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.

From the dreariest of landscapes, the glint and gleam of an inimitable brass sound lit up the lives of men who worked in darkness. Emerging from the pit, they made for the bandroom where, with a discipline natural to an industry where self-control means life or death, they practised and rehearsed to the impeccable standards which have won them recognition as masters of their art.

To many of us, the mention of a brass band evokes memories of the park and the promenade, of strains of Sousa and Sullivan. Some are often associated with good beer but in the excellence of their maturity they may more readily be likened to fine Claret. Grimethorpe Colliery Band is one that has reached an enviable maturity.

In 1917 several bandsmen working at Grimethorpe who belonged to a band at Cudworth, (the next village) which had disbanded, approached the Colliery Institute Committee with a view to starting a band at Grimethorpe. A meeting was held and the suggestion was favourably received. After lengthy discussions, a decision was made to go ahead and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band came into being in 1917. This was accomplished, chiefly with raw local lads plus men from the disbanded band at Cudworth, and a fund was started by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Limited, a sister company, the Colliery Institute Committee and supplemented by voluntary subscriptions from Colliery Officials and Workmen. The original name was the Grimethorpe Colliery Institute Band and for some years it was called the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.

The Colliery Institute Committee purchased instruments and uniforms and generally financed the band until 1947 when sponsorship was taken over by the National Coal Board and its Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation. Some years later, the workmen at the colliery agreed to pay a levy towards the upkeep of the band and it continued throughout the years.

The band entered its first contest in July 1918 at Belle Vue, Manchester and under their professional conductor, J. A. Greenwood, obtained third prize playing ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ by Hermann Goetz.  Six conductors came to Grimethorpe between 1917 and 1931 and in 1931 William Foster took over. He was a hard uncompromising man whose solid grit brought the best out of the bandsmen. The first contest under his leadership was on 12^th March 1932. The band was unplaced on this occasion but on the 28^th March and on the 16^th April the band won first prizes under ‘Bill’ Foster.

The ‘first’ on the 16^th April 1932 started a run of successes for the band, and it is notable to recall that the band made its first broadcast in late April of that year. Broadcasting continued at varying intervals, until 1941 when the band broadcast on no fewer than eleven occasions. This yearly average was maintained until at least as late as 1950 and 1951. For the record, the fiftieth broadcast was made on the 4^th March 1942; the hundredth on the 11^th April 1946; and on the 26^th January 1951 the band completed its one hundred and forty second broadcast.

In 1951, however, the band ceased to broadcast and the one hundred and forty third transmission did not go out until the 19^th October 1959. It was in 1951 that the standard of the band fell a little and for some years it remained in the doldrums. A colliery not far away decided to form a new band, they were offering higher wages and better jobs than at Grimethorpe, so quite a few players left to join this new colliery band, which was called Wooley. During the war years, Bill Foster made way for a younger man and George Thompson took over as Resident Musical Director until he left to take over his old band in the South in 1946. Under his leadership, the band went from strength to strength, the high spot being the runners up, position at the Belle Vue ‘Open’ Championship of Great Britain in 1945.

During George Thompson’s first spell with the band he was responsible, along with his brother Jim and a local Headmaster (Stewardson), for the formation of the Grimethorpe Schoolboys’ Band. Although the members of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band gave help in the way of tuition, the Schoolboys’ Band was not connected to the senior outfit. In 1976 there were still four members doing service with the Seniors who played with the original Junior Band. They were Fred Partlett, Alec Garbett, Bob Davidson and Gordon Silver.