The History of Our Band 

In 1933 Rev. W Leeming became the new reverend at St John’s Church. As he was a brass band enthusiast who had formed brass bands at all of his previous churches as a way to extend the social and cultural activities of the church, it was no surprise that he formed St Johns Brass Band with only communicant members of the church. After a lot of training and marching drills the band was ready for their first outing, the Whit Friday Walks of May 1934.

The band continued until, during the war they became the band of the (Home Guard) 35th Cheshire Regiment, where the membership rules were relaxed so players from outside the parish could join, which gradually built back up the band's full strength.

The bands success built up over time with the guidance of some well-known conductors, which included Arthur Schofield, Harold Robinson and Bert Howarth, which lead up to its highest point in 1983, when the band qualified to play in the 4th Section National Brass Band Championship at the Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, they were unplaced at the contest, but it was an unforgettable experience for those involved.

Regrettably, as in most brass bands, players left for various reasons over the years, and the band was on the verge of closure on 3 different occasions, twice in the 70’s and once again in the late 80’s. Luckily for us, in 1990 a group of community minded people notably Ralph Towle, Rodney Oliver, Ian Marsh and Barry Hague formed a committee who invited Max Wassal as Secretary followed by Graham Hutchinson and Stephen Corbett to train the band which was then mostly school children. This was a huge success for the band and Stephen continued as musical director until 2012.

Paul Exton-McGuinness took up the mantel in 2012, where the band went from strength to strength with the addition of a training and beginner band which brought fresh new players into the main band.

Then in September 2018, Paul Towle (grandson of Ralph Towle who helped to get the band on its feet almost 30 years before) was appointed Musical Director, continuing the family connections within the band.

In 2023 David W Ashworth joined the band becoming the new Musical Director and we are extremely grateful for the time and wealth of knowledge he shared with the band.

When it was announced that Dave Ashworth had left the position of Musical Director, we were delighted to receive a message from Martin Gernon, offering his assistance to take the band to the Northwest Area Contest in Blackpool.

Although we didn’t get the result we would have liked, we enjoyed working with Martin, who agreed to help the band for as much time as he was able.

From then, our relationship has grown and we have been lucky enough to have improved in both our confidence and level of performance.

This has become apparent in our contesting results:

Holme Valley - 4th Section 2nd place & Best Soloist - Jamie Gordon

Whit Friday - Tameside 4th Section overall champions

Red Admiral Entertainment Contest - 4th Section champions

Unfortunately due to Martin's increasing work commitments he has been unable to continue with the position of Musical director at St John's, but we wish him the best of luck in the future.

Following our recent advertisement of the role, and a number of applicants, we are proud to announce our new conductor, Ben Hill-Wilson who has taken up the role in January 2025. We're looking forward to what the future brings with his new ideas and input.