History

Stape Silver Band was established in 1884 in Newtondale, a farming community close to the edge of the North York Moors. The band was made up of players from the rural community many of them local farmers.The band entered local contests in the early 1900’s and won many prizes including the ‘Jingling Johnny’, a trophy which was presented to the band at the first Douthwaite Dale competition. The competion no longer exists and the trophy now resides in the Castle Museum at York.

During this time a number of band contests were run in a variety of village and town locations. The first Bank Holiday Band Contest to be held in Malton was on the 10th August 1905 at which Stape performed. The band were also regular entertainers at many of the local agricultural shows and church garden fetes around the area. In the 1950’s the band practiced in various locations around the village of Stape, including the old chapel and the house situated opposite. In the early 1960’s the band moved to the town of Pickering where it operates from today. On first moving to Pickering they operated in a small room in W.J. Robinson’s Egg Packing Station for their practices.

The room was very dusty and dark but the band played on. The band progressed and found that in the mid-1980’s they required a new challenge and joined the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Association giving them the chance to enter many new contests and competitions. In their first year as a member of the association the band
claimed 1st prize for their hymn playing, and has entered many times since winning numerous prizes for their hymn, march and selection areas of the contests.

In 1989 the band opened its own purpose built bandroom situated in Outgang Lane in Pickering. The bandroom was funded 50% by the band with the remainder given by the local council. The bandroom allowed the band to store its items and instruments safely and also use the space for fund raising through bingos and domino drives. Brass Bands can compete in an annual regional contest where the top two bands in each section from all regions qualify to compete at the National Finals. During 1992 Stape entered the North of England regional qualifying contest, and the following year the band won the contest thereby earning a place at the National Finals, held then at the Wembley Conference Centre in London. The band has continued to make progress and after a series of good results in the 4th section was promoted to section 3 at the beginning of 2003. Despite promotion the band gained a well-earned 2nd
place , again earning a trip to the National Finals held in Dundee.

2003 also saw the band embark on its second European tour to Belgium playing in the crowded squares of Gwent, Antwep and Bruges. The tour allowed the band to experience European music culture particularly for the children within the band. In 2006 the band again competed in the 3rd section of the North of England Brass
Band Annual Contest and was placed 2nd and earned a trip to the National Finals, this year held at the Conference Centre in Harrogate. The experience of competing at the National Finals against the top placed 20 3rd Section bands from all areas of the UK was a major privilege for the band and its many young players.

More recently the band was asked to take part in a story line on the locally filmed Yorkshire Television series of Heartbeat. The story was about two rival bands in a local competition where one band poisoned the other band prior to the contest day. The filming took place over 2 days, firstly in the village hall in Goathland and the second
day in the studios at Farsley, Leeds. The band enjoyed this experience immensely and were thrilled to watch the final production when it was aired in November 2008. The band continues to contest and play concerts and is always striving for a new challenge.