|
History of Holbeach Town
Band
Compiled by Wendy Taylor, band secretary
April 2000
Holbeach Community Band was founded in 1971 by Mr Brian Long with the
help of a grant of £50 from Holbeach Parish Council.
Mr Brian Long then made the discovery that the Thetford Band in Norfolk
had disbanded and that their instruments and uniforms were for sale.
After obtaining a loan from the bank of £250, Mr Long was able to purchase
12 instruments and 15 uniforms from the Thetford Band.
As the band had no premises at the time, the band held it's weekly practice
sessions in peoples' homes and later, as numbers increased, in the George
Farmer School in Holbeach.
This situation continued until 1978 when the band obtained the lease
on the present building, Band Hall, 2-6 Back Lane, Holbeach, which had
previously been the property of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Holbeach and
was their original 'Kingdom Hall' in this area. (Note: the Kingdom hall had become vacant and the band asked the local Council for financial help to buy it. The Council purchased the hall and let it to the band at a peppercorn rent for a 30 year term. MH Aug 2015)
.jpg) |
The Band marching in Holbeach in May 1980, with Musical Director
Brian Long in the white jacket playing 2nd cornet and, behind him,
the current Musical Director, Mel Hopkin, helping out on solo cornet.
[Photo and comment added by Mel Hopkin] |
Under Mr Brian Long's conductorship the band progressed well. Several
members eventually purchased their own instruments and in time Mr Long
felt sufficient confidence in the band's ability to think about having
an LP (Long Playing) record made.
This was done and was only made possible by sponsorship from Holbeach
Round Table and other businesses in town.
Mr Long took the band out to play at many local fetes including the annual
Holbeach Carnival, held every August at that time. The band also
went to play on 'The Green' at Hunstanton and became a familiar sight
to day-trippers and holiday-makers. Mr Long also began what is still
a band tradition, playing for the Remembrance Parade at Holbeach St Marks.
'Band lore' has it that this was the band's first official engagement
and it has never been turned down since. It is hoped that this,
by being on-going, proves the band's commitment to the local community.
Under Mr Long's conductorship, the band also developed a facet of its
musical existence which is still present - the fact that it was and still
is very much a family band. Over the years the band has had as any
as five members from one family, four from others was not uncommon, as
well as non-playing members in support. The band's membership has
also included every age from primary schoolchildren to retired grandfathers.
No history of Holbeach band would be complete without a mention of the
small but dedicated group of supporters. In Mr Long's time, monthly
Bingos were a good fund-raiser and these are at present in the process
of being revived for band funding. Supporters are always needed
for collecting and many other functions within the band, which ask, not
for money, but for commitment. The band has a fund-raising stall
which, with very little time and effort, could be made a very worthwhile
enterprise. Do enquire if you are interested.
During the 1980's the leadership of the band was taken over by Mr Allan
Ellis as Bandmaster. Under his stewardship the band played at more
marching events than in its previous history and led carnival parades
at Hunstanton, Skegness and Chapel St Leonards. It also played for
the St George's Day Parade of Scouts and Guides in Boston, Remembrance
parades at Holbeach and Holbeach St Marks. The band also played
for a parade for the Burma Star Association at Sheringham. The band
also continued carol-playing at Christmas, around the streets, in the
town on Saturdays leading up to Christmas, and always on the morning of
Christmas Eve.
Like most organisation the band has encountered difficult times and it
was at one of these moments in1997 when the band was very fortunate in
securing the services of Mr Mel Hopkin of Spalding as its Musical Director.
His sense of commitment, dynamism, and feeling of self-worth have percolated
to all levels of the band and as a consequence its strength is on-going.
The Musical Director has shown a great interest in trying to get charitable
funding but this is not as easy as it appears. The band were awarded
a grant of £1000 from the Prince's Trust, largely due to Mr Hopkin's efforts
on the band's behalf. The businesses of Holbeach gave generous prizes
for a Bingo held for band funds which realised a profit of £300.
The band has also applied for a grant from Sutton Bridge Power Station
Charity Foundation, and from Lincolnshire Co-Operative Charity Fund.
Awards from these bodies are still to be decided.
As this was the start of a new Millennium the band felt this should be
marked in some rather special way. the band is to be officially
renamed Holbeach Town Band and is to be re-vamped and re-launched as such.
New uniforms are under consideration at this time and Mr Hopkin is busy
buying new music.
In 1999, however, the band's history took a new direction when for the
first time it joined forces with Kirton Band for a series of rehearsals
and performances. Let us hope that this association will long be
of benefit to both bands.
Conclusions in all things are for looking forward as well as mulling
over past greatness, and now as the Millennium is well under way it seemed
a good time to give your local band a local name, a new identity and new
goals for the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuation by Mel Hopkin, Musical
Director
August 2006; updated September 2011, updated again August2015
It is now 15 years since I was appointed Musical Director, and time to
update this history of the Band.
The arrangement with Kirton Band did not last! We had planned to attend
each others rehearsals every two weeks, but not many of our band made
the journey to Kirton, and even fewer came to our rehersals. The arrangement
fizzled out, but some of our players decided to leave us and join Kirton.
I introduced Open Days in 1997 and invited the public, and particularly
local schools, to visit the bandroom, talk to the members and try out
instruments. These have had various degrees of success over the years
- quite a large number of people of all ages have joined our learner group
and some have become full members. The Open Days have also encouraged
a number of former brass players to return to banding.
In 2002, I introduced 'Learn to Play in a Week' where we teach people
the basics of playing brass and reading music so that they can play a
simple tune in a week. By coming every afternoon for a week, we have been
able to succeed every year. We frequently get told by bandsmen that you
can't learn in a week; we all know that, but by playing a tune in a week,
it really gives the learners a good start and confidence.
At Christmas 2004, a number of our band joined the Royal British Legion
Band (Lincolnshire), now called Spalding Brass, which is based in Spalding, for their Christmas concert.
The Spalding Band had been going through a difficult period and we were
pleased to help. Subsequently, the Spalding players joined us for our
Spring concert and we now have a formal arrangement (agreed by the Committees
of both bands) to help each other. So far this has worked well and is
beneficial to both bands.
I have tried to improve the band's music library during my time and I
have been particularly keen to get modern arrangements. I am now in the
process of buying some of the more traditional pieces which have been
missing from our repertoire.
In 2006 we played our first 'Last Night of the Proms'. It was so successful
that we were invited back and performed the concert three
times in the Autumn of that year. The Last Night concert has proved very popular and we now preform it on a regular basis..
We find it difficult to get new young players, unless we train them ourselves.
There are few young players coming through schools, undoubtedly a result
of the local authority's decision, a few years ago, to end free instrumental
lessons. Children now have to pay over £30 per hour for instrumental
lessons through the County Music Service. Add the problem of young players
leaving for University and we have a continuous stuggle to fill the band - but we do fill it!
We took the decision to give free lessons to anyone wanting to learn to play. We do this through the Learn to PLay Week, and through weekly Learner sessions. As a resut we have over 30 members of the Band and a further 15 in our learner Group.
In 2011 we celebrate our 40th Anniverary and we have formed a second band - Holbeach Victoria Training Band. The new Band is a stepping stone between the Learner Group and the Senior Band, it will enable younger players to improve their playing skills and learn to work as a team.
Overall, I am very confident about the future of the band.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuation by Mel Hopkin, Musical
Director
August 2015
I've now been here 18 years and the Band is thriving! Our Learn to Play weks are continuing and now in their 14th year. In addition we have started to run a Music Cafe, where we play an informal concert, we sell tea and cake (made and donated and served by Band family members) and we have spare instruments for our visitors to try out.
We now have 54 members of the three bands - 34 in the senior band, 15 in the Holbeach Victoria Training band and 18 in the Learner Group (following a very successful Learn to Play Week).
We have now introduced lessons in music theory to help those of our member staking music grades through the band.
We have found limited funding to enable us to change our band logo and unifrom, and we are looking at the options.
We have a major issue at the moment regarrding the bandroom. The Council have given us notice to leave next Spring. We are desperatley seeking alternative premises where we can continue with the workwe do with music lessons and the bands, but have not yet been successful.
|
