history
Les (Mr Les) Roberts
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(l-r) Trevor & Simon Griffiths
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Whitchurch Bandstand Late 19th Century
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Simon Griffiths Aged 12 seated on the left (as you look at this picture)
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Conductor Ted Gray with a young Pauline Stokes seated to his left (or to his right as you look at this picture)
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From its Victorian roots until its reformation in 1957, after having to stop due to WWII, Whitchurch Band has always been an integral part of this famous north Shropshire market town. Whitchurch Band has to be one of the oldest established organisations in Whitchurch.
The band has so far traced its roots back to 1853, where it competed at the historic Belle Vue championships in Manchester, sixteen years after Queen Victoria ascended the throne.
Links with the Fodens Motor Works Band and the Royal Doulton Band came about when the band was under the baton of Ted Gray - a world renowned figure in the brass band world who was bandmaster with Fodens between 1968 and 1971 and afterwards the full-time employed musical director with Royal Doulton in nearby Stoke.
The band has so far traced its roots back to 1853, where it competed at the historic Belle Vue championships in Manchester, sixteen years after Queen Victoria ascended the throne.
Links with the Fodens Motor Works Band and the Royal Doulton Band came about when the band was under the baton of Ted Gray - a world renowned figure in the brass band world who was bandmaster with Fodens between 1968 and 1971 and afterwards the full-time employed musical director with Royal Doulton in nearby Stoke.
today
Today the band grows from strength to strength under the guidance of our present Musical Director, who is continuing to launch the band into the 21st Century, showing visitors like yourselves what a modern brass band is capable of. Whitchurch Band currently resides at The Brownlow Community Centre in Claypit Street, boasting a compliment of players both young and (not so) young, and we are always more than happy to see new faces, so if you play brass (or would like to learn) and would like to come along, please feel free to do so.
check out the vibrant history of roman whitchurch
Whitchurch is the oldest continually inhabited town in Shropshire, dating back to 70AD, through to its links with Sir John Talbot (whose heart is buried in the porch of St Alkmund's Church), the famous composer Sir Edward German, who was born in the town, the Victorian illustrator Randolph Caldecott, and J.B. Joyce, the oldest tower clockmakers in the world. Click on the picture of St Alkmund's Church for an insight into our famous town, or for more information on our historic church visit www.stalkmunds.com
