Our History
The well-known Handelian scholar James Hall, his wife Cynthia, and Ernest Stride, Keyboard Professor at the Royal Marines School of Music, were the joint founders of the Deal and Walmer Handelian Society just after the end of the second world war in 1946. Dr Hall was a local GP, and was also known as the ‘Lifeboat Doctor’ due to his volunteering with the RNLI in Walmer for which he was awarded an OBE and given the Freedom of Deal.
The original ambition of the Society was to perform Handel’s works in local churches with organ accompaniment and soloists drawn from the ranks of the choir. Dr Hall conducted the choir on a regular basis from its inception, hosting rehearsals at his home and performing at a number of venues around the Deal and Walmer area, primarily at the Royal Marines Garrison Church, where Professor Ernest Stride, was also the organist.
Dr John Hall and his wife Cynthia, with their cats Puffin and Jumble in the early 1970's
Performance of Messiah with French choir in twinned town of St Omer, 1976
Professor Stride along with Allan Bixter, another Professor of Keyboard at the Royal Marines School, occasionally took up the baton in those early years of the1950’s. There was enthusiastic local support for the Society and the first President of the Society was Walmer resident Sir Gerald Wollaston, Garter King of Arms, who also designed the Society’s logo.
In the 1960s, a close relationship was established with the Royal Marines School of Music which was based in Walmer; and this collaboration meant that the Handelians, were conducted on a number of occasions by their various Principal Directors of Music, notably Lt.-Cols. Sir Vivian Dunn and Paul Neville, with the senior instructors of the Royal Marines School of Music making up an orchestra. Lt.Col. Sir Vivian Dunn incorporated into the Royal Marines Bandmasters (Conductors) course singing in a Handelians concert to widen their aural experience. This close association naturally ceased with the regrettable departure of the Royal Marines from Deal in 1996 precipitated by the1985 terrorist bombing of the Barracks when 11 musicians were killed, Lt.-Col.Graham Hoskins, himself a principal Director of Music, went on to serve as President of the Handelians from 2010 – 2019 and subsequently was made an Honorary Friend of The Handelians.
Our partnership with the Royal Marines enabled the choir to tackle many works that would normally have been out of our reach, including the Verdi Requiem, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony. Many distinguished soloists have appeared with the Society over the years including Irish soprano Heather Harper, and the pioneer counter-tenor Alfred Deller.
Dr John Pond, a GP from the Cedars Surgery in Deal had joined the Society in 1972, and on James Hall’s death in 1974 took over as Conductor and Chairman. Sadly, ill health forced his retirement from the former post, but he remained as the latter until his death in 2013. In 2003 Peter Litman joined the Society as Musical Director and was later succeeded by Robert Tapsfield, a Cambridge organ scholar. Stefan Catto took up the baton in 2015, and Chris Lockyer was appointed Musical Director in 2019 and is the present incumbent.
Deal and Walmer Handelian Society and Royal Marines Orchestra, with The Netherlands Handel Society in a performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt, The Royal Marines Concert Hall 1970
Choir with Dr Peter Litman, MD from 2003 - 2009
On occasion, guest conductors are invited to lead a concert; in 2016 in our 70th Anniversary year, our Patron, Professor Donald Burrows conducted a memorable performance of Handel’s Acis and Galetea. Another notable landmark was a performance of Handel’s Messiah in conjunction with Sandwich Choral Society in 2009 under the baton of renowned choral conductor Sir David Willcocks, at that time nearly 90. In 2024, we collaborated with four other East Kent choirs to stage a large-scale performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in the magnificent Nye Hall at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover. On this occasion, we were conducted by David Flood, former organist and Master of the Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral. Society is a member of Making Music, the UK’s leading organisation for leisure-time music, and, we which is affiliated to the choral societies’ umbrella body ‘Making Music’, aims to give two to three concerts a year in the Deal and Walmer area.
In 1985, the tercentenary, of Handel’s birth, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother granted us the honour of being our Honorary Patron for the year. The Queen Mother was Lord Warden of The Cinque Ports at the time, and was a regular visitor to Walmer Castle, the Lord Warden’s official residence. We are thrilled that the current Lord Warden, Sir George Zambellas, has agreed to serve as our Honorary Patron in 2026, our 80th Anniversary year.
During its history, the Society has undertaken several trips abroad, notably to Handel’s birthplace, Halle, (in what was then the East German Republic) where the choir had been invited to participate in the 1959 bicentenary celebrations of Handel’s death. That occasion also included a memorable trip to Leipzig, where Ernest Stride gained rare access to play J.S. Bach’s organ in the Thomaskirche. In the same year, the choir made an educational recording of English folk songs. Later trips included a visit to Amsterdam to perform Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Dutch Handel Society (with a reciprocal performance in Deal the following month), and several visits have been made both to St Omer and Vlissingen, Deal’s two twin towns across the Channel.
Joint performance of Messiah with Sandwich Choral Society, conducted by Sir David Willcox 2009
