There’s life after Coal
For many years Brass Bands and the mining industries have been hand in hand, friendly rivalry and shared experiences driving loyalties to one’s own mine but more importantly one’s own band. July 2015 saw the closure of the last deep mine in the Nottinghamshire coalfield; Thoresby Colliery closed its doors after 90 years of continuous production and the legacy of an industry now lost forever in the Midlands region.
However, though the mines have gone, the bands are strong as displayed by the results in this year’s Midlands Regional Contest in which three local mining bands took to the stage and claimed honours and with it qualified for the National Finals later this year.
First to blood was the ever developing Pleasley Colliery Band who won the 3rd Section on their first attempt conducted by the experienced Geof Benson. Geof took the reins of the Band in 2014 and immediately faced his first challenge of halting the flow of outgoing players. Through hardwork and perseverance Geof has built a new Band of new, experienced, young and older players that form a great team and a family atmosphere. With great support from the local community, the staff and committee of Pleasley Welfare, the band has gradually grown both in players and quality of the music produced at concerts and contests.
The 3rd section title was won at the Nicholas Chamberlain College in Bedworth, playing Michael Ball’s Cambrian Suite, The Band performed with a combination of balance and control of both tempo’s and dynamics, something the MD has been stressing to the band from his very first rehearsal. Adjudicator Paul Norley said of their Cambrian Suite - very stylish - full of panache, balance and control, and Gordon Higginbottom commented about the piece being well directed and obvious that they had worked very hard on the detail. With quality players within each and every section of the band, the M.D. is looking forward to the Challenge of a second consecutive trip to the National Finals, and possibly Second Section banding from 2017.
Next up was the Blidworth Welfare Band with a 2nd place and also promotion to the Championship Section from 2017. The Band, formerly known as the Teversal Colleries Band, was formed in the 19th Century and carried the name of the mine until the 1980’s when the band were forced to relocate to Blidworth and adopted the new name of the Blidworth Colliery Welfare band, enjoying the support of a strong Miners’ Welfare in the community.
Edward Gregson’s Essay was the tester in this section, enabling Blidworth to gain their qualification after being drawn the last band to play in their section. The long day did not detract the Band as they skillfully made their way through Gregson’s, often underestimated, challenge. MD Martin Heartfield said of his Band, “I was delighted with the quality of our performance and am so pleased and proud of all the players, members and supporters of the Band”. On stage remarks from adjudicators David Roberts and Chris Wormald were equally complimentary explaining the top two places were clear leading contenders in the field.
And lastly, the Thoresby Colliery Band took the 2nd place prize and a qualifying place at the Royal Albert Hall for their interpretation of Phillip Sparke’s Cambridge Variations. Formed in 1948, and named after the Colliery, the band is now situated in Clumber Park, in the National Trust owned Hardwick Village, where it enjoys the support and patronage of the Hardwick Village Residents’ Group. By a strange twist of fate, Pleasley MD Geof Benson was once an EEb Bass player with Thoresby, and Blidworth’s MD Martin Heartfield was a former Conductor of the Band also. A recent 2nd place at the Brass in the Guild (Preston) contest gave Thoresby the boost it needed.
Drawing band number three of a field of 12, and under the skilful leadership of Professional MD Ian McElligott, Thoresby took to the stage and immediately laid down a strong marker drawing many positive comments from adjudicators Jim Davies and Steve Sykes paying particular attention to the detail of the performance and quality of the soloists. Fending off challenges from other leading bands, Thoresby stayed in the judges’ minds until the close of the contest, taking a well deserved second place and looking forward to the trip to London to represent the Midlands in the Championship Section National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.
So, the mines may have gone, but the music is definitely carrying on for three Midlands based mining bands. Strong community support underpins their success with a fierce determination to progress and maintain tradition at all costs.
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