Browsing through the September edition of the Eccles Journal from 1965 we came across a history of the Eccles Borough Band which revealed some really interesting snippets about the formation of the band and the top prizes they competed for over the years.
The newspaper states that a number of young men formed the Eccles Young Men’s Band in 1865 and practiced in a loft over stables on Silk Street, Eccles.
However due to complaints from local residents about the noise and trouble from young children throwing stones at the windows they upped sticks and moved to another loft behind the Hare and Hounds Hotel pub on Church Street in 1869.
We jump forward to 1908 and we learn that the band had grown in popularity and was now entering competitions under the leadership of a Mr Jack Higham and also winning several trophies.
The band was now so successful that it attracted men from outside Eccles.
It meant that newcomers had to take a twelve-week course to be considered, and history records that their duties included white-washing the loft and keeping the instruments clean, needless to say many left before their course was completed.
In 1919 the band took part in a contest in Staylbridge when they won first prize, they repeated this success in 1920 and 1921 under their conductor, Mr W. Halliwell a “professional” who had been called in by the band’s committee to coach them just for contests.
In December 1920 the band officially moved into its present rehearsal room in Corporation Road, Eccles, when opened by the Mayor, Alderman Bethel. The bandroom, formerly a shoeing forge, had been bought and converted by a local Justice of the Peace, Mr T H Gardener BSc, who founded the Gardener Engineering plant in Eccles.
1921 was a memorable year for the band because there was an argument over who should conduct the band at Belle Vue: half the band members wanted their own bandmaster to conduct them and the other half wanted Mr Halliwell.
Mr Haliwell won the day and conducted the the band at Belle Vue, however at the following rehearsal only half the band turned up, the others had left and had joined the, then Cadishead and Pendleton Brass Band as sign of their displeasure.
About this time Mr Halliwell introduced Mr J. Dow to the band and he then took over as bandmaster and in no time the band was back to full strength. In 1923 Mr Dow took the band to Staylbridge where they again won the top prize.
Incidentally Mr Dow was a decorated war hero who saw action in Gallipoli.
The band competed at Belle Vue again in 1928 and won second prize, success also came their way at the Crystal Palace and Skegness.
In 1930 the band won the first prize at Belle Vue. When they returned in triumph the whole town turned out to meet them as they marched down Church Street to Eccles Town Hall where they were greeted by the Mayor of Eccles.
It was in 1933 that Mr John Prestwich of the Protector Lamp Company in Monton took an interest in the band and became their Trustee, organising hot pot suppers to raise funds and even holding musical evenings at his house, The Aviary in Worsley.
We leap forward to 1939 and a Mr E. Watson was now the bandleader, it was reported that at this time the band was at a low ebb and Mr Watson took many local youngsters under his care and trained them from scratch with poor instruments.
At a concert in Eccles Town Hall that a Mr Piercy was called to play with the band by Mr Watson and by 1946 he had become the treasurer and in 1947 appointed club secretary.
This was a turning point for the band as they once again began their climb to success and won second prize in a 1952 Manchester and District Brass Band Association competition, gaining 187 points out of a possible 200. Here they were under the leadership of Mr T. Hudson or ‘Basher’ as he was known to the band members.
The Mayor of Eccles, Alderman Moore, was a big supporter of the band and during his year of office raised £150 towards the cost of new uniforms, attended all the concerts and was a regular visitor to practice sessions.
1954 was a good year for Eccles Borough as they won several competitions, including medals for for the best cornet and trombone player at Blackpool Tower.
Over the next few years the band were led by Mr G. Muller and went on to win several more prizes.
Another saviour of the band was Mr Bob Fryer, a scrap metal merchant who took an interest and also presented the band with a new cornet.
The story ends with the band winning first prize in 1959 with Mr E. Buttress leading.
The band began a downward trend in the mid 1960′s with the loss of conductor Mr E C Buttress and several key players, the paper said, leading to an “inevitable downward spiral”.
In 1969 with no funds, a set of moth-eaten adult uniforms and an incomplete set of instruments, a youth band was formed by some very keen local people using the nucleus of several former players. Mr Joe Twigg, the band’s secretary then played a large part in the band’s revival.
By 1971 the band was back on its feet and starting to enter contests in the 4th section under the baton of Mr Wilf Hudson, a former player whose family associations with the band stretched 50 years or more.
Much hard work ensued, gradually building up a band and replacing the oldest instruments. In 1978 the band purchased new uniforms, re-establishing maroon and light blue as the band colours and after several short-term conductors, in 1984 engaged Martin Obermuller as the musical director.
The band toured Germany in 1985, 1986 and 1987 and undertook several engagements there.
In March 1986, the band purchased 33 new uniforms, in the mess jacket style with gold braiding, and dress trousers. Several contest successes in 1984/1985 season (3 firsts, a second and a third) were enough to gain promotion to the 3rd section locally. In 1985/1986 the band certainly consolidated their status with the 3rd section by narrowly missing promotion to the 2nd section by one point.
Since then, conductors have included Mr Graham Smith, Miss Claire Pownall, Mr Kevin Donaldson and Mr Les Webb.
The Band’s present musical director is Mrs Mareika Gray.
It has gone from strength to strength in the 2000s, signing cornet star Liv Appleton in January 2015, and winning £2,000 at the Butlin’s Mineworkers Open Brass Band Festival that same month.
The band has some more exciting history to add to the story: on September 19 this year they will play at the National Brass Band Championships final in the Second Division. Bandmembers are working very hard on the piece ‘Snaring Of The Sun’ by Stephen Roberts.
If you want to help the band reach their next phase of success you can do so by going to the Eccles Borough Band website.
