Heritage grant for Black Dyke

Black Dyke awarded Heritage Lottery funding for archive project

Black Dyke Band has a rich heritage and one of the largest collections of artefacts and memorabilia worldwide, which thanks to National Lottery players will be made accessible to the public including a wealth of original hand written manuscripts, music recordings (33s, 78’s and wax cylinders) and artefacts dating back as far as 1855.

The band has received £61,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project totalling £94,500 entitled The Black Dyke Band Heritage and Archive Project.

As part of the project, approximately 180 volunteers will be trained to gather oral history interviews from people that have been involved in the band and its history, and to talk to ancestors of local people who may have stories of the bands history to tell. They will also help catalogue, digitise and archive the first 100 years of original manuscripts and scores, plus non-copyright recordings for preservation. A heritage website will be created offering excerpts of historic music and recordings, artefacts and photographs with audio and visual descriptions, and the oral history films recorded to preserve the social history of the band for future generations.

A heritage centre will also be established where local communities and brass enthusiasts can view the artefacts and memorabilia, incorporating the latest interactive technology for visitor and educational purposes. In addition, the band will produce an educational resource pack, working with young people in support of the Arts Awards Scheme (Explore) in collaboration with the West Yorkshire Education Services of Kirklees, Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield and Calderdale to deliver a cross-curriculum in-sight to the social history of brass bands.

Commencing in May 2016, the project will celebrate Black Dyke Band’s 40^th anniversary of being awarded the Freedom of the City of Bradford and the150 years since the band won its first championship at the Crystal Palace, London.

The band will work with Black Dyke Mills Heritage Centre and Local History Society, as well as with the West Yorkshire Local Authority Music Hubs in developing this project. There will be a large-scale launch event in 2017 to celebrate the project, staged in Bradford.

Commenting on the award, Professor Nicholas Childs said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, and are confident the project will support young people and local communities in learning about the Heritage of Black Dyke Band and life within Black Dyke Mills itself, which was the original home of Black Dyke Band.”

Photo: The Black Dyke Mills Band 1902
Winners of the Crystal Palace Thousand Guineas Challenge Trophy

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