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Milnrow band 150th
anniversary Desiide
Milnrow Band, one of Britain’s top brass bands, is celebrating an
impressive 150 years of bringing music to the borough’s ears
Made up of around 30 players aged between section band six years after the start of its
17 – 55 years of age, including percussionists progressive competitive campaign.
and the musical director, Milnrow Band’s roots
can be traced back to 1869 when it was Milnrow Band finally became a championship
originally formed as the St Stephen’s Band. section band in 2006 and has proudly held the
position ever since.
The band changed its name twice more before
World War Two, finally settling on the name of The band meets at its band room twice a week
the village in which it is based – Milnrow. for rehearsals, increasing this to three or four
times per week in the immediate weeks before
Milnrow remained in the lower sections of the a contest. In addition to competitions, the band
brass band ranks until 1995 when it began a also performs concerts, at private events and at
successful competitive drive under the baton local parades.
of David Morris, at the Greater Metropolitan
Police Championships where the band claimed In 2011, Milnrow band joined forces with
first prize in the fourth section. Mareika Gray and enjoyed a string of
successes under her baton. With the
Over the next three years, Milnrow progressed assistance of Mareika’s husband, Russell,
to second section and, in 1998, merged with the band qualified for the finals of the 2013
Rochdale Co-op Band. Under the baton of Ian National Championships for the first time in
Brownbill, the band went on to take second its long history.
place at the Nationals and became a first
Keen to build on this success, and with
Mareika back at the helm, Milnrow won the
2013 Grand Shield, qualifying for the 2013
British Open – where the band competed for
five consecutive years – before returning to
the Grand Shield in 2017.
Despite this, 2017 is regarded by many as
Milnrow Band’s most successful year. Under
the direction of Mark Bentham, the band once
again qualified for the finals of the National
Championships, finishing in tenth place,
Milnrow Band’s highest-ever placing at the
Royal Albert Hall.
Milnrow Band at the 2017 National Championships
REAL ROCHDALE - WINTER 2019 22
