Brass Bands England (BBE) has announced that due to a forthcoming change in the use of the building in which it has been housed in Wigan, the National Brass Band Archive is to close in its current format with immediate effect.

The decision has allowed the trustees of the Archive to trigger a clause in the its constitution that passes ownership of the National Brass Band Archive to Brass Bands England (BBE) as the sole custodian and legal donee of the collection.

Over 8,000 artefacts

The collection consists of well over 8,000 sets of sheet music, recordings, instruments, images, historical artefacts and documents, trophies, art and memorabilia.

4BR has been informed that the temporary closure will see the collection placed into temporary storage with BBE investigating ways in which it can be easily accessed in the future.

Brass Bands England hopes to be in a position to announce future plans for the collection within the coming months, and will endeavour to make the collection accessible to the public again as soon as possibleBBE

Available again

A spokesperson for BBE stated: "Brass Bands England hopes to be in a position to announce future plans for the collection within the coming months, and will endeavour to make the collection accessible to the public again as soon as possible.

We are grateful to Brian Halliwell, who has hosted the archive in recent years at his business premises in Wigan, and would also like to thank the trustees and staff for their dedication in curating this valuable collection over many years."