The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

, based in

Grimethorpe Grimethorpe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and W ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the Black Dyke Mills Band, the band became the first to perform at

the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. Grimethorpe Band achieved fame after appearing in the film ''

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

''.

History

The year after the band's formation saw it enter its first competition at Belle Vue in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

.. Its first radio broadcast was in 1932 and from 1941 to 1951 it was on UK national radio every month. George Thompson was musical director from the early 1950s until 1972 during which time the band won the British Open Contest for the first time. Thompson was followed by

Elgar Howarth Elgar Howarth (4 November 1935 – 13 January 2025) was an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove noted that "his performances are marked by powerful concentration and a clear communicat ...

as Professional Conductor and Musical Director. 1974 saw the band, along with Black Dyke Mills Band, become the first to perform at

. The band continued through the industrial troubles of the 1980s and the closure of Grimethorpe Colliery on 13 October 1992. The band gained first place with 99 out of 100 on 17 October 1992 in the National Brass Band Championship at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London. Following the closure of the Grimethorpe Colliery in 1993, the Band was sponsored by RJB Mining (later UK Coal plc) and then by Powerfuel.

Rock and pop

The band has appeared on rock and pop records, including " When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease", on Roy Harper's 1975 ''HQ'' album, and

Peter Skellern Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two Hit song, top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart – "You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature ...

's 1978 and 1979 albums ''Skellern'' (including the hit single " Love Is the Sweetest Thing") and ''Astaire''. In 1976, the band assisted comedian

Max Bygraves Walter William "Max" Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012) was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Roya ...

in recording a song specially commissioned by the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

called "Do It The Safety Way", in order to promote safety procedures in coalmines. One former member of the band, trombonist Andy Cato, went on to co-found electronic music duo

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles " At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of ...

In films

International fame came with the film ''

'', the plot of which was based on Grimethorpe's struggles against pit closures, and whose soundtrack was recorded by the band. The band also performed

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

for the 1976 Disney film '' Escape from the Dark'' (also called ''The Littlest Horse Thieves''), with the composer conducting.

Honours

* National Brass Band Championships – Winners 1970, 1992, 2006 and 2007. * English National Brass Band Championships – Winners 2007,"Colliery band hits top prize note"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 1 July 2007 2008. * Yorkshire Champions – 1963, 1967, 1973, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2005, 2006. * Brass in Concert Champions – 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2001 to 2005, 2010 and 2014. * Mineworkers' Champions – 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 to 1980, 1983, 1985 to 2002. * British Open Champions – 1969, 1984, 1991, 2015. * Granada Band of the Year – 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1985.

Other events

The band represented England at the European Brass Band Championship in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in May 2008 and came second behind the Cory Band, both on 194 points.Buffet Crampon, woodwind instruments : clarinets, professional clarinet, oboe, bassoon
In June 2008 Grimethorpe gained its second successive victory at the English National Brass Band Championships, thus qualifying to represent England once again at the European Championships in Ostende, Belgium, in 2009. The band gained further worldwide attention with its rendition of the

Olympic Hymn The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Deme ...

during the

2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proc ...

in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

, accompanied by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Notable members

* Roger Webster – Former Principal Cornet * Nicholas Childs – Former Solo Euphonium * Andy Cato – Former Trombonist and co-founder of electronic music duo

Partial discography

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Band, Grimethorpe Colliery 1917 establishments in England Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley

Mining in South Yorkshire Music in South Yorkshire

People from Grimethorpe