History

In 1837, when a young Queen Victoria had just taken her seat on the throne, a Drum and Fife band was established in the Cheshire village of Scholar Green to lead local parishioners to Astbury Church on Sundays and feast days. All memories of those days are now gone, and little evidence remains of the origins of the Rode Hall Silver Band, apart from an incredible 19th-century bass drum hand-painted with the band’s year of formation, which remains in the archives today.

In the early years, the Drum and Fife band played at church services and festivals, marking key events and celebrations for local parishioners and it was during this time that they came to the attention of Randle Wilbraham the 4th of the Rode Estate, who, upon his return from the Crimean War in 1856, took an interest in the band and began a bond that has lasted over 160 years. Since that date, the Band has played countless times at Rode Hall to mark key family events and frequently performed at All Saints Church after it was built in 1864.

The late 19th century brought about substantial change in the banding world, as the manufacture of brass instruments vastly improved with the invention of the valve block by Stossel and Blumel and the patent of the saxhorn by Adolph Sax. Adding a valve mechanism to a horn provided brass players with instruments other than the trombone that could play chromatically and led to the development of a whole family of brass instruments suitable for playing in all registers, from soprano to bass. As demand grew, manufacturers such as Boosey and Besson started to mass-produce instruments, and prices dropped steadily, attracting the working classes to playing instruments for the first time. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, thousands of brass bands emerged from the mines and mills, and so followed the Drum and Fife Band when, in 1880, Randle Wilbraham encouraged its transition by appointing Henry Pierpoint Senior as Bandmaster and offering the Tenants Hall for rehearsals. Thus, the Rode Hall Silver Band was formally named. The new valved instruments opened up a whole new world of musical opportunity for the bandsmen, and epic pieces were written for brass bands that are still played in music rooms today.

Like most bands from this era, little is known about those early years, as the band kept few records of its activities. However, from an early photograph taken sometime between 1880 and 1885, it appears there were around 13 members playing cornets, trombones, horns, baritones, and the bass drum, which features in every historic photograph in our possession today. The early band members wore heavily braided tunics and hats with large plumes of feathers cascading from the top, and it seems that a moustache was also a mandatory part of the uniform! At this time, bands received their music by subscribing to journals that provided a monthly supply of music, in parts, for a modest subscription. One journal in particular, the Liverpool Brass Band (and Military) Journal, by Henry Round and Thomas Hargrave Wright, is credited with catalysing the popularity of banding in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They published a vast amount of simple music for elementary bands, particularly marches, dance music, and sacred pieces, enabling bands to participate in local functions with appropriate music, whatever the theme.

While the band today has a real family feel to it, it is fair to say that one family in particular played a major role in ensuring the continuity of the band over the years - the Pierpoints. The Pierpoint family were associated with the band from its roots in the Drum and Fife band right through to the 1990s, contributing 14 of the players at one point. Henry Pierpoint, a fife player in the original band, worked with Randle Wilbraham to form the Silver Band and served as its conductor for an incredible 40 years. Many of his descendants continued in that role and held playing positions in the band right through to the late 20th century.

As was the fashion with brass bands at the time, Rode had its own quartet made up of the best of its 20 or so regular band members. In the early 20th century, Rode’s quartet was composed entirely of Pierpoints. Henry played cornet, his brother Jim played euphonium, and two of Henry’s sons, Fred and Albert, played cornet and horn. They competed in many contests around local towns and villages until an emerging band, the Foden’s Motor Works Band, began to dominate, leading to a general decline in interest in quartet contests in the region.

Although the band continued to play through the First World War, many of its players, including Jim Pierpoint, made the ultimate sacrifice and never returned to the rehearsal room, leaving the group greatly depleted. The band played on under the direction of Henry Pierpoint’s son, Fred, with just 16 players, carrying out engagements at garden parties and marches around Scholar Green and Astbury. They performed at Henry Pierpoint’s funeral at Rode Church in 1925, at Rode Hall for Sir Randle Baker Wilbraham’s coming-of-age celebration in 1927, and at his wedding to Betty Ann Torrens in 1930. Fred was a strict disciplinarian who, it is said, kept the band in strict order, managing to both conduct and play the euphonium at the same time! This should come as no surprise to anyone with brass band experience, as talent and confidence in this particular seat are never in short supply.

As World War II approached and times grew darker, like many bands across the country, numbers began to dwindle, concerts and contests were suspended, and by 1939, there were just 16 band members attending rehearsals in the Hall Green Chapel schoolroom. By the time Fred Pierpoint passed away in 1941, the band had ceased to meet, and its instruments lay unused as the country plunged deeper into the horrors of World War II. However, the same could not be said for music in general. The rapid expansion of radio into people’s homes opened up a world of opportunity for music to reach the masses, and many songs written during the war are still played on key memorial dates today.

And so, as peace descended on Europe and troops began to return home, a meeting was held at the Bleeding Wolf, where Tim Williamson, Albert Pierpoint, and a young cornet player named Bill Roberts made plans to reunite the Rode Hall Silver Band members and begin practising once more. All the old members were invited to meet in the British Legion room on Church Lane, which, thanks to the generosity of Sir Richard and Lady Anne Baker Wilbraham, remained the band’s home until it became unusable in 2020. Those early years after the war were tough times for the band, as many of the old players passed away and few new players were interested in joining. However, the determination of the faithful few and the constant search for new members meant that by the late 1950s, the band was growing again, and new players began to join. Back to strength, the band played at the coming-of-age celebration of Sir Richard Baker Wilbraham and many other events at the Hall, resuming performances in the towns and villages around the area. Bill Roberts, who was present at the aforementioned 1946 meeting in the Bleeding Wolf, remained committed to the band from that day forward. Instrumental in restoring the band after World War II, he worked tirelessly looking after the band and its members, arranging concerts, and managing the band room, uniforms, instruments, and music. Not only was he very active in the band, but he also took great pride in it and even published two booklets on the band’s history, documenting names, events, and photographs from 1837. He created a display of the band’s history in 1994, which was held in Alsager and Kidsgrove libraries, much of which is still used today when showcasing the band’s magnificent history. This dedication deservedly earned Bill a British Empire Medal in 1993 for services to the Rode Hall Silver Band, an honour he was immensely proud of until the day he died. When Bill sadly passed away in 2012, he was buried at Rode Church wearing, with pride, the blue band jacket of the Rode Hall Silver Band.

Bill is not alone in his extraordinary tenure with the Rode Hall Silver Band. Indeed, one of the most outstanding aspects of this band is the dedication its members have shown over the years, ensuring its long-term success during times when other bands like it have ceased to exist. Its current members have, in fact, racked up an outstanding 286 years of service between them. The band has a long service award scheme, which sees members awarded bronze, silver, gold, and platinum badges for their 5, 10, 20, and 30-year anniversaries. However, the most prestigious award of all is a Lifetime Membership, which is bestowed for 40 years of dedicated service. In recent times, the late Graham Tilley received this honour for over 60 years of service, and our longest service member, Steve Twemlow, was recently awarded it for his 40 years of outstanding dedication and commitment much of it as our hard working Bandmanger.

The band has always had very strong community links, and this remains one of its core constitutional values: to exist for the benefit of the local community. As the band did back in 1837, every year it leads a procession to Astbury Church, taking schoolchildren to dance around the Maypole as part of their May Day celebrations. It is a great honour each year to lead a Remembrance Sunday parade, which has taken place for many years at Odd Rode Church and, more recently, in Biddulph. The band is proud of its connection with Rode Hall and remains grateful to the Baker Wilbraham family for their support, particularly to Lady Anne for her presidency and guidance over many years.

Rode Hall Silver Band has always enjoyed playing at local events, but the modern band entered few contests until the year 2000 when, under the fabulous conductor Roy Sparks, the band entered a competition in Stone, Staffordshire, and won first place! This was a proud moment in the band’s history, and the trophy still takes pride of place among the many others won since.

As the noughties progressed, the band’s confidence grew and in 2007 they decided they were ready to take Rode Hall Silver Band to compete in the ultimate brass band competition, the Whit Friday Marches. Often described as 'the greatest free show on Earth', the Saddleworth & District Whit Friday Brass Band Contests take place every year on the evening of Whit Friday. This world-renowned event attracts more than 100 brass bands who participate in some twenty different contests at venues scattered around the moorland villages and towns on the western edge of the Pennines. All of the contests are held outdoors and consist of two marches: one on the march and then a well-rehearsed showpiece on whatever passes for a rostrum, which is then scored 'blind' by an adjudicator, often hidden in a caravan to the side of the stage. Since attending their first Whit Friday in 2007, the band has never missed a running contest, and the annual pilgrimage to Saddleworth has become a highlight of the band’s calendar for many players. The band has enjoyed some success over the years, with a second place at Lydgate being the highest achievement to date, although a “First to the bar” at Scouthead is also worthy of note! The band tends to choose a different march each year, but the first march they performed back in 2007, The Waltonian by JJ Richards, will be a special memory for years to come.

Over the past decade, the band has been fortunate enough to play at fantastic concerts in many prestigious venues, from the refurbished Congleton and Buxton Bandstands to the Ironbridge Museum and the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. They even played concerts in Este and Venice, Italy, as part of a music tour in 2008. However, one of the band's biggest challenges occurred in 2016 when they were approached by The Congleton Players to take part in their performance of Brassed Off, a play set in 1992 that follows the members of Grimley Colliery Brass Band as they fought for the survival of the mines at the end of the last century. Despite having no prior experience of this type of performance, they arranged music, rehearsed tirelessly and helped the Congleton Players deliver a fantastic five-night performance, which was a finalist in the National Operatic & Dramatic Association Awards.

Rode Hall Silver Band has had many fabulous conductors over the years since Henry Pierpoint’s first appointment in 1880, each contributing to the band’s success and development. A special mention is due to Nigel Butler, who oversaw the band’s development for 12 years from 2012 to 2024. Nigel helped transform the band into a credible competing team, delivering much success as a result. During what could arguably be called the band’s most successful period of contesting, between 2017 and 2019, the band won both the Wychavon Entertainments Contest and Buxton Festival of Brass, as well as two best fourth section band awards at the Scouthead and Uppermill Whit Friday contests, and was runner-up at Preston’s Brass at The Guild and at the North West Area Finals in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens Empress Ballroom, earning a place at the National Championship of Great Britain, where the band secured fifth place among the finest fourth section bands in the country. This successful period culminated in promotion to the third section, where the band now proudly competes under the direction of its new Musical Director, Ken Mackintosh, who is dedicated to continuing the development of the band and its players going forward.