St Hilda's Colliery Band (1869 - 1937)

The brass band was established in South Shields in 1869, originally called Dennison's Family Band, but renamed St Hilda Colliery Band in 1906, after winning 13 local competitions. In 1912, the band progressed from the regional finals to go on and win the brass band National Championship of Great Britain. The finals were held at Crystal Palace in London and the test piece played was William Tell by Gioachino Rossini (arr. William Rimmer). St Hilda's Colliery Band went on to win the National Championship of Great Britain four more times; in 1920, 1921, 1924 and 1926.[1] In 1925, St Hilda's Colliery temporarily closed and many of the band members were made unemployed, but managed to earn some income from band bookings and competitions. However, the band's sucess and income from bookings led them to be regarded as professional, rather than amature, as such they were barred from the national championships of 1927 and other competitions. The band, now called St Hilda's Band, went on to make records and once played, by Royal Command, outside Buckingham Palace. The band became a victim of their own sucess: interest in the band eventually declined as they were no longer playing in brass band competitions. They disbanded in December 1937. In 2018 a blue plaque commemorating the St Hilda’s Colliery Band was installed on St Hilda’s Pit Head.[2]