Remembering John Giddings.
He leaves his wife of 55 years Vera Giddings, his sons Richard and Charles, as well as many friends and neighbours.
Although born in Worcester, much of his childhood and adolescent years were spent growing up in Bath. It was here that his interest in music started, learning to play the snare drum in the Boys’ Brigade and then joining the army, the 3rd Carabiniers, which took him to Osnabruck, Germany in the late 1940s. Returning to the UK in the early 1950s, whilst working initially in industry, he played drums and percussion in the Morris Motors’ band, whilst also working as a freelance percussionist in regional orchestras as well as playing drums in jazz and dance bands.
In the mid 1950s he trained and qualified as a teacher, and from 1957 through to 1974 he taught metalwork at Speedwell School in Bristol. From 1974 through to his retirement in 1991 he combined his teaching skills with his love of music and taught as a specialist drum and percussion teacher, on a peripatetic basis, covering local authority schools in Bristol and the former County of Avon, as well as independent schools, notably Bristol’s Clifton College and Wells Cathedral School in Somerset.
Throughout this period, and beyond his retirement from teaching, right up until 2013 he continued his freelance work – continuing with both classic orchestral music and jazz band work, as well as work for broadcasting organisations. Notable work here included working with Sidney Sager, Director of Music at HTV in Bristol, on many television series made in the South West.
He enjoyed long term playing for Bath Choral Society, Bath Symphony Orchestra, Bristol Symphonia as well as the Philharmonia of Bristol and smaller local groups. He also worked for many years with Clifford Harker at Bristol Cathedral in many of the choral works performed there.
As well as his playing, John was a renowned authority on all aspects of percussion instrument repairs and servicing, these activities being continued right up until only months before his death. He was known world-wide for this work, making timpani sticks and custom accessories for some of the country’s pro players and establishments, including the likes of the Covent Garden Opera and Royal Northern College of Music. This work gave him great pleasure, particularly in past times when such items were either not mass produced or as readily available as they are today.
Always an immensely practical man, especially with the pre-war ‘make do and mend’ ethos instilled in him from childhood, one of his major concerns was lack of practical and analytical skills that he noted so prevalent in modern society.
His hobbies, as might be expected, included extensive reading, making and repairing things in his home workshop, property maintenance together with his love of cats.
A funeral service and thanksgiving was held on 27 June 2019, with proceeds from a collection being distributed between the charities Help Musicians UK, Cats Protection & Dementia UK.
By Richard Giddings