Stonesfield Silver Band was formed in 1956 by John Nunn. Prior to that, John's relatives and friends cycled to Woodstock to practise with the Woodstock Town Band. However, attendances at Woodstock became poor and John found himself taking rehearsals at times. One evening they arrived from Stonesfield to find that the door had not been unlocked and they did not go again. As a result of this, the Stonesfield Silver Band was formed and began practising in the old Stonesfield Village Hall.
In 1959, Dorothy Calcutt and her very musical family joined the band and from then on the band went from strength to strength in numbers. Mrs Calcutt took a position teaching at the primary school at Woodstock and as funds became more plentiful, she began giving brass lessons there, soon having many of the children playing. Although no charge was made for lessons at the primary school, it was a condition with the loan of an instrument that you also joined the Stonesfield Band.
In December 1963, the band went out playing carols 26 times, collecting a princely £28! The band was thrilled with the amount collected and purchased its first tuba with the money.
As well as using the old Stonesfield Village Hall as a practice room, the Boot Inn, The Combe Tavern and a now-derelict building (right) erected by the Band on the premises of Dorothy Calcutt were used over the years.
In the late 60s, the Band ran an annual solo, duet and quartet contest in Stonesfield where members of the local association used to send along players. The association itself ran a similar contest and although Stonesfield players did not win many trophies, they were usually sure of one trophy -the cup awarded for most entries! At association contests Stonesfield would often enter two bands, junior and senior.
In
1997, Terry Brotherhood (left) joined the band as Musical Director. After an
illustrious career as a player, including Principal Cornet at Morris Motors
Band, Terry’s conducting career had taken him to City of Oxford and then
Kidlington, who he took to Championship Section status.
When Terry joined, the band was struggling at the bottom of the fourth section with a core of just twelve players. Under Terry's directorship, the band won many competitions up and down the country and raced up the tables from Fourth to First Section, competing in three national finals on the way.
In 2006, the band reluctantly bid farewell to Terry and a new Musical Director joined in the form of Simon Jones.
The last decade has seen unbelievable success for the band. Now is a time for consolidation and building on the success the band has enjoyed.
