History of NFBB (Paperback)

Ken Matthews was working at the CEGB's Marchwood Engineering Laboratories near Southampton when, in 1977, a group of his colleagues, who were keen brass band enthusiasts, started "having a blow" during their lunchtime break. He went along and was soon given an instrument and taught the rudiments of playing. It was not long before this group decided to form a brass band and so Marchwood Brass performed its first engagement later that year. A sponsorship deal from Vodafone led to a name change in 1989 and the band is now well established as the New Forest Brass Band. Ken has been a playing member of this band ever since it started and, as he has access to a substantial amount of archive information, he has been able to write this account which traces the band's history from its inception to the present day. Along the way, the band has won many cups and performed in numerous concerts and other events. Ken has remembered incidents, both humorous and more serious, which have made his book a personal memoir rather than a chronological historical treatise.