Houghton Weavers

The Houghton Weavers are an English folk music band formed in 1975.^[1] The band began in Westhoughton in Greater Manchester, historically part of Lancashire, England. The band members are Steve Millington (bass guitar, keyboards, acoustic guitar, piano accordion, and vocals) and Jim Berry (guitar, harmonica, and vocals), with Peter Frampton on guitars. Millington and Frampton played together in 70's country band Poacher. Millington joined in 1996 and Berry became part of the band in 2017. Jim's brother Tony Berry had been an original member of the band and died in June 2019.^[2]

Original members of the band were Norman Prince (1975 to 1999, acoustic guitar, banjo, 12 string guitar, bass guitar, and vocals), to 1977) John Oliver (1975 to 1976, vocals), Denis Littler (1976 to 1984, bass guitar and vocals), David Littler (1975 to 2024, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, banjo-ukulele, bouzouki, piano accordion, and vocals), and Tony Berry (1975 to 2019, vocals).

They sing mainly English folk music, much of it in a Lancashire dialect, as well as folk versions of easy listening hits. The group's song subjects include "The Blackpool Belle", "Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls", and "The Lion of Vienna" in honour of footballer Nat Lofthouse. They are best known for their BBC TV show Sit Thi Deawn (Lancashire dialect for "have a seat", referring to the hospitality of Lancashire people). The programme ran for six series or seven years and was a mixture of easy listening music and comedy for a local audience.^[3] The group also starred in six of their own series for BBC Radio 2.

History

In 2014, lead singer Tony Berry was unable to perform due to throat cancer; he attended as a sound mixer.^[4] He recovered and continued singing with the band. In June 2019, it was reported that he had died of pancreatic cancer.^[4]

Quotations

• "With 'folk' you either think of something like the Houghton Weavers, or proper folk." – Andy Kershaw^[5]

Selected discography

Howfen Wakes, 1976 Gone are the Days, 1977 Sit Thi Deawn, 1978 Clatter o' Clogs', 1979 In Concert, 1979 Up Your Way, 1980 Alive and Kicking, 1981 In the Rare Ould Times, 1983 Keep Folk Smiling, 1985 It’s Good to See You, 1986 Lancashire Lads, 1988 When Granny Sang Me Songs, 1990 Christmas Collection, 1991

The Keeper, 1992 Work of the Weavers, 1993 Live at the City Varieties, Leeds, 1995 The Best of Houghton Weavers, 1995 What a Wonderful World, 1996 Lancashire Folk, 1997 Glory of Love, 1998 On the Road, 1999 Houghton Weavers: Collection Vol. 1, 2000 Blackpool Belle: Collection Vol. 2, 2000 Come Landlord: Collection Vol. 3, 2001 We Wish You a Merry Christmas, 2002 30th Anniversary Collection, 2004

Howfen Wakes (Remastered), 2005 Gone are the Days (Remastered), 2005 Sit Thi Deawn (Remastered), 2005 Made in Howfen (DVD), 2005 20 Folk Classics, 2007 Ae Fond Kiss, 2009 At Home with The Weavers (DVD), 2010 Lancashire Leads the Way, 2010 Songs of Conflict, 2012 In Session at the Carnegie Hall (DVD), 2012 By Request, 2014 Christmas in Lancashire, 2016 Some of the Best, 2017 New World in the Morning, 2022