First Salvation Army band celebrates 145th birthday this Christmas

The first ever Salvation Army band which played its first concert on Christmas Day 1879 in Consett, County Durham, is celebrating its 145th birthday. 

The church and charity is synonymous with brass bands, particularly at Christmas time, and it was the Consett Band in the former mining town which started it all. 

Today the band has more than 30 members and will be celebrating its landmark birthday with an exhibition on Saturday 30 November followed by an evening concert at The Salvation Army hall in Sherburn Terrace. 

The band will also be playing at various locations throughout the festive period including at Durham Cathedral on Thursday 12 December at 7.30pm. 

LT Wendy Verheij, who leads Consett Salvation Army, said: “We would love you to join us to celebrate 145 years of Consett Salvation Army Band. It was right here that history was made with the first ever Salvation Army brass band playing on Christmas Day 145 years ago. When people think of The Salvation Army they think of the brass bands, especially at this time of year. 

“Our band is still going strong today with around 30 members young and old. Music is a huge part of the church and our mission, using brass to inspire and uplift.” 

Marc Jackson, Consett Salvation Army Community Mission Facilitator, whose father was a bandmaster in the 1970s, shared some of the history of the Consett Band. 

He said: “Consett was pioneering in many ways, not only for having the first band but our first officers were two young women in their twenties, Louise Agar and Elizabeth Jackson. Back then Consett, which was built on the iron and steel works, was known as the ‘the wild west of the north’ but they had great success here thanks in part to the creation of the band. 

“It was a young iron worker, Ned Lennox, who gathered three fellow converts George Storey, Robert Greenwood and Jimmy Simpson and told them that they were going to start a brass band to support the work of The Salvation Army. Brass bands were a big part of the mining communities back then. They were soon joined by Sam Carruthers, J Murphy and Jack Greenwood and played their first public concert on Christmas Day in December 1879. 

“It was the very first time a brass band made up of members of a Salvation Army had played anything anywhere in the world. By Christmas of 1880 the band had more than doubled in size and was already making a name for itself. They played all over the country and by the beginning of the 20th Century were known to be one of the best bands in The Salvation Army world. 

“A Young People’s band launched in 1926, meaning hundreds of children and young people in Consett had the chance to learn to read music and play an instrument. Many members went on to play in the senior band, helping it continue to thrive. 

“The band also attracted some famous Salvation Army names to visit including founder General William Booth and Commissioner Frederick Booth-Tucker. In 1947 Brigadier Frederick Coutts, later the Army’s 8th General, came to preach. In more recent years the Salvation Army at Consett has had visits from Lt Colonel Norman Bearcroft, a great name in Salvation Army music. 

“In the 1970s, first under the leadership of my father David Jackson, and then Jeff Baker, the band and its mission developed to meet a changing world, but never forgot it’s Christian mission and primary purpose. It was during that decade that the band made several visits to prisons across the north including Lancaster and Durham, and went on a trip to Belfast during the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.  

“Thank you to all of those who have helped make Consett Band what it is today, those brave pioneers, Ned, George, Robert, Jim, Sam, Jack and John, to those who you were willing to follow in their footsteps right down to the current group we have today. Thank you for your musical service and helping to ensure that Consett Salvation Army can continue to serve the wider community.” 

The exhibition will be running all day Saturday from 10am and the free concert will start at 6.30pm. You do not need to book. 

Consett Salvation Army runs a number of activities throughout the week from toddler groups to lunch clubs and social events as well as Sunday Worship. They will also be hosting events throughout December to celebrate Christmas and are collecting presents as part of the Christmas Present Appeal which provides gifts to children whose families struggle to make ends meet. For more information search for them on Facebook.