The band was originally formed in 1979 as the Rushden Windmill
'B' Band and its first conductor was Peter Berrington. It consisted
of about 10 junior/learner players as well as a few interested
adults and practiced at the Windmill Club in Rushden.
In
1983 the band moved out of the Windmill Club into the Working Men's
Club in Griffith Street, Rushden and became known as the Working
Men's Club Band. At this time Kevin Nichols became its musical director
and actively encouraged new players to join.
By
1986 the band felt it was ready to enter the contesting world and
the members were quickly rewarded for their efforts by qualifying
for the National Finals in the 4th Section. Kevin's drive and enthusiasm
led to the band becoming very busy performing concerts and contests
all over the region. Kevin remained with the band until 1988 when
Lloyd Landry took over for his first stint as musical director.
In
1990 the band appointed Trevor Groom, the renowned Euphonium player,
as its musical director and the following year the band were offered
practice facilities in Manton Road and the band was then renamed
the Rushden Town Band.
Trevor
remained with the band until 1993 and was replaced by Harold Howarth
who had been the bands very talented principal cornet for a number
of years. Sadly Harold's health began to fail and so, in 1994, he
relinquished the baton to David Twitchings. It was with great sadness
that the band learned of Harold's death in 1996.
In
1997 a junior band was reformed by Reg Dilley and Alan Acreman and
the following year the band were delighted to receive a grant from
the National Lottery which allowed them to buy a brand new set of
instruments.
In
1999 the band performed in the Royal Parks in London for the first
time and also saw their first contest win after a long succession
of 2nds and 3rds over many years.
In
2000 the band took part in the 'Proms Night' concert at Wicksteed
Park however David Twitchings decided to step down as musical director
after some six years in charge and was replaced by Sean Millsom.
From 2000 to 2002 the band continued to maintain a sizeable engagement
list although decided to stop contesting.
In
December 2002 Sean left the band and Lloyd Landry re-joined as its
conductor for the 2nd time. Lloyd is probably more well known in
brass band circles as a contest adjudicator and under his direction
the size of the band increased and a decision was made to re-start
contesting with the aim being to play at the areas in the Spring
of 2004 so it was rather a surprise when in late 2003 Lloyd announced
that he wanted to take a break from conducting and concentrate on
other things.
Peter Vine
was apppointed Musical Director in 2004
to see photographs of the band from 1986 to the present