WHEN people in the south of England in the late 19th century thought the French might try to invade, they started to form rifle corps.

The small village of Aldbourne was no exception, and to complement the corps, it also formed a brass band, which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary.

Band member Graham Potter has spent hours researching the history of the group and its members.

The band was founded in 1860 by church organist and village carpenter Richard Brown-Bunce. The first members played woodwind and brass and were under Brown-Bunce’s leadership until he died of internal injuries following an accident in 1870.

For the next 16 years, the band was led by a Mr Palmer and then Edward Stacey took over until 1886.

He was succeeded by Joseph Barnes Alder, who was one of five brothers, and from 1898 until 1922, village baker Albert Stacey, who was the son of Edward, took over.

“Albert conducted the band for 24 years,” said Graham. “At the time the group were more of a parade band, but Albert wanted something better. So in 1909 he entered them in their first competition in Marlborough.

“There were lots of bands around at the time and it was generally considered that the better bands were the ones that played the loudest, not necessarily those with better technical skills. Albert wanted that to change.”

One local misconception is the name of the band, with many mistakenly referring to the Aldbourne Silver Band, but Graham said it has nothing to do with the colour of the instruments.

“It’s to do with all the silver prizes they won at the start of their competition career,” he said. “But by 1911 they’d won their first gold medal and had also gone to the Crystal Palace Brass Band contest.”

In 1914, the war forced the band to separate owing to members’ war duties, but they were up and running again by 1922.

“At that time bands in this area were a force to be reckoned with at competitions,” said Graham. “People knew they had to beat Aldbourne to be in with a chance of winning.”

Around that time a local millionaire loaned the group £500 to buy new instruments. They had paid back £300 when he committed suicide. The estate decided the rest of the repayments could be waived.

A professional conductor, Fred Dimmock, was appointed and for the next 17 years he led the group to many successes.

“There is a lovely little story about when the band went to a contest in Silchester. They did really well and won lots of awards,” said Graham. “As they were being given the prizes a member of the Hanwell Band shouted out ‘why don’t you just give them the bandstand as well?’.”

The Aldbourne Brass Band has a tradition of keeping it in the family, with many fathers, sons and grandsons playing with the group. Today, members can trace their ancestors through old band pictures.

Now a yearly tradition in the village, the summer Pond Concerts started life as just a gathering of people.

“Whenever there was great news in the village people would congregate in Pond Place (now The Square) and the band would come out and play,” said Graham. “They’d play a few concerts throughout the year and march out to meet dignitaries, but it was in the early 1970s that the concerts as we know them today really started.”