The site of the former Lyndon Laundry as it looks
today. There are now apartments (see left) in its
place.
Laundry agent's
boy remembers
JOHN HOWES has
sent us the accopany-
ing photograph and
the following infor-
mation regarding the
Lyndon Laundry. He
is, quite literally, in
the perfect position to
know about it, as his
address to this day is
`Lyndon, West Brom-
wich'. John writes:
"The Lyndon Laundry,
mentioned in Bugle 858,
was in existence when I
was a child in the Thir-
ties. My parents, John
and Annie Howes, kept
a shop in Greets Green
and we were agents for
the laundry, collecting
and returning for
customers.
"When I got married in
1956, we came to live at
Lyndon and as we didn't
have a washing machine,
I took my overalls to
Lyndon Laundry every
Friday teatime to have
them washed.
"I think, at some time
in the `70s or `80s, the
business was taken over
by Dale Laundry of
Smethwick. Shortly
afterwards, the Lyndon
works were closed and
the property was used
b y K e n r i c k a n d
Jefferson, the printers,
as an extension to their
envelope factory next
door in Hargate Lane.
The works were demol-
ished about three years
ago and replaced by
apartments. All traces of
the Lyndon Laundry
have now disappeared.
"The picture enclosed,
of the present day site,
shows the spot where the
laundry was, on the left
on the Jolly Nailor pub.
Grant's bakery, men-
tioned by Clifford Jones,
was the bread bake-
house on the right of the
pub, although Grant's
also had a cake bakery
just up the road in Tay-
lors Lane, near to the
fairground."
We have also been
contacted by Alan Bott,
who now lives in Not-
t i n g h a m s h i r e , b u t
remembers the Lyndon
Laundry from his youth.
Mr Bott was born in
Grafton Road, which
backed onto the laun-
dry. And hot on Mr
Bott's heels was Mrs
E.J. Denning, who also
recalls the Lyndon
Laundry, having been
born and brought up in
Hargate Lane.
The church of St Mary and St John in Snow Hill,
where Father Grimaldi took John under his wing.
"From the age of four-
teen to twenty-one I
was apprenticed to
Wright and Pedley, pat-
ternmakers of Piper's
Row, and it was during
this time that a chap
used to visit Low Hill
hiring out records for
3d per week. We hired
all the singers that I
was fond of like Caru-
so, Tauber, Richard
Crookes and John
McCormack. I was
attracted by the music
and the melody even at
that age.
"I would be around
nineteen when my
mother suggested I
ought to have singing
lessons. Not long after-
wards I saw an advert
that said `May Somer-
field Teaches Singing'
-- so I went along. I
could only afford one
lesson a week at first,
as the fee was 5 shil-
lings, and an apprentice
in those days only
earned around �1, 5s a
week.
"On my first visit to
her studio May Somer-
field asked me to sing a
song, and after hearing
me she said yes, she
would teach me. My
lessons began by sing-
ing scales and learning
breathing exercises, but
after attending for a
few weeks I had pro-
gressed quite well and
was taught a few songs
by her. May Somerfield
did not knock my voice
about at all -- what she
did was purely elemen-
tary, and she never
tried to take the natu-
ralness out of my voice
like some teachers do. I
was very, very lucky
really, for I always had
good teachers through-
out my career.
"I was totally commit-
ted to singing, and I
desperately wanted to
increase my lessons. I
became a member of
one or two clubs and
was then able to make
contacts, which in turn
led to my obtaining a
few engagements to
sing in Working Men's
Clubs. I put together a
small programme of
ballads and received a
fee of 10s 10d. Within a
short space of time I
was fulfilling engage-
ments at various clubs
within a couple of miles
of the town centre, and
later I travelled to clubs
in Walsall. This ena-
bled me to acquire the
money for extra les-
sons, and I was also
able to join the Techni-
cal College Evening
Classes for elocution
lessons. I would also go
along to as many con-
certs as I could in order
to hear first class sing-
ers perform.
"Mentioning May
Somerfield brings to
mind my first singing
competition. The event
was held in Redditch,
and the test piece was
`Sigh No More My
Lady'. I was eager and
trained very hard; May
Somerfield had every
confidence that I would
win it.
Nerves
"Sitting around wait-
ing to be called was a
little unnerving, but
when my turn came I
got up and sang with
complete confidence.
My pianist for the occa-
sion was the official
accompanist. I received
very good applause
from the audience and
from their response I
too thought I had a
good chance of win-
ning. However, when
the adjudicator, Hubert
Brown, made his
announcement I was
not even in the first
four! Even the accom-
panist said `I thought
you'd walked it'.
"On arriving at May
Somerfield's for my
next lesson, she told me
that the winner was a
pupil of Hubert Brown
at the School of Singing
in Birmingham, and
that the other three
singers were all teach-
ers of music.
"The only other com-
petition I entered at
this stage was a local
one held in Willenhall.
I would be around
twenty and I was
accompanied by my
two sisters, Kitty and
Mary, and a couple of
my pals. We arrived at
the venue all brimming
with confidence that I
would come away with
the two guineas' prize.
I knew all the other
singers and was pretty
sure I could win.
"My name was
announced and I
walked on stage and
started to sing. All at
once a bloody brass
band struck up outside
the tent! Panicking, the
adjudicators cried out
for me to stop. Well
that finished me com-
pletely, and I went to
pieces. When I started
singing again I was con-
stantly anticipating the
band starting up again,
and I didn't do well at
all. I didn't win the
prize -- instead it actu-
ally cost me money!"
Influence
It was around this
time that John was seen
and heard by someone
who was to have quite
an influence on his
career. Father Antonio
Grimaldi was an Italian
priest and accom-
plished musician, who
on hearing John invited
him to study under him
and join his choir at St
Mary and St John's in
Snow Hill. He recog-
nised John's talent but
saw that he needed fur-
ther guidance. He gave
the young John vocal
e x e r c i s e s f o r s i x
months, and taught
him Italian, which he
e x p l a i n e d w o u l d
`open up' his vowel
s o u n d s . I t a l i a n
became, John has
said, his second lan-
guage. John also
began to learn the
Italian Bel Canto style
of singing, which gives
the impression that
the singer isn't taking
a breath between
lines.
By now, John was 21
and had completed his
apprenticeship. He
left Wright and Ped-
ley and moved to Sun-
beam for a time, and
then on to Fisher and
Ludlow in Birming-
ham, working on air-
craft carburettors.
After a spell with a
concrete firm, he
joined Wellman Smith
and Owen of Darlas-
ton, and was by now
in a position to spend
more on those vital
lessons.
Half a crown
"True to his word,
Father Grimaldi took
me in hand," John
continued, "and he
p r o v e d t o b e
extremely helpful. He
brought my voice on
remarkably. He was a
very understanding
gentleman and he
only charged me
about half a crown a
lesson. My weekly
wage, together with
any fees earned from
engagements, enabled
me to take at least
two or three lessons a
week. I progressed so
quickly that it wasn't
long before I was
appointed the tenor
soloist for the church.
Heart
"On joining Snow
Hill Choir I met and
became very friendly
with a delightful young
lady called Frances
Hughes. I fell in love
with Frances, she was
the girl who really
stole my heart, and we
were courting for
about three years. She
too sang in the choir at
St Mary and St John's,
a n d w a s F a t h e r
Grimaldi's favourite
pupil. She had a lovely
soprano voice, and she
taught me a lot about
singing. We sang
together a great deal,
in Working Men's
Clubs and at local con-
certs. Our voices
blended so well, and I
really thought our
future lay in a concert-
style double act, like
Webster Booth and
Ann Ziegler.
"But it was not to be,
and her mother was
the instigator of our
breaking up. Mrs
Hughes was totally
against us having a
singing career togeth-
er, for she did not
think I had a good
enough voice to sing
with her daughter."
What a shock the
Hughes family were to
get a little while later.
Part two of John
McHugh's story fol-
lows in next week's
Bugle.
(Continued from previous page)
Muriel appealed through the Bugle recently for
copies of John's records to form part of a
permanent collection to be housed in
Wolverhampton Archives. She was delighted to
receive donations from Mr Daker of Willenhall,,
Mr A.J. Stanford of Aldridge and Mrs Aston of
Bradley.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 THE BUGLE - 17
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