Meet the Crew
Steve "The Rev"😇 Hawkins
Rev is the co-founder of our crew and as a retired Anglican priest, he is also our spiritual compass. He was born and bred in Bristol and is a lifelong Rovers supporter, so is one of the closest links we have to proper Pirates. Prior to his calling to the priesthood, he worked as a secondary school teacher, teaching physics, where he met his lifelong friend Nobby (listen to the full story of that chance encounter in our podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nobby-and-the-rev/id1731560954?i=1000648115563
Rev is a seasoned festival goer and Glastonbury veteran and his lifetime ambition is to sing at the Glastonbury Festival on the performers' side of the stage - any beer tent will do!
Ian "Nobby"🍆 Dye
Nobby has been singing and writing sea shanties and songs of the sea in gigs and festivals across the UK and Europe since the early 1970's. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of shanties and an inexhaustible memory for tunes and lyrics (apart, it would seem, from the lyrics "wot 'e wrote 'imself"). Many of the songs we sing are written by this unassumingly talented, gentle man. "The Corncrake" is probably one of his most recognised songs, and was one of those sung at the G7 summit in 2021. Other favourites amongst the Crew are the hopeful "Welshback Quay" and the beautifully wistful "Spanish Oranges". Although he now lives on the south coast of Devon, he is living proof that you can take the man out of Bristol, but....
Arthur "Art"🎨 Grannan
Art is our very own white rose, born in the West Riding of Yorkshire, barely over the border from Lancashire. He completed his further education in St John's, York before pursuing a headmasterly career in teaching. He was brought up in the sporting disciplines of rugby and cricket, but with a passion for the outdoors his greatest loves have been hill walking and mountain climbing. After years of campfire songs and a passion for folk music since the 1960s, he has a range of English and Irish Country Songs in his repertoire and one heck of a set of pipes on him that blow in the counter-tenor range - there's some Garfunkel in the Grannan. He moved to Portishead in the 1980's, where the local maritime history introduced him to the traditions of the sea shanty, which he likes to sing high and LOUD.
Terry "Skipper"⛵️ Gunter
Uniquely amongst the crew, Skipper is the only crewmate who regularly goes to sea - the master and commander of his own yacht, the Dream Maiden. Skip was born and bred in South Wales where he initially worked as a coal miner, before moving to Bristol in his 20's, where he has remained ever since. As a landowner, his love of the outdoors has seen him work as a farrier and blacksmith, but his greatest love is for singing and the sea. In keeping with his national heritage, he has a beautiful soft tenor range and is the skylark of the crew. He naturally gravitates to soulful songs of the sea, which usually relate stories of hopes lost, desperation and death. But he's otherwise quite naturally cheerful.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ash-skipper-and-summer-time/id1731560954?i=1000668433324
Mike "Fish"🐳 Whitworth
One of the original eight crewmates, Fish was actually born over the Severn in sunny, but was brought up in Ashton Vale from a very young age. He went to school at Cotham Grammar, where he was in the same year as Rev, but they didn't really become friends until a chance encounter aboard ship some 30 years later, while travelling to America. Fish is a strong supporter and fundraiser for multiple local charities and acts as our group treasurer. Until joining the crew, he had never sung in public before. Now there's no stopping him. It's all for the grog (and his Porti'sculus)
Mike "Paddles"🛶 Page
Paddles was born and brought up in Kenysham. After leaving school he trained as a bus driver with Badgerline before moving to the Ambulance service and training as a paramedic. As such, there is virtually no road (nor cunning shortcut) within the greater Bristol and Bath areas with which he is unfamiliar. Moving through various roles in the ambulance service, he eventually earned his emergency services “wings”, serving 10 years as a critical care practitioner aboard the Great Western Air Ambulance. His "paddles" are therefore of the 360-joules resuscitation kind, where he shared his experience and knowledge as a resuscitation training officer at the BRI, before his well deserved retirement post pandemic in 2021. He frequently disappears for extended periods towing his home behind him, but he's always good for a beer and a heartfelt song.
Cheers, Drive.
Andy "Chuffer"🚂 Moore
The mighty Chuffer joined British Rail on leaving school and became a train driver before he was licensed to drive a car. After 17 years in the role, he transferred to the management grades, where he was employed for another 21 years. With his experience and natural management skills, he reached the level of Senior Operations Specialist and knows almost every inch of railway track across the UK. As a lifelong train enthusiast, he enjoys rail travel and has travelled extensively across the world, most notably on the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian express from Moscow to Beijing. He is a passionate apiarist and works around 25 hives across southern Bristol. Chuffer is our own Basso profundo and his deep resonant voice vibrates the ground like an approaching locomotive. He is always good company, first to get a round in and would never let anyone drink on their own.
And he's got the best smile in Bristol. No question.
Jon "Doc"🩺 Hayes
Named for his profession, until recently Doc was the only founder member of the crew who is still in full time employment, although he rarely mentions it. It has been said that coming to support one of our gigs is currently one of the less difficult ways to see a GP. As a lifelong fan of the Science-fiction and Fantasy genres, his titular heroes are Drs Who, McCoy, M'Benga and Strange and he will gladly debate favourite episodes, eras or incarnations with anyone who might mistakenly stand still long enough to listen. He loves a good fancy dress party and although he claims to be painfully shy, he can't resist showing off. With only a meagre grasp of musicality, he has nevertheless been nominated as the artistic director for the crew, so if anything goes wrong, blame the Doctor. Klaatu barada nikto.
Phil "Old Bill"👮🏼♂️ Harrill
Born in Filton, Bill joined the Avon and Somerset Constabulary after leaving school and served 30 years in the thin blue line, before taking up Health & Safety roles in construction. He has 3 daughters and four grandchildren, with 6 year old Herbie officially being the Shanty Crew’s biggest supporter and our Crew's Cabin Boy. Bill fully retired in 2019 with the intention of travelling the world but, lucky for his Crewmates, a little-known pandemic put paid to those plans, which enabled him to focus his attention on singing with the Crew. Bill originally honed his vocal talents in post-match Rugby songs, explaining his preference for volume over pitch and key but, as with all sportsmen, his harmonies are improved with lubrication. He works as our booking secretary and is dual-qualified as a professional cat herder.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/old-bill-and-herbie-the-cabin-boy/id1731560954?i=1000671851736
Ashley "Ash"⚽️ Hawkins
Young Ash is another Bristol thoroughbred, who has stretched his wings to soar far and wide and he now lives nearly SIX whopping miles away from where he was born. He worked his apprenticeship at Rolls Royce, manufacturing aero engines, before moving into recruitment and HR to manage the new apprentice intakes, then latterly in the local NHS and Imperial Tobacco. His main passion is for sport, particularly for golf, and he is an expert unicyclist and juggler. Since retirement, Ash has served as an FA accredited football referee, where his long suffering knees can be seen, struggling in their support, as he springs the length and breadth of pitches across the region. All this and he manages to squeeze in a bit of shanty singing too. His idea of Fiddler's Green would be an eternal swim in the "Zuider zee".
Justin "Oggie"🥟 Blackett
Oggie started off as the curator of our podcasts. Despite his valiant efforts in resistance, he was tricked into taking the King's shilling at a watering hole in the darkest back streets of Chipping Sodbury and has now become a formal Crewmate. Born in beautiful Cornwall, that hotbed of Shanty culture, he crossed the Tamar and navigated north east until alighting at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to ply his trade as a resuscitation officer. As a keen amateur DJ, he continues to serve as our official signalman/radio operator and has quickly settled in as a new Crewmate, made easier when he learned that “not having much of a voice” was a staple requirement in our recruitment strategy. The best thing is, that we've now got an excuse to sing some of those songs that are considered exclusively Kernowyon.
Bill "Chilli"🌶️ Hillier
Although a true Bristolian, Chilli is descended from a long dishonourable line of Cornish pirates. He is well-versed in a catalogue of tall tales and far-fetched adventures on the high seas and is very adept at spinning many a yarn of his own. One of the jolliest of the Crew, after 40 years' service on the thin blue line, he is always quick with a joke or a witty remark. He is renowned for his love of super-hot chillies, curries and sours and can be frequently found on social media, undertaking some form of heinous chilli-challenge. He is also a confident and capable songbird and over the years has appeared on stage at such prestigious venues as the Bristol Hippodrome and the old Colston Hall. He breathes fire into his shanties.