Once a small mining village on the outskirts of Sheffield, Woodhouse has now been absorbed by the urban sprawl that is Sheffield, Englands fourth largest city.
It's into this setting in 1853 that one of the oldest Brass Bands in the world, Woodhouse Prize Band, was formed. Indeed, the formation of the Band predates the building of the Anglican Church in Woodhouse, that not arriving on the scene until 1876. There was evidence in the village to suggest that Woodhouse existed prior to 1656, the date being mentioned on a keystone above an entrance arch to a now demolished yard and buildings, although the stone was preserved and forms part of the boundary wall in the shopping precinct. The oldest building still standing in the village is the old Cross Daggers restaurant, formerly one of the village pubs. The date above the door proclaims that the building was erected in 1658.
If you talk to any of the locals, you may find a different pronunciation of the village name, the locals preferring to call it Wudus (wud - wood; us - house).
Enough of the history of the place. What about the Band?
Many of the older Woodhouse people know that the band was formed in 1853 by the Keeton family, still a name synonymous with the village. A few years later, William Cook and his family who were all musical, came to Woodhouse and immediately became part of the band.
Leonard Widdowson and Matthew Young's book Woodhouse (ISBN 0-7524-0662-0) published in 1996, has a picture of the Band taken in 1888. The picture names J. W. Cook as Bandmaster, T Cook and H Cook as cornet players, William Cook Snr as euphonium player, E Cook and H Cook (horn), J Cook (cornet) and B Cook (trombone). (For anyone with a further interest in the Village, I would recommend the above pictorial history, or paying a visit to the local Library). Also now available is a book celbrating the first 150 years of the band. Click on the book link for information.
Anyway, back to the story...
William took over as Bandmaster and the Handsworth-Woodhouse Band as it was then, began entering competitions. Eventually, the Band won an important contest, beating the now world famous Black Dyke Mills band in the late 1800's. Thus, the word "Prize" was added to the title of the Band. The Band continued to win many contests over the years and the pinnacle of success came in 1938 when they won First Prize at the Alexandria Palace in London.
Since then, the Band has been successful, but in 1960's they had a period of falling membership and little activity. In 1969, conductor Harold Cook died and a memorial concert was performed in the upstairs room of the Trinity Chapel in Woodhouse. This brought about an upsurge which has continued since.
Over the years, there has been a decline in the number of Brass players in schools, and we now have to teach many of our young players ourselves. As you can see from the number of young people playing at present, we hope to continue this and have successful future. We have a strong junior learners section of the Band whose ages range from 8 to 13 years of age. They meet most Thursday evenings before the main band practise and we strive very hard to integrate them gradually into the main band.
During the School holidays we hold music fun days for the younger members. These days have proved both enjoyable and successful. They are based around fun activities to encourage music making.