Musicians from Melton Mowbray’s long-running Toy Soldiers carnival band will be playing their hearts out at a large-scale community event celebrating the colourful movement which once lit up the East Midlands with spectacular marching, music and costumes.
Among them will be Brian Gordon, who is still playing the trumpet with the now sadly diminished Toy Soldiers having been a member for a grand total of 67 years!
Brian, who joined the band aged 10, said: “Life in the Toy Soldiers has been absolutely fantastic. It has taken us all over the world, including the USA and France. We won the World Championships in the Isle of Man in 1990.”
Melton Mowbray Toy Soldiers jamming band.
The Melton Mowbray Toy Soldiers were once a large band of some 75 musicians who, along with other bands such as the Tally-Hos, regularly took part in competitions and paraded at carnival weekends with their skilful playing and showmanship. At one time there were around 100 bands playing and competing around the East Midlands.
Now former and current Toy Soldiers will be delighting crowds once again by playing at a big celebration event in July which is being held to rekindle the joy that carnival bands brought to so many. Called ‘Banding Together’, the event on Sunday July 24 is being organised by Peaky Blinders actor David Chabeaux as a fundraiser for his film and social change project, Moz’s Band. The film is titled ‘Moz’s Band’ after David’s grandfather, Moz Ward, whose inspirational leadership led his own band, the Derby Serenaders, to three European and 23 UK marching band titles and an appearance on the BBC’s The Generation Game.
Band 1988.
David, who as well as Peaky Blinders has been in Hollyoaks, the Sky Atlantic series Bulletproof, and is part of the forthcoming Netflix horror drama Red Rose, himself grew up in the Derby Serenaders where he learned to play no fewer than 11 instruments. He hopes his film will springboard social change work in local communities to bring back the sense of belonging and kinship that carnival banding brought to the thousands of people who took part.
The Banding Together event will feature all the fun of the carnival with stalls, stands, inflatables, beer tent and candy floss, plus walking football, ‘A Parade of the Band Uniforms’, live music all day, and a prize raffle. There will be a giant cinema screen showing archive film footage of the bands in action back in the day, and the chance for people to contribute to a unique ‘history of banding’ mural recording their precious memories. It will all be topped off with a classic ‘old school’ disco complete with outdoor dance floor!
Performing on the day with the Toy Soldiers will be Andy Harrison, a former member of the band for nearly three decades. Andy and Brian described how being in the Toy Soldiers brought families and generations together back in the day, all bonding through music, marching and the discipline of a twice-weekly practice.
Andy Harrison as Toy Soldier.
Brian, who tried to join the Soldiers at the starting age of nine but was turned away for being too small to carry a drum, said: “I remember starting off on the cymbals as they were light enough for me to carry when I was ten. Then I went on to play the side drum, and when the band started getting short of trumpet players I began on that.
“The banding movement was great for teaching discipline. You didn’t get many kids involved in trouble with the police. It instilled camaraderie and gave youngsters something to go and something to do two or three times a week.”
For Andy Harrison, who started off in the Melton Mowbray Tally Ho’s as a child, life in a carnival band went one better when he met his wife Keeley after joining the Toy Soldiers as a teenager.
Having stayed with the band until 2020, he said he missed playing the trombone so much that he joined the group of former members who will be playing at the celebration event on July 24.
The large-scale Banding Together event is aimed at getting people back together who were involved in carnival banding, as well as families and other people who would also enjoy the occasion.
David said: “The loss of the carnival banding movement is felt very keenly amongst many people across the East Midlands. It provided a sense of belonging and togetherness that I feel we have lost in today’s society where it seems everybody has become very disconnected, and it can be difficult for different generations to bond as they used to. I really hope that lots of people can make it to our Banding Together day to find out more about what the movement was all about and enjoy a spectacular and fun afternoon too.”
Proceeds from the day, which is being held at Borrowash Victoria Football Ground in Derby from midday to midnight, are going towards the ‘Moz’s Band’ film project.
Tickets for the Banding Together day are already selling fast. They are available by calling 07437 160832, or by visiting www.mozs.band/tickets. An early bird ticket of £7 is available until the end of June, and under 12s go free. The on-the-door ticket price is £10.
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