10 July 2006 - Generous help from New Mills Artist Brian Nolan An Unexpected donation by an New Mills artist has given a great boost to The Marple and Hawk Green Bands' long-standing dream for a permanent Band Room of their own. 'The Charles Ingham Building Fund' is a charity that was set up to commemorate the trombonist Charlie Ingham, who reformed the Marple Band back in 1963. Charlie was also instrumental in forming Marple B' Band, now The Hawk Green Band. After 20 years of fundraising the charity has amassed some £50,000 towards their aim of building a Band Room in Charlie's memory and also owns a suitable plot of land in the centre of Marple. Now there is a real prospect of their funds being swollen following the donation of six original water-colours by renowned Royal Academy exhibited painter Brian Nolan. Hawk Green Band member Mark Singleton, who is the Landlord of The Hatters' Arms in Marple, said: "Brian had heard discussions in the pub about the bands wanting their own facilities. He came across and said that he has some pictures that he painted 25 years ago and would like to donate them to the Building Fund. The paintings are mostly of the Roman Lakes area of Marple and are described as quite "loose but realistic watercolours, moody and atmospheric". All of the paintings, which are approximately 24" x 18", are shown below:
The works are to be sold from the Paladina Art Gallery on Stockport Road in Marple and the six originals are retailing at £375, along with 30 signed and framed limited prints of each painting from around £60. For more information please contact Mark Singleton on 0161 427 1529. Some of the paintings will be displayed at the forthcoming Hawk Green Band concerts. 21 January 2006 - What's happening to that land behind the Cinema?
Walking through the Memorial Park over the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed that a building behind the cinema has been demolished and fencing erected around the plot. Curious? Well, that particular piece of land belongs to the 'Charles Ingham Building Fund'. Who, you may ask, is, or was, Charles Ingham? Charles, or Charlie as he preferred to be known, was a native of Marple. A local builder, and well known in the Marple area, he was responsible for reforming The Marple Prize Band in 1963, after it became defunct in 1958. Originally formed in 1900 by local businessmen as a brass and reed band The Marple Band, as it has since become known, has had a chequered career. Charlie became interested in brass bands after his service in the forces during the Second World War. He taught himself to play the trombone and played with the band just before it disbanded in 1958, when all the instruments they had at that time were handed over to the Willows School. Some of the children who learnt to play in the School band nearly forty-five years ago still play with the Hawk Green Band today.
Charlie wrote a book on the history of Marple Band that he entitled "Gone Banding". Only 1000 copies were printed and these have since circulated all over the world. If anyone wishes to read Charlie's book, a copy is available in the reference section of Marple Library. One of the main themes of the book is that the band has never had a permanent home and it was one of Charlie's greatest wishes to see the band in a building that they could call their own. "Gone Banding" was launched in January 1985 at a reception in the band room, which at that time was in the Navigation Hotel. Unfortunately Charlie was too ill to attend and sadly he died in March that year, never to see his band room built. After Charlie's death a few people formed a building fund with the aim of raising money to build the 'Charles Ingham Band Room' in his memory. The land at the rear of the cinema was purchased in 1986 and a small number of people have been struggling ever since to raise enough money to put a building on the plot. Of course it is now expected to cost three times the amount of money that would have been needed in 1986. The main purpose of the building will be to house the two local brass bands, of Hawk Green and of Marple. Since these bands left the Navigation no facilities have been available to teach young players and one of the main aims will be to get a learner class going again and also a junior band. Without young blood, brass bands as we know them will eventually cease to exist. All the players in top bands like Fairies and Black Dyke started off in learner classes, and junior bands like we once had in Marple and will have again if the project is successful.
The building that has been demolished was unsightly, dangerous and open to vandalism. The proposed new building will be single-storey and will enhance the view from our award winning Marple Memorial Park. As well as becoming the permanent home for Marple's bands that Charlie wished for, it will also be able to function as a new community building during the daytime. Amongst the many possibilities are the hosting of children's playgroups, coffee mornings, jumble sales, whist drives and maybe even afternoon tea dances. In the past a couple of people have endeavoured to put a package together for a lottery grant application, but nothing has yet come of this. However, if there is anyone out there with the necessary skills to help us find funding for this project, which will benefit the whole of Marple due to secondary use by the community, then please get in touch. The Marple Website would like to support this project and this page will be updated whenever new information is made available to us. |
