A Radlett choir celebrated the golden anniversary rehearsal of its longest serving member this week.

Sylvia Bullwinkle joined Radlett Choral Society in January 1959, just two months after she moved to the village.

On Monday, Mrs Bulliwinkle was presented with a bunch of flowers by conductor Clive Fairbairn for her dedication and work with the society over the past 50 years.

She said: “I was very surprised to receive the flowers. The society is made up of people who love to sing and is a very happy group. It has been my Monday night hobby for quite a while now.”

The 83-year-old has had four different conductors over the years and has watched membership fluctuate .

She said: “I had a neighbour who insisted I must come along to the group, so I was more or less roped into it. I had had singing lessons in the past and I was even invited to Italy for singing tuition but the war stopped me from going.”

The Radlett Choral Society started in 1954 as a group of singers from the Congregational Church in Watling Street, now the site occupied by the Radlett and Bushey Reform Synagogue.

Membership soon increased and it became a non-denominational group adopting the name the Radlett Choral Society. In the Sixties, the society experienced another boost in members as it began to incorporate the disbanded choral societies of Borehamwood and London Colney.

In 2004, the society celebrated its 50th year with a concert in Watford, performing songs including a piece written by Alan Breed, the group’s first conductor.

In 1967, Mr Breed was replaced by Alan Fox. Then in 1974, Ewart Hopkins began to lead the society until 1996, when Mr Fairbairn took the helm.

Mrs Bullwinkle said: “We have always had good conductors and directors. But one of the main changes I have seen is the group has got a lot older as we don’t get so many younger people joining us now.”

Rehearsals have always been on Monday evenings, and when they took place in the Village Institute, the choir was small enough that it could rehearse and perform to an audience in the hall. Over the years, the group has moved to a youth centre, St John’s Church, in Gills Hill Lane, and has finally settled at the United Free Church, in Station Road.

But despite its village base the society has international connections. In the early Seventies, the male voice choir from Vriezenveen in Holland wanted to come to England and wrote to a friend fo the choir’s treasurer. The letter eventually reached Radlett Choral Society and visits between the two towns have taken place.

The group has also formed links with the choirs in the village’s twin towns of Lautertal in Germany and Louveciennes in France, exchanging visits and joining forces in concerts.

Now the society has about 70 members and performs three or four concerts each year.

Mrs Bullwinkle added: “As long as I can stand long enough to hold up a piece of music and sing, I will carry on. My voice is not as strong as it used to be but I still enjoy it immensely.

“If you enjoy singing then for goodness sake come and join us.”