DETAILED BAND HISTORY
THE BEGINNING
Deep in the heart of South Yorkshire's coalmining belt lies Grimethorpe, as unromantic as Black Pudding, yet and ironically it was an appropriate name for one of Yorkshire's largest collieries.
Originally a small Hamlet - Grimms Farm - it became noteworthy at the turn of the century with the discovery of Coal and the establishment of an important colliery. And yet, Grimethorpe's claim to fame stemmed not solely from the colliery itself, but from the brass band that bears the same name. [Read more]
CHANGES AFTER THE WAR & GEORGE THOMPSON
A Lancashire man named Harry Mileman took over the band in 1947 following a short spell by George Hespe (well known for his brass band piece 'The Three Musketeers').
Harry Mileman left the band at the start of its decline in 1951 but with the help of Bill Foster and Joe Armstrong it continued to function as best it could until a new Resident Conductor was appointed in 1952.
He was Andrew Owenson (well known for his arrangements for brass band) but although several players were recruited during his reign as conductor the progress of the band was not altogether satisfactory. [Read more]
ELGAR HOWARTH
Following the resignation of George Thompson the band was successful in obtaining the services of Elgar Howarth as Professional Conductor and Musical Adviser. He was appointed in July 1972. Grimethorpe Colliery Band was a relative newcomer in the world of Brass Bands at this time - both Black Dyke Mills and Besses O' the Barn Bands had 100 years of history between them.
But it may have been Grimethorpe's very youth that has helped it to break with tradition, and interest some of the world's leading composers in writing for a medium which has, up until now, been regarded as apart from the mainstream development of music. [Read more]
THE 70's & 80's
On 29th June 1976, the band embarked on its first major tour for the Bi-Centennial celebrations to the U.S.A. arriving back on the 15th July 1976. Concerts were given in Chautauqua (on the shores of Lake Chautauqua and very near to the Great Lakes), in Albany Washington Park, in New York Trinity Church (Wall Street on Independence Day), in Harrisburg (the Hershey' Founders' Hall where the audience included all the Governors of the United States), in Uniontown (a coalmining town) at the Theatre in the Carnegie Institution in Pittsburgh, at Penn State University, in Hazelton High School, and in the Kennedy Plaza Philadelphia. [Read more]
1992 : A TRAUMATIC YEAR
1992 was a traumatic year for the band culminating in a great victory. Alan Morrison Grimethorpe Principal Cornet at the time picks up the story.
The story starts in March 1992 on a spring Sunday afternoon. The day of the Yorkshire Regional Championships at St. Georges Hall, Bradford.
Grimethorpe Colliery Band was on the crest of a wave and at the time were the form band in Britain, having had a very successful 1991. However, the 'Holy Grail' was to win at London and we joined every other band in Britain in starting out with an appearance at the Area as the first step to glory. Frank Renton was to conduct the band, as he had with great aplomb and success over the previous 4 years and the test-piece was 'Frontier' by Michael Ball. [Read more]
BRASSED OFF & MEMORIALS
Greater world fame came to the band in 1995 with the filming of Brassed Off! When government policy lead to the painful process of pit closures in the late eighties and early nineties writer/director Mark Herman decided that he wanted to make a movie about the way in which the closures affected the communities and people. The true story of Grimethorpe and its famous band gave him his vehicle and Brassed Off was the result.
The film is set in the fictional mining town of Grimley where the local pit is rumoured to be under threat of closure. While the women maintain a picket line outside the colliery gates the men wrestle with their conscience over whether to keep the mine open or accept management's generous redundancy offer. [Read more]
TOURING
The bands touring exploits have exploded in the past couple of years Visiting Japan and Australia in February/March 1999 playing to over 60,000 people and travelling over 60,000 miles.
This was the first tour for the band organised by International Concert Attractions Pty Ltd and the schedule was gruelling. The tour started spending 5 days in Japan and performing on 14/02 with two concerts in the Orchard Hall - Tokyo, followed on 15/02 at Kouseinenkin Kalkin - Tokyo, 16/02 Hagoyashi Koukaido Nagoya, 17/02 Festival Hall - Osaka and 18/02 Meil Parque Hall - Kukupka. [Read more]
2001 : A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW
In 2001 the band won an unprecedented 10th victory at the 25th Brass in Concert Championships conducted by Garry Cutt. The band had a virtual clean sweep at this contest also winning awards for : Best Soloist - Richard Marshall, Best Principal Cornet - Richard Marshall, Best Euphonium - Michael Dodd, Best Soprano - Nigel Fielding, Best new arrangement by Sandy Smith (Principal Horn of Grimethorpe) with "Another Fine Mess" performed by Grimethorpe with Michael Dodd and Shaun Hudson (the Euphoniums) donning Bowler hat and tails for an excellent representation of Laurel and Hardy even down to the Soft Shoe Shuffle Dance, which brought the House Down. [Read more]
2002 : A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW
The band has had another full year carrying out 48 concerts, 5 contests, 2 recordings and 2 tours, one to Australia and one to Luxembourg, and all this with a month off in August.
In total the band entertained in the region of 70,000 people, hopefully all satisfied and maybe we'll see some of them in 2003.
The band played the length and breadth of the country from Spennymoor in County Durham down to Yeovil in Somerset and Bournemouth on the south coast where we carried out a concert on the Saturday evening and a masterclass on Sunday to all ages of aspiring bands people. [Read more]
2003 : A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW
It doesn't seem a year since I was writing 2002's retrospective, but here we are, and its been another bumper year with tours, recordings and one or two high profile concerts.
In 2003 the band has had a very light year on the contesting ground, starting with a disappointing fifth place conducted by James Gourlay at the Yorkshire Areas held in Bradford and therefore not qualifying for the National finals at the Royal Albert Hall.
It was announced that last years Mineworkers competition at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool was to be the last one so no contest this year. Also Grimethorpe would not be competing at the British Open due to carrying out a prestigious concert at the BBC's Proms in the Park in London. [Read more]