Houghton Weavers

{{Short description|English folk music band}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2010}}

The Houghton Weavers are an English folk music band formed in 1975.{{Cite web|url=https://houghtonweavers.com/about-us/|title=About Us|website=Houghtonweavers.com|accessdate=2020-06-15}} The band began in Westhoughton in Greater Manchester, historically part of Lancashire, England. The band members are Steve Millington (bass guitar, keyboards, acoustic guitar, piano accordion, and vocals) and Jim Berry (guitar, harmonica, and vocals), with Peter Frampton on guitars. Millington and Frampton played together in 70's country band Poacher. Millington joined in 1996 and Berry became part of the band in 2017. Jim's brother Tony Berry had been an original member of the band and died in June 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://houghtonweavers.com/tony-berry/|title=Tony Berry|website=Houghtonweavers.com|accessdate=2020-06-15}}

Original members of the band were Norman Prince (1975 to 1999, acoustic guitar, banjo, 12 string guitar, bass guitar, and vocals), to 1977) John Oliver (1975 to 1976, vocals), Denis Littler (1976 to 1984, bass guitar and vocals), David Littler (1975 to 2024, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, banjo-ukulele, bouzouki, piano accordion, and vocals), and Tony Berry (1975 to 2019, vocals).

They sing mainly English folk music, much of it in a Lancashire dialect, as well as folk versions of easy listening hits. The group's song subjects include "The Blackpool Belle", "Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls", and "The Lion of Vienna" in honour of footballer Nat Lofthouse. They are best known for their BBC TV show Sit Thi Deawn (Lancashire dialect for "have a seat", referring to the hospitality of Lancashire people). The programme ran for six series or seven years and was a mixture of easy listening music and comedy for a local audience.{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/348640 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108132804/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/348640 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2010 |title=SIT THI DEAWN (1979) |work=BFI Film & TV Database |publisher=British Film Institute |accessdate=6 March 2007 }} The group also starred in six of their own series for BBC Radio 2.