IT was late 1943 and the war against Germany had been raging for more than four long years. The Craven Herald reported that the Red Army was fighting its way west, had forced the German army into ‘costly and extensive’ retreats and had almost reached the borders of Poland. In Italy, Allied forces had repelled several German counter attacks and had bombed German communications and bases including the cities of Turin and Genoa. Allied leaders gave speeches reassuring everyone of the certainty of victory. Alan Roberts looks back.

IN Barnoldswick, Rolls-Royce had taken over the development of Frank Whittle’s jet engine from the Rover Company. Prototypes of the Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first jet fighter were already being flown. Barnoldswick may not have been the birthplace of the jet engine, but it certainly was the cradle in which the idea was developed and nurtured.

The Craven Herald tells of a remarkable concert held in the town on 14 November 14, 1943. 

Under the headline of ‘Vocal ‘Star’ in the Making: "The drawing power of good music at Barnoldswick was again illustrated by the packed house which greeted a vocal celebrity concert at the Palace Theatre on Sunday evening.

"All the bookable seats had been snapped up well in advance. [The theatre held more than 600 people.] The concert was noteworthy in that it introduced to Barnoldswick Miss Kathleen Ferrier, a rising contralto for whom a brilliant career can be predicted. Miss Ferrier has a voice of natural beauty.

"Her style is simple and unaffected, yet there is no suggestion of ‘sameness’ about her work, which is ever fresh and full of descriptive detail. Another attribute of the singer is that she refuses to be tied to the beaten track. Typical of her enterprising outlook was a choice from Tschaikovsky’s ‘Joan of Arc’ as her opening number… The spiritual ‘Steal Away’ was both tender and mellow, while a comic little ditty ’My boy, Willie’ had adroit variations of tempo…’

The reviewer was correct Kathleen did have a brilliant career ahead of her.

Kathleen had been born at Higher Walton near Preston, but the family moved to Blackburn where her father was a headmaster. It was clear that Kathleen was a prodigious musical talent: an enthusiastic member of the school choir, she was told to stand at the back and sing quietly!

She had passed all her piano examinations by the age of 14, but could not proceed to a full-time musical education due to a lack of money. Instead, she became a telephone switchboard operator with the post office. She enjoyed the local music scene in Lancashire as an accomplished pianist. On impulse she accepted a dare to perform as a singer at a renowned music festival in Carlisle. This would change her life. She not only won the prizes for best pianist and best contralto, but also won the prize for best singer. She made her first radio broadcast as a singer just two years later.

During the Second World War she performed for CEMA, an organisation which aimed to boost morale by taking music and the arts to people employed in factories and workplaces right across the length and breadth of the country, which is how she ended up in Barnoldswick.

The same organisation presented a troupe of ballet dancers who performed in the nearby Queens Hall on the Friday and Saturday evening, and impressed with their ‘workmanlike cohesion’ and how they coped with the cramped conditions on stage.

Meanwhile Kathleen had moved to London to further her musical career. She made several records, broadcast on the radio and had become established on the concert circuit performing works like Handel’s Messiah.

In 1948 she appeared in New York for the first time. This was the start of several overseas tours which included Canada, Scandinavia and Holland. When world-famous composer Benjamin Britten wrote his opera ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ he had already pencilled in Kathleen for the title role.

In 1951 Kathleen had an operation to remove a malignant breast tumour. She was still beset by health problems, but tried to keep performing and recording for as long as possible. Unfortunately, her health problems deteriorated and she died in hospital two years later at the age of 41.

Her career had been the stuff of legend: the Lancashire lass who achieved international fame. She had a warm and simply charming personality and had enjoyed a very rich and fulfilling life. Although her early death was tragic, her life should be celebrated for what she achieved and the pleasure she gave to so many audiences across the world.

The concert programme was recently discovered in the archives of Barnoldswick History Society, and will feature in a talk on ‘Barnoldswick in the 1940s’ to be given early in the new year.

Back numbers of the Craven Herald can of course be accessed on microfilm in Skipton Library. In the meantime, Spot On, an organisation which presents professional arts events across rural Lancashire, will be presenting ‘Kathleen Ferrier: Whattalife’, a one-woman show by Lucy Stevens which will be held in the Rainhall Centre in Barnoldswick on Friday, November 8 at 7pm.