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Wingates Band is a brass band based in Wingates, a settlement near the town of Westhoughton in north-west England. [1] It is considered one of the country's finest contesting bands and competes in the championship section (top level) of the British brass band league structure. [2]
Wingates Band was formed in 1873 by members of the local Independent Methodist church's bible class, in response to a challenge thrown down by the members of the Westhoughton Old Band, which had existed since 1858 reflecting this origin. [1]
The band was originally formed as the Wingates Temperance Band, and has also been the Bass Wingates Band, British Aerospace Wingates Band, Wingate's Temperance, and Wingates Temperance (Westhoughton). [3] Early in the 20th century Wingates rose to become a member of the elite of brass bands. In 1906 it achieved the "double" by winning the British Open brass band championships and the British National championships. The following year, in 1907, the band repeated its success and retained both titles, completing the first "double double" in the British banding world. The feat was not matched for over 70 years. In total Wingates has won the 'Open' seven times and the 'National' on four occasions. The band won the French Open brass band championship in 2004 and 2006.[ citation needed ]
In May 2008 Peter Moore, a trombonist with the band, won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition.
The Pretoria Pit disaster was a mining accident on 21 December 1910, when an underground explosion occurred at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit, known as the Pretoria Pit, in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, in North West England. A total of 344 men lost their lives, including cornet players, trombone players and horn players from Wingates Band.
At 7:50 am, there was an explosion in the Plodder Mine, which was thought to have been caused by an accumulation of gas from a roof collapse the previous day.
That day 349 workers descended the No 3 bank pit shaft to work in the Plodder, Yard and Three-Quarters mines. Of those, only four survived to be brought to the surface. One died immediately and one the next day. The two survivors were Joseph Staveley and William Davenport. In addition one man died in the Arley Mine of No. 4 Pit, bringing the total to 344. There was a final fatality that day, William Turton, who died while fighting a fire in No. 3 pit. The men who were working the other mines in the pit worked from No.4 shaft were unharmed.
It was in 1891 that the band signed its first professional conductor, Mr William Rimmer from Southport. Mr Rimmer was one of the all-time 'giants' of the British band movement. By the turn of the century he had transformed Wingates into an outfit amongst the finest in the land. In 1906 the band achieved the 'double' of British Open and British national Champions. This was repeated in 1907, a feat known as the 'double double' which has only once been emulated since then in the 1970s by the world famous Black Dyke Mills Band.
| Contest | Place | Year |
|---|---|---|
| National Championships of Great Britain | 1st | (1906) (1907) (1931) (1971) |
| 2nd | (1904) (1905) | |
| 3rd | (1900) (1908) (1911) (1921) (1926) (1932) (1976) | |
| British Open | 1st | (1906) (1907) (1918) (1921) (1923) (1939) (1975) |
| 2nd | (1914) (1919) (1920) (1926) (1929) (1935) (1947) (1961) (1968) (1985) | |
| 3rd | (1903) (1930) (1934) (1967) | |
| North West Area Championships | 1st | (1945) (1971) (1974) (1977) (1995) |
| 2nd | (1960) (1963) (1966) (1970) (1976) (1979) (2016) | |
| 3rd | (1947) (1952) (1957) (1959) (1968) (1989) (1994) (2004) (2007) (2015) | |
| French Open | 1st | (2004) (2006) |
| 2nd | (2007) | |
| 3rd | N/A |
Somewhat surprisingly, given the prevailing constraints of the time, the first-ever Wingates gramophone records were made in the summer of 1915, during the dark days of World War I.
Wingates is an active performing band and also has a long recording history. The recent recording Nyman Brass containing arrangements of compositions by the British minimalist composer Michael Nyman. The band recently recorded 5 tracks in BBC Media City philharmonic hall for BBC Radio 2 show listen to the band with Frank Renton to celebrate its 140th anniversary.
| Album | Year | Conductor | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marching into the Millennium | (2000) | Alan Lawton | |
| Milestones | (2001) | Alan Lawton | |
| The Wonderful World of Wingates | (2003) | Roy Curran & Alan Lawton | |
| Nyman Brass | (2006) | Andrew Berryman | Composed and produced by Michael Nyman |
| Sounding Voices, Sounding Brass | (2006) | Russell Paterson & Andrew Berryman | |
| Asway in A Manger | (2006) | Andrew Berryman | |
| Frolic For Trombones | (2006) | Andrew Berryman & John Dickinson | Featuring: Halle Trombone section... & Tuba |
| EXTREMES | (2009) | Andrew Berryman | |
| Perspectives of Pretoria | (2010) | David Thornton | In memory of the Pretoria Pit disaster |
| From Fifes to Fanfares & Fame! | (2013) | Paul Andrews | 140th Anniversary |
| Sounds of a Century | (2015) | Paul Andrews | 100th Anniversary of recording |
Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and 8 miles (12.9 km) northwest of Manchester.
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.
Westhoughton is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Bolton, 5 miles (8 km) east of Wigan and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Manchester.
Easington Colliery is a town in County Durham, England, known for a history of coal mining. It is situated to the north of Horden, a short distance to the east of Easington Village. The town suffered a significant mining accident on 29 May 1951, when an explosion in the mine resulted in the deaths of 83 men.
The Pretoria Pit disaster was a mining accident on 21 December 1910, when an underground explosion occurred at the Hulton Colliery Bank Pit No. 3, known as the Pretoria Pit, in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, in North West England. A total of 344 men and boys lost their lives.
William Rimmer (1862–1936) was a Lancashire composer and conductor of brass band music who was particularly well known for his marches.
Wet Earth Colliery was a coal mine located on the Manchester Coalfield, in Clifton, Greater Manchester. The colliery site is now the location of Clifton Country Park. The colliery has a unique place in British coal mining history; apart from being one of the earliest pits in the country, it is the place where engineer James Brindley made water run uphill.
Wingates is a small settlement located in the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The name is believed to mean 'a gate for the wind', and it seems likely as this is in an exposed position above Westhoughton. It has also been known as Win-yate and Windyates. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies mainly along the A6 road between Blackrod and Walkden.
Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds is a piece of minimalist music from the soundtrack for The Draughtsman's Contract, written by Michael Nyman. In the thirty years since its release it has been much quoted and sampled and performed by various ensembles. It is based on the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of Henry Purcell’s opera, King Arthur.
Over Hulton is a suburb of Westhoughton within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south west of Bolton.
The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.
Ramsden's Shakerley Collieries was a coal mining company operating the Nelson and Wellington Pits from the mid 19th century in Shakerley, Tyldesley in the historic county of Lancashire, England.
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Bickershaw Colliery was a coal mine, located on Plank Lane in Leigh, then within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England.
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The Hulton Colliery Company was a coal mining company operating on the Lancashire Coalfield from the mid 19th century in Over Hulton and Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The company had its origins in small coal mines on the northern part of the Hulton Park estate in 1571 owned by the Hultons who had held the estate from medieval times.
The Hulton family of Hulton lived and owned land in Lancashire for more than eight hundred years from the late-12th to the late-20th centuries. The family took its name from the three townships surrounding their Hulton Park Estate, Over, Middle and Little Hulton.
Westhoughton Town Hall is a municipal building in Market Street, Westhoughton, Greater Manchester, England. The town hall is the meeting place of Westhoughton Town Council.