A Century of Music, Memories, and Community
Over the past century, we've played through changing times, changing fashions, and changing faces — but one thing has remained constant: the joy of making music together.
This timeline celebrates our story. From performances to rehearsal room moves, infamous Durham day drinks to spectacular Christmas concerts, it’s been a journey shaped by dedication, laughter, and a shared love of brass banding.
1920s & 30s
The band probably grew from this ensemble, pictured in 1925 on Cresswell village green.
This is the earliest photograph we have of ECB when it became a brass band.
During the decades following, the band continued to develop.
The minute book from this era records many of the comings and goings of band players and committee members. Many of the committee meetings were called to arrange fund raising events - mainly dances and whist drives, where raffle prizes included a teapot and tea cosy, a proggy mat and a 10/- (ten shilling) note.
1940s & 50s
The band navigated its way through the war years.
The National Coal Board was created in 1947, and the employees of Ellington pit were asked to contribute a small amount of money each week towards the band's upkeep.
In the 1950's, women were allowed to join the band, as long as they were related to colliery workers or players in the band. The first two female players in ECB were Margaret Teasdale, and Winnie Brannan (NEE Cowton). Winnie played trombone for many years, then was treasurer until 2013.
1960s & 70s
1962 was the first CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation) contest which was a regular event in the colliery banding calendar. In 1962 there were around 107 colliery bands eligible to play in the regional contests.
The band was sadly in decline during the late 60s. By 1971, the number of players had dropped to just six! The secretary, John Brannan, took matters in hand and set up a learners' group. The band went from strength to strength, and by 1979, it won the Final of the 4th Section National Mineworkers' Competition in Blackpool.
Players joining the band in the 1970s included John Colvine, Hewie Marshall and Martin Joicey. Look at those hairdos!
1980s
During the 80s, the band continued to nurture young people through their youth and learner band program.
The band also had success at many competitions, including the CISWO national finals in Blackpool, and National Brass Band Championship finals in London. The band coach was often the place where the best partying (and singing!) took place on the way home from competitions, whether the band were first or last, fun was always had.
Whilst women were now welcome in ECB, there were still very few in the 80s and 90s. Other bands continued to be male only organisations. One of the last remaining male only brass bands finally allowed a woman to join in as late as 2010!
1990s
The band continued to thrive in the 90s. The band competed in the third section national finals in London in 1991 which was the 18th time that the band had qualified for the competition since its inception - a good time was had even though the band came 19th and had to pass the time playing cards while they waited for their very late draw to play but that is the nature of contesting still to this day!
In 1998 the band was awarded a £54 000 lottery grant for new instruments and support from RJB Mining for new rehearsal facilities at Ellington pit after rehearsing at Lynmouth Institute for 20 years. This was a huge boost to the sustainability of the band into the new millennium.
2000s
In November 2002, RJB Mining made a three year contribution to the running of the band. ECB had the honour of playing for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the Royal Show in 2002 which was more memorable for the percussion stool mishap on stage than rubbing shoulders with royalty.
In 2005 ECB went on a mini tour of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, working and performing with Brass Band Nuenen - that was a very long band bus journey!
In this decade, the National Mineworkers contest moved from Blackpool to Butlins Skegness and the band first competed there in 2006 and continued to compete in this contest until 2019. The band have many great memories of socialising and being away for the weekend at these contests.
2010s
In 2011 ECB moved into rehearsal facilities in Morpeth. This started key connections with the council and local community which has been very important over more than a decade, with many great events and support.
Band members were excited to be involved in the Arts Council supported 'Reflection Connection' project in 2016. Along with other brass bands in the area and some school groups, they met and performed with the world famous Mnozil Brass at the Sage, Gateshead.
ECB continued to have some remarkable experiences, including opening a paint factory, playing a concert with Glyn and Helen Williams, playing in a scrapyard for 'Metro the musical', being the on and off stage band for a great production of Brassed Off, narrowly avoiding some pies and peas that caught fire during a Shirley Bassey tribute and marching through Amble, in the dark, in single file down a back lane…
2020s
The Covid pandemic was a challenging time, but as soon as we could, we began to make music together again, first of all outdoors in the school car park, then in large halls which allowed us to be socially distanced. In summer 2021, we were finally back in our band room and things slowly went back to normal.
We were able to play in all of our usual concerts and jobs, with a few more added to the calendar, including the famous Whit Friday Marches for the first time and a trip to Cheltenham to play in the National Brass Band Championship finals where we celebrated our 4th place with as much excitement as if we had won the whole thing! Our Brass Roots learning band is still blowing strong with 24 in our ensemble. 20 of our current contesting band members came up through our training band over the years. We hope to add many more amazing memories to our archive and timeline as the years continue.
Enjoyed the timeline? There’s more where that came from
The band’s history is rich not just in sound, but also in snapshots. Whether it’s the evolving hairstyles, summer socials or milestone performances, our Archive page houses even more pictures from the past.
Interested in what the band was up to 100 years ago? We’re also publishing all the historical minutes dating all the way back from 1925 in our Historical Minutes page