Hilda Woodward

Hilda Woodward (, December 15, 1913 – February 22, 1999) was a British musician from Coventry. She is best known for playing the piano on the hit song "Mouldy Old Dough", by the band Lieutenant Pigeon.

Early life Woodward was born in Coventry, Warwickshire in 1913. She was raised in the former Canal Tavern pub, at the Coventry Canal Basin. During the 1960s, Woodward worked as a shorthand typist at Jaguar and performed in the evenings as the resident pianist at the Stoke Ex-Servicemen's Club.

Lieutenant Pigeon Woodward's son Rob Woodward managed and fronted the band Lieutenant Pigeon, also playing the piano, guitar, tin whistle, and providing vocals. Other members were Nigel Fletcher on drums and Steven Johnson on bass. Woodward allowed the band to use her living room for rehearsals and as a recording studio, and was recruited to play piano and keyboard for the band.

In 1972, the band recorded "Mouldy Old Dough" in the living room studio, with Woodward playing a honky-tonk style on the piano. It is the only British number one single to ever feature a mother and son and was the first song by a Coventry band to top that chart. The band followed "Mouldy Old Dough" with other songs and albums, such as "Goodbye" and "Desperate Dan", but none were as successful as their unexpected pop anthem. They did continue to tour, with the last performance of the original line-up, including Woodward, in Luxembourg during 1978. A blue plaque was unveiled above the front door of Woodward's former home in Coventry in 2022.