle performance of the Skye Boat Song before Stan\’s entertaining rendition of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean once he had overcome the problem of retrieving his copy from the floor which David kindly picked up and replaced on the stand albeit the wrong way up. By the last verse Stan was orchestrating proceedings waving his arms about like Simon Rattle with the audience responding in song.

Of the remainder of the set, the band finally succeeded in mastering the last line of The Wild Rover but only after David had previously considered applying Pythagoras\’s theorem or such like to the problems we had in counting bars during Tuesday practices. (Talking of practices, it was fortunate that David had already weeded out Mull of Kintyre on the grounds of not having any bagpipes and it being a dour song to which Beryl memorably replied, ‘We’re a dour nation!’  However, there was a large blip at the end of the Proclaimers hit which after a robust start and middle petered out into a kind of uneven dribble of a strum at the end – fortunately the main body of the song seemed to go down so well that the applause was still bordering on thunderous. 

Pop also played a full part in this session in a duet with David and then to finish producing his harmonica for a suitably plaintive introduction to Old Lang Syne which rounded off a highly successful afternoon, to the extent that our host in thanking us   strongly indicated that he wanted us back! Mike would have loved it – he would have been sitting as always somewhere in the wings out of the limelight except for sporting one of his colourful waistcoats, just enjoying playing his part. A small, but nevertheless important consolation is that the newest Richard, as an existing YAA volunteer. (which is to receive £100 as a donation from this afternoon) has kindly agreed to continue Mike\’s work for which we are very grateful. Everyone was also pleased to hear the news that Richard H intends to continue with his consummate work on our website. 

     Finally, to David who while it may be an exaggeration to say that he\’s a one-man band, excelled in his output this afternoon. Not only did he deliver in terms of keeping us in time, leaping off the floor and counting us in and leading the singing but he was a compere, a comedian – the jokes were so corny that you had to laugh,  a historian, a reciter of a Burns love poem, ( sounds like Burns was a rum lad with the ladies but I suppose it would count as poetic licence), and lastly,  an important part of two duets. He\’s probably a good tap dancer too, but you have to keep something in the locker for the future – maybe September? Much appreciated David. 

   Next up is a return to the White Rose Centre on Friday – no rest for the wicked – 10:30 for 11a.m.