East Ham Borough Band

[DougT]

By no stretch of the imagination can Newham or East London be considered a hotbed of Brass Banding but until a few years ago Newham was home to a Brass Band that achieved very high standards. The Grangewood Silver Band was formed in the early 20Th centurychanged it's name to East Ham Silver Band in 1946. At that time in rehearsed in the East ham Technical College and again changed it's name in the 1950's to East Ham Borough Band. By 1958 the band was taking part in the National Brass Band Championships alongside the famous bands from the North such as Grimethorpe Colliery. Faireys and Black Dyke and finished in the top 6 on two occasions. The leader of the Band around this time was Cyril Suckling who continued to leas the band until around 1970. Cyril was a former Salvationist who was a "local" man with his parents living in Caulfield or Caledon Road. Since Cyril relinquished the leadership the band have had a number of different leaders/conductors including another former Salvationist, Ray Farr, who came from the Hereford area.
After the formation of "Newham" in 1965 the Band was known as the Newham (East Ham) Band for a few years until the East Ham link was dropped. It the became the Newham Band until 1995 when it amalgamated with the Aveley Band. Today the band is directed By Nigel Taken and is known as The Aveley and Newham Band. It continues to maintain a good standard but it would appear that there are now few links with Newham apart from the name.

Doug.

[jplant1]

When I was on the Council I tried to promote the Newham Band. I got them a grant for some new instruments, and booked them to put on a free carol concert as part of the West Ham Centenary Year, but very few people attended it. It was becoming clear to me how little remained of the traditional culture of East and West Ham, even among the older generations of long term residents. The orchestra and choir at All Saints Church still holds up the flag pretty well. Wouldn't it be great if the Newham Band could join them for some big noisy classics?

[MBrennan]

Quite possible this has been covered, but I found this on my travels. http://www.satiche.org.uk/vinbbp/phot4101.jpg

No date given. (Late 30s?)

East Ham Band - phot4101.jpg
    Back Row: L to R - Bert Rodgers, Jim Griggs, C. Ambuchi, Bert Coutt, Harry Trives, Gdn. Soustier, Ken Kettle, Arthur Kettle.
    Second Row: Joe Davis, N or H. Hastings, Jack Lister, Bert, Mr. Foss, Unknown, Unknown, S. Andrews, Apy Lowe
    Third Row: Albert Ernest Dowdeswell, Ron Heard, Ted Barton (President Patron), W. Baldwin (Band Master), Ron Cross, Ken Seff, Ernie Billot
    Front Row: Bill Benton, Ted Hooten, Wally Watson, Bill Helenburgh, Jim Young
    (Information and pictures provided by Ann Holt, daughter of Albert Dowdeswell)

[DougT]

Mark

It seems from the style of uniform the Bandsmen in the photograph are wearing that the group may be the East Ham Fire Brigade Band. It was quite common in the pre-war years for various organisations and workplaces to have their own Brass Bands and even today some Brass Bands still carry the name of the workplace despite it having closed down.

A few weeks ago I came across the attached photograph taken in 1925 of the East Ham Salvation Army Band. The photograph was taken outside The Salvation Army hall in Wakefield Street.
 
Doug
 

[MBrennan]

Thanks Doug

Always interesting to see these old photos.

I have a few old photos picked up in junk shops etc. It is sad that some people think they aren't worth keeping.


Mark

[MBrennan]

There is a huge list of bands here http://www.ibew.org.uk/vbbp-uk2.htm

Quite a few East Ham ones. There only seems to be one West Ham one but there are lots of unidentified ones. Probably quite a good site for people into bands.

[harry]

Silver,s at silvertown ,I think they had quite a few bands over the years,Rubber Bands,yuk,yuk,yuk,
My Dad worked there from age 14 till the late forties.
Regards Harry.I.

[MBrennan]

In the last link in put in with hundreds of bands, one of the links is to the original band I linked to previously and it is dated 1947.


Also this one appears to have St Bartholomews in the background? http://www.satiche.org.uk/vinbbp/phot4100.jpg

[DougT]

Mark

You've posted a very interesting photo on this link. The Bass Drum has the letters GSMB on it and this can also be seen on other photos of Bands from East Ham on the IBEW website. It is very common for Bands to have their names or badges emblazoned on the Bass Drum but although 3 of the letters could stand for Grangewood Silver Band I am at a loss to know what the "M" stands for. As mentioned in my original post Grangewood Silver Band was a forerunner of East Ham Silver Band and then East Ham Borough Band and changed its name to East Hm Silver Band just after the war around the time the photograph was taken.
It does look like St. Bartholomew's in the background and it was certain not unknown for Brass Bands to have links with local churches and some carried the name of the church within their title. On the other hand it may be that the vicar responsible for St. Bartholomews at the time may have also been chaplain to the band and that is the reason for his presence in the photograph.
Doug

[harry]

During the last couple of years of WW2 I seem to recollect bands marching around the streets of Custom House on a sunday morning and as kids we used to rush out to "march" along the road in time to the beat of the big drum .
Was this something to do with a little bit of propaganda to keep our pecker up as the war was ,or seemed to be comming to an end???.
Regards Harry I.

[DougT]

Harry

I wasn't around at the end of World War II. You state that the bands marched on a Sunday morning and it seems likely that these may have been local Salvation Army Bands. At that time there were Salvation Army centres in Silvertown, Custom House, Canning Town, Stratford, Plaistow, Manor Park and East Ham all that had active Brass bands. Nothing to do with propaganda but simply Salvation Army Bands marching the streets.

Doug

[harry]

With regard marching band music, perhaps Roger might be able to confirm this,at the end of Speedway meetings at West Ham as the crowd were leaving the stadium I remember music being played over the loud speaker system of a marching style be it Army Airforce or navy the thing I noticed as 16,17 year old, quite a few  of the male spectators seemed to fall in step with the music.
Now many years later, even though most men detested military square bashing and drill when you hear that type of music you cold very easily fall in step even in my case fifty eight years after doing the dreaded square bashing.
It was definitely drilled into you as you don't forget.
Regards Harry.I.         

[Will.B]

Hi Harry,
              Yes I know just what you mean I did my National Service square bashing at Carter Barracks, Bulford in 1949 and after that night exercises on Salisbury plain, and though we moaned about it at the time I am very glad I did it. For it taught me so much that has helped me through my life
. Was the music they played at West Ham Speedway the R.A.F march-past or the march of the gladiators?. I loved going there on Tuesday nights, even the smell of the
Bikes as they roared by.
Will.

[harry]

Hi Will B,I think the band music played  at the end of speedway meetings at West Ham was probable the Air Force march as my cousin Bill Rumbold was ex R.A.F.he was in the M T section as kids we used to ask him emptying what,but made sure we were out of arms reach.
As you said you never forget the smell of the exhaust from the speedway bikes, happy Tuesday evenings.
Regards Harry. I.

[dereks]

If I may correct some details of Cyril Suckling: His parents lived in Gascoigne Rd Barking and finally in Keppel Rd East Ham.
When he was the conductor Cyril lived in Westbury Rd Barking.

I know this because Cyril was my uncle and his parents were my grandparents.
I've attached a photo of the band at the Albert Hall Daily Herald competition in 1958
Derek