In the time before and after the 70 -73 Whinchat years, we had a number of other band incarnations in different guises that are worthy of note:
Probably the most significant one was in Chris’s early life as a member of A New Generation with Iain & Gavin Sutherland, John Wright and originally with bass player Peter MacLennan with whom Chris still has contact. 
The band played professionally for many years (1967 - 1970) and were successful enough to have had appearances on several contemporary TV shows. The band’s greatest hit was called 'Smokey Blue's Away' written by Iain Sutherland but with Chris's arrangement of Dvorák's New World Symphony, and this song did get into the UK top 30. But life on the road was tough. After Peter left and then Chris went to Scraptoft, Gavin and Iain went on to form ‘The Sutherland Brothers’. Apart from hits like ‘Arms of Mary’ (always wondered where that name came from!) Iain was most famous for having written the Rod Stewart hit ‘Sailing’. Chris still keeps in touch with him, but the recording years ended long ago, though he was (and still is) a really great musical talent, first pairing up with Chris at the age of about 13.
At the time Whinchat were working together at Scraptoft from 70-73, there were two other great musicians around on-site as well. John Carey was a year below us - a solo singer/song-writer who played great acoustic guitar and wowed everyone when he played and sang at folk-clubs or other sessions. Jackie Hindson was two years below us, but blew everyone away with her piano song ‘Blue Eyes’ whenever we could persuade that shy girl to play it. She’s blossomed since - still recording, but now under the title of ‘The Jones Complex’ . Jackie has her own history - see end notes below. Both played significant parts in the evolving Whinchat story.
After Chris, Mary and Fairlie left Scraptoft College in 1973, Bernie stayed behind to do a fourth-year Honours Degree course. In that year, with the other members of Whinchat no longer around, he played in a ‘one-off’ band with Jackie & John. 
Along with other musicians around Scraptoft at the time, Alan, Veronica and Harry, the band ‘Jackie’ played just one memorable concert at Scraptoft in 1974 - but practised together so much that futures inevitably became tied together.
Sadly, there are no recordings of ‘Jackie’ but these photos say it all.
In the same year, Bernie also got back in contact with C&M at their new abode in Doncaster, where we all played together in a new Whinchat 2 guise (it never had another name) and briefly with another local musician, and ex-pupil of Chris and Mary's, just starting out, called Steve Womack.
We only ever played live once with Steve but the practice sessions were terrific. Steve (and, we must admit, there were clear signs of it at the time) went on to achieve fame as a guitar-playing song-writing stand-up comedian taking him all over the world, and he once was a song-writer for the Eurovision Song Contest too.
Steve recently re-contacted Chris and Mary, and this year (2011) they’re scheduled to be doing some guitar and backing vocals on 2 songs for Steve’s latest album. He has his own website here and is really a well-known and hysterically funny performer.
In 1975. Bernie and John Carey (having played together in ‘Jackie’) got back in touch with Chris and Mary in their home in Doncaster (John’s family lived ‘up North’ too) Fairlie was living another life right then, so a new incarnation of Whinchat - Whinchat 3 - was born - three male voices and Mary in a new, unaccustomed, sometimes lead role (which she assumed brilliantly). We played all over the North and North-East for a year or so, culminating in a performance at Leeds Playhouse, in an NME contest to find the best regional folk band - coming second (sooooo close!). This is where the first incarnations of 'Buy Broom Besoms' and 'Tailor and The Mouse' came from! Sadly, after a final gig in York (on the river on the Corn Barge), John then decided to leave the band and so this third Whinchat incarnation was no more. We lost touch with John at that point, but include some of the recordings we did with him on Changes. We've only very recently got back in contact with John - now based in Newcastle in Tyne - so.....watch this space.
In the intermediate time, we’d all kept in contact with our old mate ‘Faz’ (Laurence) Faragher, who’d previously played in a rock band in Leicester with Simon Braisby as their excellent lead guitarist. And so, it came to pass that a new rock band evolved. Called ‘Exhibition’, Chris, Bernie, Faz, Simon and Bryn (Leask - another old mate from College, on bass) played together for three or four years. We toured the clubs in the Midlands doing nothing other than old rock covers like ‘All right Now’, ‘Black Betty’ and ‘Play that Funky Music’ - and had a blast of a time for a while. Blasting out ‘standards’ was great fun - for a while - but, in the end, work commitments and growing families engulfed us all and we drifted apart. Sadly - no recordings from that time.
So the years drifted by until, in 2002, there was the Scraptoft reunion that started the whole Whinchat saga all over again. So now you’re up to date!
Additional notes on Jackie Hindson
Jackie, a consummate singer/songwriter in our eyes, was at Scraptoft until 1975 and then played under all sort of guises with different musicians until the formation of her main band - ‘Verba, Verba’ - in 1984?. Along with her guitarist and fellow songwriter brother Barry - and bassist Simon and their drummer, Verba Verba played professionally and, finally, accompanied ‘Tears for Fears’ on their UK tour in roughly 1985 - when TFF were No 1 in both the singles and LP charts.
Bernie and wife Anni, somehow met up with Jackie and TFF (not sure how it happened) at a gig on that tour at Nottingham Concert Hall and later at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. Without doubt, it was a life-changing experience. Jackie had evolved from that shy girl at Scraptoft into a punk singer in a rock band! And an excellent one at that. She made us stop being boring teachers (no slight on other teachers intended! - we were the ones who'd become really boring).
Some people deserve to be successful and famous. It’s a tragedy that the breaks didn’t happen for Jackie.
Listen, however, to the evolving ‘Mr Jones Complex’ recordings that can be accessed here and you’ll understand.
Jackie now lives in Paris with husband Barry and son Dylan, and, as we’ve said, still records, and we still stay in close touch. She's the internet oracle who managed to put us all back in contact with John Carey. In due course we will pressure her to record 'Blue Eyes'!!!!!!!