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Choirboy still in fine voice after 72 years

Stuart Greer
2/ 4/2008

AS A boy growing up in 1930s Werneth Peter Waters’ life centred on St Thomas’s, his local church.

He played in the football, cricket, badminton and table tennis teams, and on his eighth birthday he joined the choir of 40 men and boys.

Time passed, and Peter grew up, got married and moved away to Hollinwood, but one thing remained constant – he kept singing in the choir.

Although his soprano voice is now a tenor and the choir has dwindled to seven, Peter is still singing every Sunday morning after 72 years and is considered the longest-serving chorister in Greater Manchester.

Peter, of Green Lane, Garden Suburb, said: "I’ve never had a great voice, but I’ve enjoyed singing.

"I’ll keep going until I can’t sing any more, and when that happens I’ll still come along and listen to the choir from the congregation.

"In my younger days life revolved around the church. There were plenty of activities and teams to get involved with and the choir practised twice a week.

"When I joined there were 16 men and 24 boys. A lot has changed. Women weren’t allowed in the choir until the Second World War. Now there are six ladies and I am the only man."

Peter was born in Frederick Street in 1927, and was the youngest of seven boys. He maintained his choir membership during the war and throughout his working life in local mills.

The 80-year-old has also been a member of the church council and a church warden for more than 50 years. A widower, he was married for 52 years, and retired in 1990.

Next month Peter, who knows all of the hymns by heart and says he doesn’t have a favourite, celebrates his 73rd year in the choir.

He was honoured for his commitment to the church by the Bishop of Manch-ester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch, during a recent pilgrimage around all the churches in the diocese.

But he still has some way to go in order to beat the current record for the country’s longest serving chorister.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Tom Phillips, who was born in 1906, has been a member of St Andrew’s Church choir, in Bristol, since 1915.

After hearing about Peter’s local record, St Andrew’s wrote to congratulate him.