About Us

View of Buckden village

Buckden village

Buckden Singers is a four part community choir based in the tiny and remote Yorkshire Dales village of Buckden, in Upper Wharfedale.

The choir now has approximately 35 members, drawn from the villages of Upper Wharfedale including Buckden itself as well as Oughtershaw Hubberholme, Starbotton, Kettlewell, Threshfield, Grassington & Skipton.

First ever Buckden Singers rehearsal

The first rehearsal

The choir was founded on 18th January 2007, when a group of a dozen friends formed a singing group, meeting in a villager’s sitting room. At that time the idea was just to get together and sing, and no one had any idea how quickly the choir would grow, or had any expectation that within a few months we would be performing to a packed village hall and performing on TV.

 


Buckdden Village Institute entrance

Buckden Village Institute

After just a few rehearsals the numbers had grown to the extent that we had to be move to a larger location. Buckden Singers became part of Buckden Village Institute which became the Singers new home. 

At the same time the choir became formally established under the umbrella of  Buckden Village Institute.

Buckden Singers - first performance

Our first concert

The first performances took place in October 2007, and took the form of two village Shows with Buckden Singers performing a series of musical numbers...... 

The Buckden Ramblers

"The Buckden Ramblers"

.......while other  villagers performed a series of "turns".

A Christmas concert

A Christmas Concert

At Christmas that year, the first Christmas Shows took place, and have now become an annual event. 

Conceert at St Michael's, Hubberholme

Concert at St Michael's Hubberholme

In 2008 a pattern was established which continued up until the pandemic, with summer concerts at St Michael & All Angels, Hubberholme........ 

Concert at St Margaret Clitherow, Threshfield

Concert at St Margaret Clitherow, Threshfield

.......and St Margaret Clitherow, Threshfield, with Christmas concerts held in the village hall. The choir also sings at the annual Carol Concert on the first Sunday after Christmas at Hubberholme Church and at The carol servcie at St Margaret Clitherow, Threshfield. 

Filming with the BBC

BBC filming in the Institute

In 2009, the choir was featured in the BBC TV Programme "In Search of England's Green & Pleasant Land" with Selina Scott. 

Adrian Edmondson singing with the choir

Ade Edmondson rehearsing with the choir

The choir was filmed  for the second series of the popular ITV programme "The Dales", with Ade Edmondson. The series was first broadcast on Monday evenings on ITV1 during Spring 2012.

Since then the choir has continued to grow in confidence, strength and reputation.


Buckden Singers Zoom Choir

Buckden Singers Zoom choir

In the first lockdown of 2020 the choir went online, rehearsing over Zoom and creating virtual performances with each person recorded indivdually to a backing track, and all the individual recordings mixed to create a finished song. The recordings made during the pandemic are available on the Buckden Singers YouTube channel. 



Choir singing in Kettlewell Village Hall

Choir singing in Kettlewell Village Hall

The choir started rehearsing together again in 2021, socially-distanced in Kettlewell Village Hall - a much larger space.  A concert planned for spring 2022 was cancelled due to an outbreak of Covid but finally in December 2022 we were able to perform together again, doing a carol-singing pub-crawl up Wharfedale. 


Spring Sing with Grassington Singers

"Spring  Sing" with Grassington Singers

In April 2023 Buckden Singers and Grassington Singers  joined forces to put on a  joint concert in Grassington Town Hall. The event was very successful and was repeated in 2024.

In July 2023 the first post-Covid Buckden Singers Concert was held in Kettlewell Village Hall which has become our new performance venue- Buckden Institute is just not big enough for concerts although it remains our rehearsal space. A Christmas concert followed in December 2023 as well as carol servcies at St Michael's and St Margaret Clitherow. It finally feels as though we are back into what we hope is a new pattern of performances.