KLBB history

A little bit of KLBB history

Prince of Wales Visit 1993

The Kirkby Lonsdale Brass Band played for this event from 12:15 onwards. Music featured the march ‘Kirkby Lonsdale’ by Goff Richards. The weather was fine but cool, especially for the band who were seated on the north side of the church in the shadow of the building. The Prince of Wales thanked the band for coming.

‘You should be playing to keep warm – you must be cold’, he said.

Allan Greenwood (Musical Director) was invited for lunch with the then Prince of Wales and the official party after event.

Yes - we do have our very own march penned around 1995 by the late Goff Richards. Goffhas  conducted the band playing this march at concerts at Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkby Lonsdale.

Goff also wrote a test piece called Cherchebi - the old, old spelling for Kirkby Lonsdale as documented in the Domesday Book (aka Doomsday Book  a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of King William I, known as William the Conqueror.  - Church-by-Lune's-Dale). 

The band commissioned Goff to write Cherchebi, which is probably the only piece of music to ask the trombones to play "A la motorbike" - referring to the traditional gathering of motorbikes at Devil's Bridge every Sunday. Goff took the band at a afternoon workshop prior to the band playing the piece at a concert the same evening, again at Queen Elizabeth School.

The four movements are :

(i) Devils Bridge

(ii) St. Mary's Church

(iii) Ruskins View

(iv) Band Contest Day. 

Cherhebi was set as a Third Section Testpiece in 2002