Welcome to the Maltby Miners' Welfare Band Official Website
On the 17 June 1910, news that the Barnsley Seam had been reached at the new Maltby Colliery heralded a new era for the small village of Maltby. Nine years previous its population had been a mere 716 but, with advent of the colliery, it was to jump to 1700 by 1911 and to 7657 by 1921.
One of the miners in the new influx of workers was the new underground manager, Thomas Davis, who was a keen musician and it is he who is responsible for the formation of the brass band.
The early 1920s proved to be a very active and successful time for the band as the band entered their first competition in 1920 in the neighbouring village of Dinnington and gained two 2nd places. The band also travelled down for the first time to compete at the Crystal Palace in 1921.
The thirties saw the depression and colliery workers were on short time, money was tight and finances were a preoccupation of the band and the last recorded Crystal Palace contest for the band was in 1930.
1935 saw the band now known as the Maltby Main St. John Ambulance Band broadcast live in the BBCs Manchester studios and became one of 42 bands employed by the BBC. As a result of the publicity the band became busy once more.
The band continued although on a reduced scale through the Second World War.
After the war, records of the band are sparse until the 1960s when the band became known as the Maltby Miners Welfare Band almost fifty years after it conception.
The band started to decline and the man appointed the lead the band on the uphill struggle out of this decline was one Mr John Jones. His hard work paid off when the band was placed third in the WD & HO Wills Brass Band Championship at the Sheffield City Hall and the success caused a frenzy of fund raising activities to raise cash for the trip to London for the finals in the April of 1971.
On March the 11th 1974 the band won it first contest in almost 30 years in the third section Clipstone Spring Contest and to follow that came the victory in November in the Edwinstowe contest.
In1976 John Jones Resigned and for a short time Derek Valance took charge. In may 1977 Julie Holling became the bands first lady Musical Director. This immediately got the band unprecedented publicity with an article in the Advertiser, an interview on Calendar, Look North, Radio Sheffield and articles in national newspapers.
For 2 years the band enjoyed success in contests and concerts including several first places, but then in January 1979 disaster struck the band when the Miners Welfare was destroyed by fire. The band lost some of their instruments, their second uniforms, 70 years worth of music and their rehearsal room.
1980 was the year when our current secretary Margaret Brown, wife of Chairman Ernest Brown took up her role after the resignation of Michael Godley.
1982 Julie Holling resigned and left the Band, understandably her husband and two children also left. May saw the appointment of Edgar Kennedy in Julie's place but lack of playing strength meant poor contest results and fewer engagements due to the industrial climate and local authority cut backs.
In July in 1983 Edgar Kennedy sort assurances from the band that the committee felt were unreasonable and after only two years Maltby Miners Welfare band were again on the look out for a musical director.
After adverts placed in the press our current conductor Mr Terry Clifford was appointed in the first committee meeting of 1984.
After the appointment of Terry although the history is not formally documented it is fair to say the band is going from strength to strength with increasing demand for the band to appear in local events and concerts.
The increased proficiency of the band is recognised in the continuing improvement of the contest results including a first place in the fourth section in the Yorkshire area contests in 1999 and a second place in 2001.
This moved the band up to the third section in 2002 where the bands contest results have improved from year to year gaining an 11th place in 2002, 7th place in 2003 and a very creditable 4th place in 2004