We received a very interesting phone call last week at The Journal from Adrian Beck, from Lancashire, who has discovered an old brass medal. It is from the Mid-Somerset Musical Competition and was won by Leslie Wadman for vocal solo (boys), Midsomer Norton, in 1924.
Mr Beck is an antiques collector and found the item amongst pieces from a friends’ estate. He said: “I saw the name Midsomer Norton, and it caught my attention, obviously because of Midsomer Murders!
“It would be interesting to see if we can find out if he has any living relatives, but also something about his life. I wonder where life took him, and if he went on to make a career out of singing or music?”
If anyone has any information about Leslie Wadman, the medal, or the competition, please get in touch with us here at The Journal by email: [email protected] or call: 01761 408160. So far, we have discovered that the Mid-Somerset Festival began in 1902 and toured market towns. It moved permanently to Bath in 1952 and still continues in a different format today. We have also found newspaper cuttings from The Shepton Mallet Journal and Western Daily Press, listing the win. We think Leslie would have been under twelve when he won the award, so would have been born in 1912 at the earliest.