50-year-old recording unearthed of Sunderland school concert - listen to it here

This amazing audio footage is a live recording of pupils at Bede School in 1970. They are singing in an end-of-term musical which was recorded at the time by Jon Smith, who was one of the people who put the production together.

Take a listen as the pupils sing tracks from Columbine including ‘Green, He Said’ starring the beautiful voice of Jill Borrowdale.

There is ‘Bedtime Story’ starring Joan Miller and the cast. And there’s Archie’s Automobile which features Sylvia Lee and Jill Borrowdale.

Jon explained more about the rare footage and told us: “Fifty years ago, a talented group of students at Sunderland's Bede School performed an end-of-term musical called Columbine.”

He said it was written by teachers Ken Stitt and Dick Bradshaw ‘and myself, married to one of their colleagues.

“I've just discovered an audio cassette in my attic with all the songs on it, recorded live on July 21, 1970.”

Jon added: “The quality of the recording isn't brilliant and I am amazed it has survived at all but the enormous talent of the singers and musicians shines through.”

Jon asked: “Do any of your readers remember it? Are Ken or Derek still with us?”

Jon also paid tribute to some of the wonderful stars of the production whose voices can be heard.

"Those whose youthful voices were recorded include Jill Borrowdale, Ron Fortune, Cliff Hall, Dick Holland, Gary Hope, Bernard Levy, Sylvia Lee, Ian Macdonald, Joan Miller, Pete Thompson and Geoff Toscano.”

Jon would love to hear from any of the students and would be happy to send them a copy of the recording.

Are you one of the people featured? If you would love to get in touch with Jon, send an email to [email protected] and we will forward your replies to Jon.

Meanwhile, we would love to hear from anyone with audio or video footage of Sunderland in times gone by.

Let’s share some fantastic memories of wonderful Wearside. Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.