Centre Band: Back to the future for Cory
This month's BBW 'Centre Band' is Cory. With a proud history stretching back to 1884, it is perhaps surprising to note that it wasn't until 1976 that Cory played its first notes outside of the UK and, according to its local Rhondda Leader newspaper, this would give many of the players in the band their first experience of flying in an aeroplane. How times have changed as Cory now undertakes three or four overseas trips every year and, just last month and for the first time since 1976, it returned to the country where it all started - the USA.
That first tour was part of America’s celebrations marking the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence and, back then, Grimethorpe Colliery Band toured with Cory. The American mining unions sponsored the tour; hence the pairing of Britain’s finest mining bands. Two years earlier, in 1974, Cory had won its first UK National Championship - a neat parallel given that Cory once again holds the ‘National’ title, having won the famous Challenge Trophy on six occasions in the last 40 years.
In 1976, Cory’s tour destinations included Washington, St. Louis, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Indiana, Charleston, Knoxville, Birmingham and Jasper. In 2016, Cory travelled 1,535 miles across seven states, and gave concerts in...
To read more about Cory's tour of the USA, its line-up, a concert review, and much more from March's edition of BBW, subscribe to BBW Digital here. 10 editions throughout the year for only £30!
Photograph: Courtesy John Southcombe Photography
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