TRIBUTES have been paid to Barnsley ‘singing legend’ Alan Baxter following his death earlier this month.

Alan, who first started out as a singer for popular Worsbrough Bridge group the Dolphins, died on February 8 at the age of 83.

Local historian and filmmaker Dave Cherry was the bass player with the group, and has fond memories of his time with Alan. He said: “He was a Lundwood lad with a fantastic voice and was very good at remembering the words for the hits of the early sixties.

“I had the job of working out the music for the songs and would scribble down the words for him. He was very quick to learn them. We would play the top tunes of the day.

“Learning at least two new songs a week came natural to him and I could not believe it when they told me that in his later life that he suffered with Alzheimer’s disease.”

Alan met his future wife Christine Bramley whilst with the group in 1964 and they later had three children Mark, Robert and Vikki.

His day job was at the Stocksbridge Steelworks where he worked for over 30 years and then later he delivered prescriptions for the bus station chemist.

Dave added: “We had a great following and always took a bus full of supporters with us around the clubs and I remember the locals grumbling as our ‘rent a crowd’ took up the seats where they usually sat. Alan had a great voice and was a natural front man and he had ‘the gift of the gab’ for the clubland audiences.

“It was very competitive in those days with so much talent around. There was no taped or accompanied backing.

“It was all live and you had to be on top of the game. They certainly threw the mould away when they made Alan – what a talent he had.”