History

A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMINGTON BAND

The present Amington Band was re-formed in the latter part of the year 1917 by eight keen bandsmen led by the bandmaster Roland Davis. Amington had formerly had a band in conjunction with adjoining villages but over a period of years this had disbanded. Amington was then a small village in the county of North Warwickshire, but now falls within the boundaries of Tamworth. The village is now almost unrecognisable to how it looked in the year the band was formed.

The ambition of those early band members was so high that attainment appeared impossible, nevertheless additional members were soon enrolled, mainly young boys of the village who had to be taught everything from the elementary stage and the progress was infused into these young players. A band committee was formed consisting of players and outside members and it was unanimously agreed that the best method of progress was by the band entering brass band competitions.

Rehearsals were held during the winter months and progress was made. Concerts were given in the summer of 1918 and the band decided to enter a band contest at Moira, Derbyshire. Needless to say the band were not successful in gaining a prize and their performance was far below other competing bands, but to the Amington Band it was a success and it embedded in the members a determination to enter further contests in the near future. With the consent of the school managers a rehearsal room was now found for the band at the Amington school this being recognised as the band headquarters. In the early summer of 1919 the band entered another band contest this being held at Chasetown, Staffs. Although their performance was superior to the last occasion, the band again failed to win any prize but at a contest held in Bolehall Tamworth, in September 1919 they achieved third place which was first occasion that the band could say it was a prize winner.

The band was now on the rise. New instruments were purchased in 1920 and William Pollard of Crawshawbooth, Lancashire, was appointed professional conductor. Under William Pollard the band achieved great success in the contest field winning the Junior Cup (3rd Section) in 1921 and the Grand Shield (2nd section) in 1923 at the National Brass Band Championships, which in those days were held at the Crystal Palace, London. These achievements promoted the band to the Championship section where they were to perform against the best bands in the land until the outbreak of World War Two. A highlight during this period occurred in 1928 with the building of the Amington Band room which is located in Sharpe Street in the village and which remains the home of the band to this day. During the 1930's the band continued with great success in the contest field, being prize winners on three occasions at the British Open Brass Championship held at Belle Vue Manchester, the highlight being a third place finish in 1933. During the 1930s and 1940's the band regularly broadcast from the BBC studios in Birmingham and three records of band performances were released. During the war the band, with Roland Davis at the helm, continued to give regular concerts as well as radio broadcasts. At the conclusion of the war in Europe a tour of France was planned to give concerts to the British troops, but this did not take place, and instead the band toured Southern England.

Sadly with the closure of the local mines in the 1950's the fortunes of the band declined and the band could no longer maintain its Championship section status. New members were recruited, including for the first time girls, but it was not until the appointment of Bernard Springett as conductor in the mid 1960's that any success in the contest field was achieved again. The next few years saw several memorable contest performances the highlight being the second place that was achieved in the finals of the WD & HO Wills European Brass Championships of 1973. Another highlight of this period was when the band appeared in the film "Privilege" which was released in 1967. Filming took place over several hours during an August night in 1966 at the Birmingham City football ground, but if you blink you will miss the bands appearance!

Sadly for the band Bernard Springett died in 1976 and shortly after this the band went into another period of decline which only ended with the appointment of Allan Morris as conductor in 1984. Under Allan Morris the band was again successful in the contest field rising from the 4th section to the Championship section between the years 1985 and 1988. The most memorable highlight of this period was an appearance at the Albert Hall in the fourth section final of the National Brass Band Championships in 1985 where the band gained second place. Another highlight was an appearance on Central News which led to the band being fortunate to attract sponsorship for the next few years from the Triman firm, which was based in Tamworth.

Following Allan Morris's retirement the band initially continued to be successful with appearances in the National Finals being achieved in 1992 and 1993 when the band was conducted by Mick Gernon and a recording being released in 1989 - "Brass Meets Plastic". In the following years though significant success was not achieved at the contests entered the band remained successful in the concert field. However all this came abruptly to an end in 1998, when for various reasons several members of the band left for pastures new.

At this time the band survived only due to the hard work of a few dedicated members and the foresight shown by the committee in appointing Wesley Kendrick as Musical Director. With at first little to work with Wes gradually turned the fortunes of the band round and developed it into a band respected both locally and nationally for the quality of its concert repertoire and its success in the contest field. With Wes at the helm the band has given many prestige concerts and qualified for the finals of the National Brass Championships in three consecutive years (2006-2008) achieving second place in the finals of 2007 and third place in 2008. The band has also been prize winners at the West Midlands Brass Band Championships for the last four years attaining first prize in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. Most recently the band won third prize at the Mineworkers Brass band Festival held at Butlins, Skegness in January 2010.