A history of the band
In 1937 a group of amateur musicians decided to pool their talents to form a band based in Godalming. There had been a band in the town from about 1844, when the bandmaster was a Mr. Woodnott, but this had long since been disbanded. The first engagement for the new band, which was to become known as the “Godalming and Borough Band” was a march to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The band later became known as the “Godalming & District Silver Band”. Their former president, Harry Coombes, was one of the original founder members.
The early years – 1937 to 1939
History shows that the anticipated coronation of Edward VIII on 12th May 1937 didn’t happen because of his abdication in December 1936. The country had to change Its plans but the date of May 12th was still to be used for the coronation of Edward’s brother, King George VI and for this event, the Band of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, known as the Queens Bays Band, had been booked.
Early in 1937, the Queen’s Bay Band informed the council that they had been ordered to play elsewhere and so would be unable to fulfil this booking. The council then approached Mr W J Radlett, the bandmaster at Charterhouse, and asked him to form a Special band for the occasion. Thunderstorms on the day completely washed out the event so it had to be rescheduled for one week later, Whit Monday.
To assemble his band notices were displayed locally, announcements made in the press and at a meeting in March 1937, 25 musicians volunteered their services, including four who had previously been members of the now-folded Godalming Town Band. Practices began at the Charterhouse School under the leadership of Mr Radlett.
Prior to the Coronation Day event, the new band undertook two public performances, one in the R.A.O.B club in Farncombe, the other in the Phillips Memorial Ground. On Whit Monday they marched in the parade (see photograph) and played at the festivities held at Farncombe Recreation Ground.
Mr Radlett’s band was a success; the players wanted to continue with this new band so they appointed a secretary and called themselves ‘Godalming Borough Band’ (sometimes recorded as Godalming & Borough Band).
As various public engagements followed, mention was made in the local press of the band performing on the existing town bandstand.
could not the local council do something towards providing a bandstand at the Phillips memorial, there is already in existence a low concrete base
Their performance standard was considered sufficiently worthy to enter the Junior Section of the Reading Brass Band Contest in October 1937, and their rendition of IA. Green- woods ‘A Welsh Garland’ earned them second position out of six bands, an extremely commendable result.
Funding the running costs of a brass band proved hard. It’s likely many players belonged to other bands and were using instruments belonging to those bands, so it was agreed that the new band should purchase their own instruments and uniforms and for this purpose a sum of around £340 was borrowed—an amount that proved difficult to repay.
Most of the band’s income was being used for the new Instrument and Uniforms Fund, so Alderman P.C. Fletcher who was Mayor at that time started an special appeal fund that eventually raised £58. 95 4d to help the band. The players then organised various door to door collections in the Borough by delivering envelopes and soliciting letters themselves, then returning to collect any donations a few days later.
Soon after the band’s public performance for Coronation Day, they retrieved the original uniforms worn by the earlier Town Band, but they were not fit for purpose. A new set was purchased during the summer of 1938; smart navy blue with scarlet facings and brass buttons. They had their first public airing at a July concert at the Phillips Memorial bandstand where a regular season of summer concerts was being performed by the band — something that continues to this day.
These concerts were well attended by the public and at the July council meeting of that year it was agreed money should be put aside to turn the existing concrete base, built many years earlier by the Godalming Corporation, into a finished bandstand. With WW2 fast approaching, work on the bandstand did not take place. The base was repaired and even extended but it was to take a further 71 years before the bandstand was finally completed, during the summer of 2009.
The annual Reading Band Contest was the next to be entered and ‘Kensington’ by J.A.Greenwood earned the band 5th position out of 10 bands. Regular and well attended winter concerts were being held in the Regal Cinema, (this long demolished cinema was next to today’s telephone exchange). In Feb 1939, the concerts attracted an audience of over 1000 people.
March 1939 brought a Visit from BBC’s Mr Denis Wright, who came to assess the band’s suitability for broadcasting. Whether successful or not is not known. All money raised was still being put into the ‘Instrument & Uniform fund’ but in August 1939, the band’s finances prompted the secretary to write a begging letter to the Surrey Advertiser.
The cash held in the bank barely covered their next instalment to Boosey & Hawkes, the instrument manufacturer. In October there was still a debt of £180 and so the letter was a plea to the Godalming people to continue their support for the band. They had also wanted to enter the ‘National Brass Band Championships’ held at Alexandra Palace on the 23rd Sept’, but for that a further £10 would be required.
Whether they cleared their debt, or entered the Nationals we don’t know. Research so far takes us to the outbreak of WW2. What happened to those bandsmen during the war and learning about the earlier Godalming Band are subjects for further research.
1939-1950
During the years of WW2, about half of the bandsmen were called up for active service. Sadly one young tenor horn player was lost at sea on HMS Berwick.
Following the death of Walter Radlett around 1941, Jack Thomas led the band during this difficult period, when at one stage the band strength was reduced to six players. However with young members and those too old to serve in the armed forces, Jack continued to maintain the band.
Following the end of the war in the second half of the 1940’s, the band gained in strength and was involved in many celebratory parades, fetes and concerts. In 1946 the band under- took its first trip ‘abroad’ to the Isle of Wight. Later that year the British Legion wanted to take over the band, but the members voted to stay as an independent organisation, a status that continues to this day.
Later during this period the band became known as the Godalming and District Silver Band.
1950s
During the 1950s the band was led by Wilf Garrett. During this period the band grew and developed into a fine unit, performing for local events such as fetes and concerts but we also progressed to a standard required for a contesting band. Our prowess and success in the contest arena were a great feature during this era; one of the photographs demonstrates our ‘major win’ at the Haywards Heath Contest in 1952.
Under the strong leadership Wilf and his totally committed secretary, Bill Fishlock, the band truly moved forward.
It was during these years that Wilf successfully began the musical development and training of young players, the fore-runner of our Youth Band of later years.
In the 1950’s the band participated in the annual bonfire parades at Shere, Chiddingfold and Billingshurst. Many funny tales of these events have been recounted to us by bandsmen from that era; some of the new younger players had definitely improved the playing of the band during this spell but it seems that their marching skills were in need of attention!
1960s
The 1960s became a period of change. Wilf Garrett left the band in 1963 and It Was that time when the membership of the band dwindled down to about 6 players.
However there followed a period of rebuilding under a series of conductors. We were very fortunate to have members of the armed forces stationed locally – and they assisted with both the leadership and as players. Their help was invaluable at this time.
For a short while, the band received an educational grant towards the cost of paying the musical director. In return, the band started teaching adult learners through the local Adult Education Scheme.
A similar grant scheme had been in place with the local Council between the late 1940s and the mid 1970s; every year the council paid the band a small fixed fee for which we agreed to carry out four engagements each year. We considered them as our ‘borough jobs’.
In the late 1960s the band’s playing had improved sufficiently to return to the contesting arena.
1970s
During the 1970s the band was led by various musical directors; most notably, Stan Stanton and Malcolm Gay. This was also the period when we benefitted from a number of young players coming into the band; well over 60% of our members had joined the band thanks to their start with the Junior Band.
We were known for good regular concerts in the town, usually held at the Borough Hall and many local businesses were providing us with sponsorship.
Under Malcolm Gay’s leadership we made our first recording; an LP that we recorded at the Borough Hall. Our concerts were well supported and Malcolm added to the events by taking the role of compere, something at which he excelled. In 1973 the band adopted a new identity and became Godalming Band, the name we still use.
1975 brought the introduction of subscriptions for band members. This innovation was to cover the cost of the payment made to the band’s musical director.
Our first trip overseas came in 1979 when Visited Mayen, now one of Godalming’s twin towns. The 70s were a very much a growth decade for the band.
1980s
The early 1980s were not the easiest time for the band.
Malcolm Gay moved on in 1982 and several of our players left, forming the Guildford Friary Band. Derek Holland took over as our new MD; with the support of the remaining players, he kept us together and even though his leadership was brief, for that we will always owe him a debt of gratitude.
It wasn’t long before new players started joining us and numbers were soon back to normal.
A noticeable feature of this period was the contest successes we were enjoying under the leadership of our next MD, Stan Willis (‘Stan the man’). He travelled twice weekly from Bournemouth to take our rehearsals and under his watchful eye and careful training the band made considerable progress.
1988 heralded the arrival of a charismatic young Scotsman, David Wright with a mission to convert ‘Southerners’ to real music. His leadership continued until 2013 and history will record his years with the band as not only as successful, but also enjoyable.
1990s
The 1990s were good years for both Senior and Youth Bands. There were more trips to Mayen in Germany and then, in 1992 we qualified for the London & South East regionals; a major step for us towards the goal of playing in the National Finals Wembley Arena. We didn’t walk off with any prizes, but this was a red letter day for the band, a feat not yet repeated.
Our cassette ‘Flourish’ was recorded in 1992 and the band continued to enjoy contest success in various SCABA contest through the decade. We moved into our new bandroom in 1994, still the envy of many brass bands in the country.
We were involved with Gwillam James’ series of ‘Music by the Lake’ concerts held at Aldro: school. These major fundraising events were very successful open air evening concerts with a massed choir and various soloists. Vast sums of money were raised for national charities as a result. Meanwhile our Youth band developed under the leadership of Nick Weeks, with many players reaching a very high standard of musicianship.
This period involved the creation and premieres of several new works; one such event being our Millennium concert in Charterhouse Chapel, December 1999.
2000s
With the dawn of the new millennium Godalming Band has continued to develop and expand its sphere of involvement in the town and neighbouring area.
The first ten years of this new century remained under the continued leadership and guidance of David Wright. Concert programmes were popular and varied; charity fundraising increased and the band’s profile strengthened by their local community work.
The decade included more successful visits to France and Holland, representing the town of Godalming; particularly enjoyable were the trips to twin town, Joigny.
Since 2007, the band’s achievements in SCABA contests have been remarkably good, both at Hove and Addlestone. Winning both technical and entertainment contests is not a rarity!
The future for our youth band was secured as well, thanks to David Loftus and his supporters and with senior band numbers, playing strength and enthusiasm at record levels, things continued to look very good.