NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

The Salisbury Times and South Wilts Gazette

Friday, January 5, 1912

This article about the Downton Band is included on this website as an indication of the standing of the SWT Woodfalls Band in the area at this juncture.

BAND DINNER:  A dinner, which it is hoped to make an annual event, was held at the White Horse Hotel on Saturday evening under the auspices of the Downton Brass Band.  The honorary conductor (Mr. J. G. Northover) presided, and he was supported by a full attendance of the band and several visitors.  Mr & Mrs. Aylett supplied an excellent meal and at its close a programme of toast and song was gone through.  The Chairman, in submitting the toast of "the success of Downton Brass Band" mentioned that the combination, like many another village band, had had its ups and downs but he saw no reason why their  difficulties should not be surmounted and why one day they should not become like there friends at the higher part of the parish - The Woodfalls Band - the premier band in South Wilts.  The younger members require discipline and if they would only submit to this, perhaps the greatest essential in a  band, their future would be secured. Many of the instruments required to be renewed but he felt sure the money necessary to purchase these would be forthcoming if they only showed sufficient enthusiasm.   The names of Mr. Walter Bailey (bandmaster) and Mr. George Bailey (Band Secretary) were associated in a cordial honouring of the toast and both gentlemen responded.  Mr. W. Bailey pleaded for a more regular attendance at practise and Mr. G. Bailey appealed for financial assistance for the band, the subscriptions had not come in as freely as formerly and without money they could not purchase the instruments which were necessary to their efficiency.   Other toasts included "the visitors" given by Mr. F. Noble acknowledged by Mr. Trapnell,  and Mr. A. W. Mitchell,  the Chairman, proposed by Mr. Trapnell, and "the host and hostess" submitted by Mr. G. Bailey.  There were songs by Messers C.  Moody, R. Mouland. F. Noble, H.. Winton, E. Bailey, F. Blake, O. Chalke & others.

Friday, May 10, 1912

THE TITANIC DISASTER:  The public hall was crowded on Sunday afternoon, when the Woodfalls Band gave a sacred concert on behalf of the sufferers by the disaster to the Titanic.   They played skilfully an excellent programme of music, and were assisted by Mr. Hadley Moody and Mrs. Green as vocalists.  A collection at the close realised about £4.

Friday, July 12, 1912

WOODFALLS TEMPERANCE SOCIETY: The annual fete of this society and the Band of Hope in connection, took place on Wednesday afternoon.   Members met at the Temperance Hall at 1.30 , and, headed by the society,s banner, and the South of England Temperance Brass Band , marched in procession to Redlynch Church.   Here, the vicar (the Rev. W. N. Williams) conducted shortened festal evensong, and a sermon was preached by the Rev. H. J. Trueman, vicar of St. Marks Salisbury.   Before the sermon the band rendered the Hallelujah Chorus.  After service, the members proceeded to Redlynch Park, kindly placed at the disposal of the society  by Mrs. Robinson, where a public tea was provided.  A cricket match, married V. singles was played and various amusements were arranged for the children.  The band also played selections at intervals.  In the evening a meeting was held, at which the chair was taken by Mr. Clr. Parker of Southampton, and addresses, interspersed with temperance choruses by the Temperance Male Choir, were give by the Rev. W. N. Williams (Redlynch) the Rev. H. J. Trueman (Salisbury) and the Rev. Gilbert Davies (St. Judes, Southwark).  Mr. Coombes distributed prizes to the Band of Hope.  The gathering, which was well attended, concluded with votes of thanks to all concerned in its success.

Friday, September 13, 1912

PROFICIENT MUSICIANS:  We understand that the South of England Band, which won two prizes at the recent Blandford contest, has entered itself for Some of the minor competitions at the forthcoming festival at the Crystal Palace.  The band secured second place on March and third on Selection in the Blandford contest with merit for the cornet and euphonium solos.

Friday, September 27, 1912

TO-MORROW'S CONTEST:  The honour of being the only band in Wilts that is taking part in the great band contest at the Crystal Palace tomorrow, lies with the Woodfalls Temperance Band.  A good number of musical friends are journeying with them to encourage them at the right moment.

Friday, October 4, 1912

CRYSTAL PALACE CONTEST - WOODFALLS BAND TAKES PART:  The South of England Temperance Band, whose bandmaster is Mr. J Green, deserve to be congratulated on their enterprise in entering one of the competitions in the National Band Festival at the Crystal Palace on Saturday.  They are deservedly popular locally, having won several successes in the district, and their visit to London raised much interest.  Their professional conductor, (Mr. Muddiman) was in charge.

The contest in which they took part was the preliminary section for the People Challenge Shield and other prizes, and it was one of two events taking place indoors, being arranged at the famous meeting place "under the clock" .   Twenty seven other bands entered the same competition, but the Woodfalls Band was the only one from Wiltshire, while the Southampton Town Band was the only one from Hampshire in the same competition.  Most of the bands had been in the contest in previous years, while it was Woodfalls'  first entrance.

The test-piece was "The Bohemian Girl" (Balfe) and the adjudicator (Mr. R. Rimmer) awarded the first prize to Bentley Colliery Band.   Woodfalls Band had a good reception and played well, and their friends hope that on another occasion they may win the success they deserve.  Boscombe Temperance Band won the second prize in the Preliminary Cup Section for the Daily Mirror Challenge Cup.

Over 30 persons journeyed from Woodfalls to London, while about 100 went from Salisbury.

Friday, May 23, 1913

TEMPERANCE SOCIETY:  The annual Whit Friday tea was provided in the Temperance Hall.  After which, headed by the South of England Prize Band and the banner of the Society, there was a procession to Lodge Park, kindly lent by Mr. J. Batten, where time was made pleasant by music from the band, games for the young people, cocoa-nut shies, etc.  A collection was taken by the Hon secretary (Mr. Mitchell) in aid of the society's funds.  Thanks were given to Mr. Batten and all supporters of the society.

  Friday, August 29, 1913

ANOTHER SUCCESS BY THE WOODFALLS BAND:  Playing in a contest at West Lavington Flower Show on Wednesday, The South of England Temperance Prize Band (conductor Mr. John Green), took first prize against Chippenham Silver Prize band (2), the Market Lavington Prize band (3) and the Gorse Hill Prize Band.  Mr. Charles Green, of the same band, took a silver medal for a cornet solo.  The adjudicator was Mr. J. G. Jubb of Manchester.

Friday, July 13, 1914

WOODFALLS TEMPERANCE SOCIETY:  The annual fete of the society, and the Band of Hope in connection with it, was held in charming weather on Monday afternoon.  Headed by the South of England Temperance Brass Band, the members marched to the Woodfalls Primitiva Methodist Church, where service was conducted and a sermon preached by the Rev. Isaac Cousin.  Afterwards, at Redlynch Park, by kind permission of Mrs. Robinson, tea was provided and a temperance meeting held, at which addresses were delivered by the Rev. I. Cousin the Rev. W. Willoughby Gee of Parkstone , the Rev. J. Baines, of Fordingbridge, and Mr. G. B. Smith of the Dorset and Southern Counties Temperance Association.  Vocal and Instrumental music was provided by the Rev. J. Baines and party, selections were given by the band, and various amusements were organised for the children.  The function was well attended and of a very successful nature.

The following was published in 1947 - we do not have the exact date.

ENTERING 73^RD YEAR

Members of the Woodfalls Silver Band, who last month won the Championship Shield of the Wessex Brass Band Association, are busily preparing for wider developments in the 73^rd year of the band’s existence. Although some members of the band had not returned from the Forces, it was decided last May to re-start practices and soon the players felt confident enough to enter for the Wessex trophy. The band – not yet up to strength – includes a farmer, policeman, bricklayers, motor mechanics, lorry drivers, and factory workers.

The bandmaster, Mr. G. Mitchell, who was trained as a musician in the band in his youth, has recently retired from the Royal Navy, in which he had served 22 years. He was a Petty Officer. Practises are held on Sunday mornings in a timber yard.

Among those who watch the progress of the band with pride is 88-yearold Mr. Mark Warner, who was one of its original founders in 1874, and his only son, Mr. W.M.E Warner (the present secretary), who before he laid down his trombone had played in the band for 35 years. Mr P.J. Green is the present treasurer.

A few lads of the village formed the band in 1874. During the winter evenings the 14 bandsmen met for instruction and practise at the house of Mr. William Green; and in the summer, at the invitation of Mr Mark Warner, in the old Methodist Chapel, a mud structure which has long since disappeared. Music instruction was given by Messrs George and Charles Mitchell. Later, the band’s headquarters were at the new Temperance Hall. In a month or so the band could play a simple hymn tune, "St Ann". Quickly other hymn tunes were mastered and then the ambitious youths attempted simple marches. It was not long before they paraded the village playing a march. The budding musicians soon won recognition and in the summer after their formation they were invited to play at the local Band of Hope – then quite an enthusiastic society – and at school treats in the neighbourhood.

FIRST TITLE

When fairly established the band was called the South of England Temperance Brass Band. Thus identified, it secured engagements in many parts of Wessex and once in Manchester. It was in 1908 that it entered the competitive lists. In its first contest, which was at Wilton Park, it failed to catch the adjudicator’s ear. The bandmaster, the late Mr. J. Green, advised the members to seek the aid of a professional coach. They therefore secured the services of the late Mr. A. H. Muddiman, who at that time was a governor of the Southampton Borough Police Band. The following year, at their second contest, they won two first prizes. From that time the band went from success to success. It attended contests in a wide area, from the Isle of Wight to the Crystal and Alexander Palaces. One of its best performances was in Berkshire, where in four contests it won 15 first prizes and one-second prize.   Though the band was well known and appreciated in the three counties, its identity was not readily placed by rivals in London and in the Midlands. To begin with it was unusual for a village band to be so talented; and second, strangers were puzzled at not being able to find Woodfalls on the map. Consequently, it was strongly believed that the band bore a fictitious title and that the players were crack police instrumentalists recruited by Mr. Muddiman from among the Forces in the South.

In 1935 the band struck its worse patch. Death and unemployment reduced the active membership. Two stalwarts of the band, however, Messrs. J. Snook and R.W. Spreadbury, turned from outside recruitment and with courage and vision, began patiently to rebuild the band from youth of the village. They formed a music class of 20 Woodfalls school boys, who, in 1936 entered the grading section of the Wessex Brass Band Association, and by the summer of 1939 had become so proficient as to win the championship of the Association’s Section B. Its conductor was the late Mr. A. Green. As an encouraging preliminary in 1938 it had gained fourth prize in its section at the Alexander Palace band festival.

Most of the bandsmen volunteered for service in the last war, and two of them paid the supreme sacrifice. Now, with ambitions for a still greater future, the band hopes to increase its membership and to gain higher distinction. It holds six cups and shields, which it has won outright.

September, 2001 - Author Sonia Aarons

WILTSHIRE LIFE MAGAZINE:  Wiltshire has a full complement of brass bands but in contesting terms its most successful is Woodfalls Band, now in its 128^h year. Sonia Aarons went along to a practice night to find out more.

They say that the children of Woodfalls are born with a cornet in their hands. Today, the band still nurtures its roots in this small village, where it began, just nine miles south of Salisbury, on the edge of the New Forest, competing doggedly every year against the "big boys of brass" such as Black Dyke.

The band was started in 1874 by three village families, the Greens, the Mitchells and the Warners, who made up most of its members, and it was formed primarily to play hymns at the meetings of the Methodist Chapel, just a few yards from today's Band Hall. In fact, one can still see the stone laid to commemorate the Band's foundation in a series of memorial plaques at the base of the building.

Woodfalls Band's earliest recorded public appearance was in 1882, on the release of a Salvationist, Captain Foster, who was unfairly imprisoned in Winchester for defending himself against a rowdy. On his release, he was met at Salisbury station by the Woodfalls Temperance Band and a small Salvation Army band from Trowbridge, who played him triumphantly through the streets of Salisbury to his home in Culver Street. No doubt it was a stirring sight.

Indeed few can fail to be moved by the sound of a brass band as a carnival approaches, as the cruise ship leaves port, or as the strains of a waltz drift across the park on a summer's day.

But most people are unaware of the dedication of the bandsmen and their supporters. The Senior Band, now sponsored by South West Trains, after years of trying to make ends meet with band subs, jumble sales, sponsored walks and the like, meets twice a week for practice and has a busy programme of performances throughout the year many of them raising money for charity. These include an annual performance at Christmas on the steps of the Natural History Museum for Save the Children alongside the hot chestnut stand, an event which includes an auction of "designer" Christmas Trees in the presence of Princess Anne, the charity’s patron. Most importantly, local youngsters, the majority from the village, are still joining the learners group, and later the junior band who take children from the age of eight.

The Band has always been family-based with, to quote just one example, Reg Spreadbury, his father, his nephew and his five brothers all in the band at the same time. Reg went on to found two of the Junior bands, while another stalwart, Cliff Kingshott, who conducted the Band in the late 1950s, as well as playing the cornet for 25 years, used to teach six boys every evening in readiness for the Junior Band.

So what is its fascination? Brian Easterbrook, who joined the Band (from Downton) in 1974 and has been the Band's Secretary for almost as long finds it difficult to explain. "It’s just the love," he says. 'Something which is in you. Even when you're on holiday, sitting outside with your drinks on the verandah, when it's eight o'clock, you automatically think "They're just sitting down now for band practice. The biggest problem is maintaining the standard and indeed keeping the talented members once we have trained them."

Some of the original families, such as the Greens, are still strongly connected with the band. First Baritone player Keith Green, who regularly attends practices and performs at concerts, was the youngest member of Woodfalls Junior Band at 10 when they competed at the Daily Herald Open Brass Band Festival in Brighton in 1958. He is also great, great grandson of John Green, one of the founder members.

Another long-serving member of the band, Freddie Barter, who joined 45 years ago, has managed to collect a staggering amount of archive material, including newspaper cuttings and photographs, from many local people. "I started our scrapbooks when Courtney Bosanko became our musical director, around 1967. At that time two-thirds of the band lived in Woodfalls, there was an average age of 24, and it included five sets of brothers. Now it’s becoming more difficult to find old material. Many people have moved away, youngsters who grew up with the band have gone to University and stopped playing, and the older folks have passed on."

There have been many events to remember. The Band won its first trophy in 1914, going on to win the Grand Shield twice, in 1974 and in 1985, in Manchester, played five times in the elite "British Open' , appeared nine times at the Royal Albert Hall and won the title of Wessex Champions no less than 23 times, six of them in successive years. The Band still ranks in the top 40 in over 1,000 bands nation-wide.

As well as major competitions, the Band has played with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, given performances on radio including Friday Night is Music Night and appeared in various TV programmes including TVS's Music Makers, Country Ways and the BBC's Omnibus when the programme compared the advantages of a northern sponsored works band (Black Dyke) and the then unsponsored village band, both of which competed in the National Finals in 1967.

The Band itself has seen some changes since the very early days, particularly the percussion section, which was once limited to a bass drum with a cymbal on top and maybe a side drum. A few marches and waltzes, plus the hymns, were the repertoire. Today, with equipment including 16 different percussion instruments, a large van is required, something which became possible after a lottery grant of almost £47,500. It’s a far cry from having to jam everything into estate cars and even horse boxes!. A further grant of £100,000 backed by their own fund-raising efforts, has also helped to meet the cost of refurbishing the band hall, replacing instruments and purchasing recording equipment.

So the nitty gritty of everyday band life is at last being taken care of in the 21^st century. Yet there are many in the band, young and old, who look back with affection on the days when it was more of a struggle.

"There was the time," recalls Freddie Barter, " when we played at the Bournemouth Pavilion on the revolving stage. Unfortunately our solo euphonium player didn’t have his chair on the revolving part and the band revolved off without him! On another occasion the bandsmen had to stay overnight in a bakery and woke next morning to find all their uniforms covered in white flour!

" And there was the day Auntie Nora (Mrs. Nora Shelley, who supported us and was band secretary for many years known by everyone as Auntie Nora) was left behind in Bristol after a contest and had to be put on a train back to Salisbury by the police. Auntie Nora was a cornet player herself and, although not allowed to play in the band at that time, taught many of the children and was a tireless fund-raiser."

Times may have changed but the enthusiasm for Woodfalls Band has not faltered. Even during the Second World War it carried on with the Home Guard, drawing from other local bands to keep the tradition going.

"Today, "says Brian Easterbrook "the main ambition is to be able to carry on as we’ve always done and to strive to maintain our position in the elite Championship Section."

"Everyone has to gel," adds Ken Worgan, Vice President of the Band :" That’s the most important factor if the music is going to sound right. We don’t have a formal audition, we get to hear about players and they about us and they come along and have a blow. If they’re sounding reasonably good and we like them, that’s fine."

They were certainly sounding good when I heard them and as spokeswoman Jane Lee replied when I asked why South West Trains supported the Band,

" It’s simple, they spread happiness and give pleasure to the community we serve." What better reason.

For more information on the Band you can contact Brian Easterbrook, the Band Secretary on 01722 710074 or look at their excellent web site on www.woodfallsband.com. Brian would also love to hear from anyone with memories, photographs or archive material of the Band.