The Brass Bands Archive is the world’s largest archive dedicated to preserving global brass band heritage. The archive is publicly accessible to researchers, brass bands enthusiasts and anyone else hoping to learn from over a century of banding heritage.
You can access the archive catalogue online or visit the reading room by appointment by appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 09:00 – 17:00. To view original documents in the research room you need to pre-book an appointment. Heritage Quay also offer online research appointments. All appointments can be booked through their booking form, which can be found on the Heritage Quay website.
About the archive
The National Brass Band Archive was born out of the collection of North West bandsman, Walter Ainscough. Embracing his Uncle’s passion for collecting programmes and music from the Belle Vue contest (now the British Open), Walter had steadily built up his own collection of interesting brass band artefacts and memorabilia. Prof. Nicholas Childs visited Walter’s Garage of Band treasures some time in the 1970’s and sowed the seed of an idea for formally constituting the collection and the Archive was born shortly after.
After a spell housed in a spare room in the Doyen Centre in Oldham, the Archive moved to Wigan above a Funeral Directors in Leigh, and over the years the collection grew and grew; providing a place for bands to donate music and artefacts to. In 2018, the Archive received notice on the building causing it to close with immediate effect and the imminent closure prompted the Archive’s Trustees to trigger a clause in the constitution passing custodianship of the National Brass Band Archive to Brass Bands England (BBE).
Ownership of the archive was permanently transferred to Brass Bands England in 2018. After a brief stint in the Brass Band England’s offices awaiting the necessary funding to delve effectively into the collection to repackage and collection, a number of archive officers were appointed. They managed to repackage, and catalogue parts of the collection. Whilst securing its new home at Heritage Quay, the University of Huddersfield's archives. so that it can be made accessible to the public for years to come. Through funding we have now employed an Archivist to manage the Archive, and continue cataloguing donations to the Archive as it grows with the aim to preserve brass banding heritage.
The archive is on deposit at the University of Huddersfield where users will be able to view the archive in their state-of-the-art reading room.
What’s in the archive?
The BBA holds great significance to the brass banding sector by documenting the evolution of brass band music. The collections shine a light on the people who contributed to the development of brass banding, including composers, arrangers, conductors, publishers, sponsors, and competing and non-competing bands.
Notable items range from a first purpose 19th century performing jacket from the award winning Black Dyke Mills Band, to a rare echo cornet believed to be owned by well known player Harry Mortimer. The collection also preserves lesser-known stories. From photographs of contemporary bands and players, to contest and competition programmes from across the country. The archive reflects a broad range of experiences across the brass banding sector; the collection consists of well over 8,000 music sets, hundreds of vinyl recordings, rare instruments, trophies, photographs, contest programmes, publications, stand banners, historical artefacts and memorabilia/ephemera. It is forever growing as more and more brass banders trust us with their history by donating to the Archive.
The Brass Bands Blog
Read more about the Brass Bands Archive here and learn about some of the incredible histories preserved in the collection, on the Brass Bands Blog.
We are forever unearthing stories within the collection, and investigating all aspects of our archive. Don’t hesitate to get in touch about the stories you could tell!
Donate
Interested in donating to the archive? Find out more here.
Volunteering
Interested in working with the archive? We have a range of volunteering opportunities.
Policies
You can access our archive policies here.