Marsden Silver Prize Band
Marsden Band
was established in 1889 and little is known of its early history. The band
however moved to its current headquarters on Marsden Lane in 1931.
In 1961 the band
entered the famous Belle Vue contest at Manchester and won first prize in the
senior trophy at the spring festival.
In 1989 the
band had its centenary year and proceeded to raise £10,000 for 4 new bass
instruments.
In the past
5 years the band has gone from strength to strength and in 1997 the band won
1st prize in the area contest at Bradford. The prize won was an invitation to
play in the national finals at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Here it was
placed 4th out of twenty bands.
The band was
promoted to the second section in 1998, immediately gaining third place in the
Yorkshire area contest.
1999 brought
further success in the Rochdale contest where the band was placed 2nd.
Another
successful year at the Yorkshire area saw the band promoted to the first
section for the millennium. In the same year the band also made a number of
appearances in the TV series Where the
Heart is, filmed in the local village of Slaithwaite. The success of the
band did not stop there. The band won the best local prize in the famous Whit
Friday March competitions held in Saddleworth as featured in the movie Brassed Off. The icing on the cake in
the year was a 1st place in the entertainment contests at both Wychavon and
Malton.
The year
2000 continued in much the same way, with the band winning Easingwold March
Contest and being placed a creditable 3rd in it’s first year in the
first section at the area contest. In addition the band achieved 1st
place in a number of the local march contests.
The year of
2001 has started in style for the band with them winning the best local prize
in the Whit Friday March contests and on the same day being placed 1st
at the Delph contest, ahead of a number of Championship Section bands. The band
also retained its Easingwold March contest and Malton Entertainment contest
titles in this year. The band’s dream was realised at St Georges Hall, Bradford
in March of 2001. Their result in the area competition meant they could take
their place with the elite and in the year 2002 Marsden Band will be competing,
for the first time in their history, in the Championship Section.
The success
of the band and their rise from 3rd Section to Championship Section
in 5 years is largely due to their conductor Alan Widdop.
Alan, a bass trombone player, spent six years playing for the famous Black Dyke Mills band, followed by five years with Versatile brass. He left Versatile brass to become a player with such bands as the Sid Lawrence Orchestra and the BBC National Dance Orchestra. Alan, an accomplished musician, toured with The Three Degrees and Shirley Bassey, to name but a few. Following on from his playing career teaching has been extremely important to him over the years, but he still enjoys the thrill of taking part in, and winning, competitions.
For more information, visit the band's own website at www.marsden-band.co.uk