1928

Described by Arthur Newton as a glorious year for the Band with a growing reputation due to their 1927 London success on “Epic Symphony”.

They performed at over 20 summer engagements including two days at Roundhay Flower Show.

At Belle Vue on September 3rd “in the finest company this Band had the honour to play against they came 6th in the Open Championship on 'Lorenzo.’ Soloist being all the Band’s own members.” (This comment is worthy of note in the light of the situation at the time when borrowed players were a problem bedevilling contests throughout the country.)

“But before the Crystal Palace Championship three weeks later something went wrong between the conductor and the bandmaster, both of whom had served the Band for over 30 years and this dispute was felt by many to be responsible for the Band failing to score.”

The players paid subscriptions to the Temperance Society which at this time was active in various fields, and The Society Minute Book for September 1928 shows a resolution that “a welcome tea be provided whether the Band were successful or not, as the committee considered it a very high honour to have attained to the first section.”

The Band had in fact arrived in the Championship section at the start of an important era in Brass Band history when celebrated musicians including men of the status of Gustav Holst, Edward Elgar and John Ireland composed music for the Crystal Palace Contests.