My friend of 45 years, Maurice Bradley, has just died aged 92. If you go to you can read my own tribute to this remarkable man.
Today (December 22nd 2020) I received an email containing a tribute to Maurice written by a member of the Canoldir Male Choir, based in Birmingham, that Maurice had sung with for over 40 years.
Thank you for your email regarding the sad death of Maurice. We have been in touch with his friends whilst he was in the Care Home and, because of the high respect I had for Maurice, I have collected as much information as I could about his achievements prior to his passing.
He was very quiet and rarely spoke about his life. I am attaching a copy of what I discovered but I am sure there was most likely more.
He was deaf in one ear, which may have accounted for his quiet spoken voice, and his singing was not powerful, but he was perfect in his pitch and knowledge of what he was singing, so standing next to him in concerts was a great advantage.
He was also in a mixed choir, the Quinborne Choir, singing an imaginative range of choral music with two concerts each year.
Another choir that he sang with was the Walsall Choral Society which also had two concerts a year and concentrated on sacred music such as requiems.
Maurice had a great interest in, and love for, classical music in many forms that included opera, attending with the full appropriate score. He was also interested in unusual operas performed at the Mold Theatre in Wales and at a location in Ireland.
His amazing memory enabled him to describe in detail operas and plays, including Shakespeares. He was a really great asset to
Maurices wide range of other interests included membership of a painting group and also of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - but he always said that he never drank alone at home. He also enjoyed playing bridge.
Among his outdoor pursuits, he belonged to the Enterprise Club involving long walks and climbing mountains, including was the Scottish Munro peaks, defined as being over 3,000 feet. He was also in the BAI (Birmingham Athletic Institute) walking group and the Bromsgrove Walking Club called the Countrysiders, who were rather more amblers than ramblers. Among his longstanding friends was a group that went away annually to walk in the Lakes, Scotland or the Peak District. When walking was beyond Maurice, he was happy to travel with them and sketch or paint while they walked.
Holidays abroad featured his interest in art and ancient buildings, He travelled through such countries as Sicily, which he loved, Turkey and Libya. His main interest was Byzantium. With these interests he gained a degree with the Open University and went on virtually all their Arts courses.
By profession Maurice was a chartered accountant with Herbert Smith Russell, the Birmingham chartered accountants who became part of Ernst and Young, an international accounting practice. His auditing skills carried him all over the UK, where his ability was appreciated and he made lasting friendships.
Maurice may seem to have been very quiet and unassuming, but his achievements over 92 years (he was born on 12th October 1928) show him to be an absolutely amazing man!
