Polperro Fishermen’s Choir is celebrating 100 years of singing. 

Choir members are drawn from a range of different backgrounds and include 86-year-old former carpenter Murray Collings, the longest-serving member. 

Born in Polperro, Murray first joined in 1952 at the age of 14. Eva Cloke, one of the choir’s two founders, still wielded the baton at the time. Murray said: “I’ve always had a lot of pleasure from the choir. It has been part of my life for 71 years.” 

Tony Gummow has been a member for 30 years. He said: “As a young boy, I sang regularly in a church choir for five years until my voice broke. 

“I didn’t sing for the next25 years until I moved back to Cornwall and met my local GP in Looe, Dr Peter Brewer. Pete was the choir’s best recruiter – he asked all his male patients if they could sing and encouraged them to join.”

There have been three main musical directors in the choir’s history: Eva Cloke (more than 45 years), Jack Libby (over 28 years) and now former Royal Marine bandsman Phil Carrigan who took over in 1999. 

The role of accompanist has been taken by professional musician Lorraine Forsdick since 2012. 

TV presenter Richard Madeley is the choir’s president.