History

The Thornsett Band was established in 1876. The band has had some good and bad times. In the 1930s, under the celebrated conductor William Halliwell, they enjoyed a period of excellence. Again in the 1960s under Bryan Taylor, they were revitalised and in 1967 they won the Junior Shield at Belle Vue.
Other major achievements include a third section national championship in 1974 and East Midlands second section championship in the 1980s.

It was later on in the 1980s that most of the experienced members left.
Thornsett Band thankfully didn’t go the same way as many of the other local band and kept going.  For that they have two people to thank – Dave Ford and Maurice Hallam. They visited the local primary schools, talked about and demonstrated the instruments. Their actions were successful in recruiting local youngsters. This lead to a learner’s session and the ‘Junior Band’, as a feeder band to the main band was created. The junior band still takes learners and teaches them. What has changed is that we are now seeing people of all ages coming and learning. It is a fantastic opportunity for anyone to learn an instrument for free. We have no subscriptions to be paid, all teaching and practices are free and you will be able to borrow an instrument.