Audley Brass recently performed a free concert to give thanks to members of the community and patrons of the band for their efforts in helping the band rebuild its rehearsal hall.

Audley Brass has been in existence for over 100 years and for 87 of those years their home has been in Dean Hollow in the village. The band had been raising funds to rebuild the band room since 1996 and in July 2006 the old building was demolished.

We wanted to say thank-you to those people by giving them this concert. It was a fantastic night and it was great to see so many old friends together againBand Chairman Peter Haxwell

New home

The band finally moved into their new home in January after having been supported with rehearsal space by St James Church and Audley Theatre. At one stage the band even rehearsed in a timber workshop in Tunstall.

The band was also financially supported by Audley Rotary and Audley Male Voice Choir, who stepped in to help when the project looked to be dying, with the Rotary also taking over the project management.

Huge success

The concert was a huge success with band on top form, and soloists Eleanor Smith (cornet), Mark Woodvine (euphonium) and Matt Capper (percussion) brought the house down with superb performances.

Help

Band Chairman Peter Hawxwell told 4BR: "It is impossible for me to mention all the people who have helped the band over the years to help get us into our new band room. We wanted to say thank-you to those people by giving them this concert. It was a fantastic night and it was great to see so many old friends together again."