Tributes to Frank Cockroft, Halifax's piano tuner to the stars, who has died aged 95

Frank Cockroft, a well known resident of Calderdale, passed away peacefully on January 17, after a long and very productive life.

Born to Lewis and Elsie Cockroft of Warley Edge, Halifax, in 1928, Frank attended Warley Road Junior and Infant School and then Battison Road School in Pellon.

In 1941 at the tender age of 13 he was trained by the local fire brigade to put out enemy incendiaries as a volunteer "fireboy". He was provided with a bucket, stirrup pump, uniform and bicycle and tasked to put out any incendiaries dropped in the North Halifax area.

On leaving school at the age of 14, Frank initially followed his father, Lewis, into the engineering industry, which was not to his liking so he transferred to the building trade and became a fully indentured builder by the age of 23.

He was also a member of the very first group of Halifax residents to travel to Aachen in 1949 in order to help with the re-building of the badly bombed German Spa city, while at the same time improve post war Anglo-German relations.

This group of Calderdale residents were the pioneers of the original "Aachen Exchange", which ultimately led to Halifax being formally twinned with the German city in 1979.

Frank’s first love was music. He became a talented musician and was well known around Calderdale as an accomplished piano and keyboard player.

He was the resident musician at several local clubs and nightclubs in the 60s, 70s and 80s. His interest in music, and particular the piano, enabled him, as a young adult, to study in the evening, as a piano tuner and repairer.

His subsequent skills were in demand throughout the north of England. Most theatres and concert halls had a grand piano in constant use, which required regular tunings and repairs.

His first professional tuning contract was with the Mecca organisation, looking after the pianos which were used for their resident dance bands.

He had the task of ensuring "pitch perfect" pianos for some of the country’s biggest entertainers of the day, during his time as the resident "tuner" at the popular Batley Variety and Wakefield Theatre clubs in the 70s, 80s and 90s. He also tuned the pianos for Yorkshire TV and the BBC in Leeds.

As a result he came into regular contact with some of the biggest stars of the day, such as Shirley Bassey, Victor Borge, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Danny Le Rue, Freddie Starr, Charles Aznavour and, much to his own amusement, the larger than life comedian, Les Dawson, on his frequent appearances in the region.

Frank tuned the piano for some of the world’s best known international classical orchestras, and for Dame Fanny Waterman's Leeds International Piano Competition.

Given that all the instruments in an orchestra or ensemble are tuned to the piano, it was a crucial responsibility and one which he relished. Frank was even required to be on hand during a performance`s interval, to maintain the piano’s "pitch perfect" tone.

His piano tuning exploits was the subject of a personal insight entitled "Key Man", written by Shirley Kaye and appearing in the Halifax Courier on March 21, 1990.

Frank was one of the longest serving active members of the Pianoforte Tuners Association (PTA) and only retired from professional tuning at the age of 85 after a career of over 60 years.

He continued to tune the family pianos well into his 90s, finally hanging up his tuning forks in December 2022.

He leaves behind his beloved wife Beryl, who he was married to for over 70 years, with much of their married life time spent happily at their family home on Elmfield Terrace in Savile Park.

They met by chance at the Victoria Theatre in February 1951 and subsequently married in March 1953. They had three sons: the eldest Stephen is a retired science and maths tutor, middle son Martin a former lecturer in business studies and economics, and youngest son Glen who pursued a career in the offshore enegy industry.