John Waltham

John Waltham grew up on a rented North Dorset farm and absorbed songs from Tom Collard, the farm carter, and traditional
songs, ditties and stories from his Granny, a native of the Quantocks. His interest in folk song started in the latter 60s, when the Yetties were a rising feature of the folk scene, and their repertoire of local songs made a big impression, as did visits to the then popular folk clubs in the area, which broadened the variety of the music and song he heard. Prior to going to college, he spent a year on a farm near Exeter and attended the Jolly Porter club as well as Saturday evening sing-songs in the Exeter Inn, Thorverton. This was where he first started singing in public, the realization that singing a song might end up with a pint being put over the bar was attractive when the wages were 30 shillings a week plus board and lodging. The incentive to learn a few more was strong.

The social life of an Agricultural college took him to various clubs in the Bedford area, but short spells of time in jobs in Huntingdon (pigs) and Worcester (pigs/farm management) and then a return to Dorset as a farm manager left little time for singing and it was 1980 before he got the chance to get back into the folk world.
His love of traditional songs grew, and in 1982 Tony Rose offered him his first night as a guest, but wider interest in his songs really increased after he won the Sidmouth Singer award in 1987. Thereafter he travelled around to various clubs and was a guest at several larger events around the country. Having returned to take over the family farm, there was no singing during the busy times (except on the tractor), but an interest in Irish song, plus a few holidays at the Willie Clancy week in Co Clare led to an invitation to visit North Donegal, which I took up the following winter, and this led to a deep immersion in the (still active) traditional singing culture in that area.

Since 1993 he has run a small Traditional Song Weekend in Dorset,and singing guests have attended from all corners of our islands. The last of these weekends took place in 2025 as a result of declining health. He still enjoys singing locally in informal settings.