FELLOW members of Caldicot Male Voice Choir were ‘honoured and privileged’ to attend the funeral of John Wyson at the town’s Catholic church, after his death at the age of 85. The choir has mourned the passing of eight members in the last year.

Choir spokesman Lyn Gauntlett said: “Following the service the choir was proud to sing the famous Welsh hymns  Gwahoddiad  and  Llef,  conducted by Shirley Anne James and accompanied by choir accompanist and crematorium organist Stephen Berry at Langstone Crematorium. As with so many others, the choir and its singing filled a huge part of John’s life.

“Many well-deserved tributes have been paid to John in the past few weeks since his sudden death on January 10, but perhaps his passing gives an opportunity to reflect on all those great choristers, former members of the choir who have sadly died in the past year.

“Many believe, wrongly, that being part of a male voice choir is an ‘old man’s game’ and for some this may seem to be true.

“But we must not forget that many of these ‘old men’ were once young members of the choir while in their 20s, 30s and 40s, joining many years ago. They have provided experience, skill, talent but above all loyalty to the traditions of Welsh male voice choral singing for many, many years.

“We must also not forget those choristers, not mentioned here but still remembered who have also devoted a large part of their lives to the choir over its proud 54-year history.

“Sadly, in the past year alone the choir has mourned the passing of recently retired choristers Allen Worwood and Aldwyn Caswell, together with serving choristers Doug Taylor, Theo Roberts, Malcolm Reed, Roy Jones, Ro­land Bennett and most recently John Wyson.

“Together they have served the choir for over 250 years, a few devoting 40 years or more of their lives to the choir for which the choir and the Caldicot community will be forever grateful. While not only enjoying a wonderful hobby, all our choristers, through concerts and other activities, have also raised many hundreds of thousands of pounds for deserving causes and charities and without doubt made a huge contribution to the social and cultural life of Gwent,” he added.

“While paying deserving tribute and honours to past choristers, the tradition of male voice singing is alive and well in Caldicot, with the recruitment in the past few years of well over 30 new members, most of whom are relative youngsters of less than 40 with a few in their early 20s – thus disproving the myth that singing in a choir is an ‘old man’s game’.

“We are sure that many of our current choristers, now numbering over 80 will continue to give a long and devoted commitment to our choir and ensure that it continues to be among the leading male voice choirs in Wales.”

To find out more about Caldicot Male Voice Choir, visit www.caldicotmalevoicechoir.co.uk  or find them on Facebook.