Supporters, local dignitaries and brass band lovers gathered in Sandbach Town Hall on Tuesday evening (27th March) for the official launch of Foden's Band heritage website.
15 months of extensive research and dedicated hard work has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, who awarded the band £26,400 towards the total cost of £35,520 to enable them to incorporate a wide range of historical aspects into the innovative project.
Hat-trick medals
These included the digitisation of historical artefacts and original 78's recordings, as well as the preservation of original manuscripts and a vast amount of memorabilia and artefacts.
It also included medals presented to Foden's players for completing the famous 'Double' hat-trick in the 1930s, as well as other priceless items that have now been catalogued and archived.
The website itself includes numerous images, articles and resource material to help people enjoy and understand more about one of the world's most famous brass bands.
Historic works
The launch evening saw the current band perform a number of works that have now been saved for future generations to enjoy — from the march 'Viva Rimmer' to arrangements of Berlioz's 'Dance of the Will o' th' Wisps' made nearly 100 years ago by the great William Halliwell and a wonderful musical curiosity called 'Old Mother Hubbard — in the style of Handel' by Heley-Hutchinson.
Thanks
Band Manager Mark Wilkinson took the opportunity to thank the many supporters and patrons who contributed to the project — from the loan of artefacts to helping to meet the extensive cost of preservation of some of the historic music that was partially destroyed in the fire that engulfed their bandroom in 2016.
"This has been such an important project for Foden's Band,"he said, "One that has enabled us to save for future generations the history of one of the most famous banding names in the world.
Our thanks go to the countless people, such as Carole Hirst who led our project bid, who have supported us and especially to the Heritage Lottery Fund who recognised the importance of what we set out to achieve."
He added: "Although the official project has come to an end, it is only the start of an ongoing process that we hope will grow year on year as more material and amazing memorabilia becomes available to us."
Our thanks go to the countless people who have supported us and especially to the Heritage Lottery Fund who recognised the importance of what we set out to achieveBand Manager, Mark Wilkinson
Rare sight
Some of those items were on show on the night — including the rare sight of the current British Open Gold Shield (first presented in 1924), kindly loaned to the band for the event by British Open organisers Martin and Karyn Mortimer, next to its predecessor, the famous Jennison Trophy (above), first presented in 1889, and won outright by the band following its Belle Vue hat-trick in 1928.
Find out more:
To find out more about Foden's Heritage Website go to: http://www.fodensbandheritage.co.uk/
