The Houghton Weavers are an English
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
band formed in 1975, in
Westhoughton
Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.[Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...]
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
(
historically part of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
), England. The current band members are
David Littler (
acoustic guitar,
banjo,
mandolin,
banjo-ukulele,
bouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...
,
piano accordion
A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...
and vocals), Steve Millington (bass guitar, keyboards,
acoustic guitar,
piano accordion
A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...
and vocals) and
Jim Berry (guitar, harmonica and vocals).
David Littler is a founder member of the band, Steve Millington joined in 1996, and Jim Berry joined in 2017. Jim's brother Tony Berry had been a founder member of the band but died in June 2019.
Previous members were Norman Prince (1975 to 1999,
acoustic guitar,
banjo,
12 string guitar
A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
,
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
and vocals),
David James Hughes (1974 to 1977) bass guitar, John Oliver (1975 to 1976 vocals),
Dennis Littler (1976 to 1984 bass guitar and vocals),
Jeff Hill (1984 to 1996 and 1999 to 2007 bass guitar,
acoustic guitar,
12 string guitar
A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
, electric guitar and vocals), and Tony Berry (1975 to 2019, vocals). Whilst never officially a member of the band,
Alan Fawkes was a frequent guest - "he couldn't stand the drop in pay" (dates unknown: woodwind instruments).
They sing mainly English folk music, much of it in
Lancashire dialect, as well as folk versions of easy listening hits. The group demonstrate an eclectic range of song subjects including "The Blackpool Belle", "Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls" and "The Lion of Vienna" in accolade of footballer
Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with o ...
.
They are best known for their
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
dialect for "have a seat", referring to the hospitality of Lancashire people). The programme ran for six series or seven years and was a mixture of easy listening music and comedy for a local audience. The group also starred in six of their own series for
In 2014, lead singer Berry was unable to perform due to throat cancer and attended as a sound mixer.
On 14 June 2019, it was reported that Tony Berry had died due to pancreatic cancer.
*"With 'folk' you either think of something like the Houghton Weavers, or proper folk." –