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Grimethorpe Colliery Band
The year after the band's formation saw it enter its first competition at Belle Vue in Manchester. Its first radio broadcast was in 1932 and from 1941 to 1951 was on UK national radio every month.
George Thompson was musical director from the early 1950s until 1972 during which time the band won the British Open Contest for the first time. Thompson was followed by Elgar Howarth as Professional Conductor and Musical Director. 1974 saw the band, along with Black Dyke Mills Band, become the first to perform at the Proms.
The band continued through the industrial troubles of the 1980s and the closure of Grimethorpe Colliery on 13 October 1992. However the band gained first place with 99 out of 100 on 17 October 1992 in the National Brass Band Championship at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Following the closure of the Grimethorpe Colliery in 1993, the Band was sponsored by RJB Mining (later UK Coal plc) and then by Powerfuel.
It achieved worldwide fame after appearing in the film Brassed Off, and along with the Black Dyke Mills Band, the band became the first to perform at the Proms.