Monthly Archives: January 2021

A report from the Bradford Observer, 1857 In a village near Barnsley are two rival bands of musicians, which, for a length of time, have “kicked up no small din” by what is called “practising.” Lately one of the players … Continue reading →

York Boys’ Industrial School Band was founded in 1880, with conductor Mr Hunt, the school was based in Marygate, York. It was active through to 1913. The bandmaster was Mr Hulse in 1882, and Mr Bates in 1902. One of … Continue reading →

Roller skating was a pastime that became very popular in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century. The initial skating rinks were established in London in the 1850’s and, with the introduction of the ‘modern’ roller skate in … Continue reading →

I recently posted these images on the History of Brass Bands Facebook Group site. As with the previous set, they are anonymous (with a couple of exceptions), but nonetheless still very interesting examples of the costume and instruments of the … Continue reading →

Flockton Brass Band was a typical Yorkshire mining village band. The local colliery employed many of the menfolk and, although the pits were shallow, unlike the deep pits of other regions, the work was still hard and dangerous. The Band … Continue reading →

The acquisition of a single faded photograph, certainly the only example I have seen, sparked an investigation into the life and times of the Lamberhurst Brass Band, which kept this Kent village entertained from the early 1870’s through to the … Continue reading →

When a band official resigns or retires, they are often presented with something to show the appreciation of the members of the band for their work and service. In some cases, this takes the form of an object – perhaps … Continue reading →

Insights into the life of a tuba player with a Chicago band. In trying to identify his band, I came across a lot of information about his life, but sadly failed to pin down which band(s) he played with. This … Continue reading →

Eighteen months ago, I produced the paper “Brass Band Archive Recordings – a brief guide to recordings of brass bands in libraries, museums and other archives“. As a companion, I have now compiled “Vintage Brass Band Recordings“, which is a … Continue reading →