Grimethorpe Education: building a community

From its beginnings as a pit band to immortalisation in a cult film, Grimethorpe has long played an important role in the UK's cultural life. Now, amid ongoing national funding cuts, the South Yorkshire ensemble is refocusing its efforts on education, MT reports

North of England youth band at the RNCM International Brass Band Festival - Grimethorpe

Any claims of being the world's greatest, biggest or best must always be treated with healthy scepticism. When Buddy the Elf in the titular film leaves the North Pole for New York, he is delighted to discover a café selling the ‘world's best’ coffee. So delighted, that he brings a date to the dicey establishment, which confirms the taste is mediocre.

But there are exceptions. Grimethorpe uses the strapline ‘the world's most famous colliery band’ with perfectly good justification. The ensemble, well-known in the UK since its formation during the First World War, became internationally recognised after its story was used as the basis for Brassed Off, the 1996 film starring Ewan McGregor. As depicted in the film, the band was formed by workers at the Grimethorpe pit, who, despite fading fortunes as the coal industry contracted, found solace in music. Grimethorpe Colliery Band has continued to play at an increasingly high level, appearing at the Proms, winning competitions, and premiering new music (notably Birtwistle's Grimethorpe Aria). Now the group is reconnecting with its original communities in South Yorkshire as part of a series of educational initiatives encouraging more people to explore brass playing.