Fans mourn BJH’s Woolly

STUART “Woolly” Wolstenholme in concert

TRIBUTES have been paid to a founder member of one of Oldham’s most successful home-grown bands.

Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme from the prog-rock group Barclay James Harvest has died aged 63.

It is believed he committed suicide at his home in London after a battle with depression.

Chadderton born-Woolly attended North Chadderton School and started playing the tenor banjo at the age of 12.

He played tenor horn for Delph Band and formed Barclay James Harvest in 1967 after meeting band-mate John Lees at Oldham School of Art.

They went on to become one of the biggest progressive rock bands of the 70s, but Woolly left in 1979 when he became unhappy at the direction their music was taking.

After his second solo album was shelved, the self-taught keyboard player lost interest in the music business and went into organic farming, originally in Lancashire and then South Wales.

In 1998 he came out of retirement to reunite with John and recorded the album Nexus. They toured as John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest.

His final performance was at a festival in Portugal during the summer and recurrence of severe depression prevented him from appearing with the band last month.

In a statement on his website, John said: “It is with great sadness that John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest announces the passing of Woolly Wolstenholme. In recent weeks Woolly’s mental health had taken a turn for the worse and sadly he took his own life.

“As you can imagine, everyone associated with the band are stunned that a shining light of Barclay James Harvest is no longer with us.

“In this difficult time our thoughts are with Woolly’s partner, Sue. We would ask all of Woolly’s fans to remember his incredible contribution to popular music and his unique presence on stage.”