Michelmersh Silver Band
history

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(Page 5)

Since the war the band has been called upon regularly to play at civic events in Romsey. It has provided the music for Romsey Rotary Clubs open air carol service in the Market Place, considered by many to mark the start of Christmas in the town since it began more than 50 years ago. The bandsmen remember only one night when it rained so hard that they did not even bother to get out of their coach. The Act of Remembrance at the cenotaph in Romsey Memorial Park has been in the bands diary for a similar period.

The post war years brought many changes - Fetes and flower shows moved to weekends, Michelmersh bandsmen began to come from a wider background, with the brickyard workers and farm hands of earlier years being joined by farmers, a medical student, a customs officer, and others.

A more obvious change was the introduction of female players. Wives and mothers have always played a vital part in supporting the band financially by organising dozens of fundraising events - and still putting up with their husbands and sons disappearing on engagements at weekends and holiday times when they might have expected them to be home.

The first bandswoman did not appear until the late 1960s, in the shape of Sarah Jones who went on to be a surveyor in London. There had been some reluctance amongst the men to break the tradition and admit her, but equality won through, and she paved the way for the girls and women regularly seen in the bands ranks today.

The first world war hut that Tom Topp bought for £12 in the 1920s had served the band well, in spite of the odd occasion when players turned up for practice to find it buzzing with hornets. But after old Harry Tongs died, the new owner of the land served notice on the band to vacate the site. The answer was to negotiate with the Compton Manor Estate to acquire land on the other side of the road - this arranged, the band took down the old hut piece and re-erected it on the new site. But there came a time when the band was reaching its peak membership and the hut was getting too small for everyone to squeeze in, so the decision was taken to build a new bandroom.

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