Band History: between the Wars

On 12th December 1920, at a grand concert at the Corn Exchange, Master Reginald Crane (then aged 13) gave a performance on his cornet of 'Alice Where Art Though?'. Over the next 50 years 'Reg' Crane was to play a key role in the continuity and development of brass banding in the town.

Whilst the Corn Exchange and the former Empire and Plaza cinemas were ideal venues for indoor concerts, the 'platform' in Mill Meadows was still felt by many to be far from suitable. In response to this dilemma the Band agreed to build a raft, but only on the condition that the Council would take over the maintenance and make it available to anyone. The raft was to be made up of three punts supporting a playing platform one foot (!) above the level of the water. Many are the stories told of the day the raft 'sank' and the following is one account that appeared in a local newspaper under the heading 'The Band's Adventure':

"Thousands of Bedfordians and visitors had gathered on the Embankment on Whit Monday 1923 on a day that had improved with keeping and the riverside was attractive at eventide, to which was to be added the dulcet strains of silver instruments played in harmony. With an air of expectancy the crowd waited, soon to be heightened, while the silver instruments and the hopeful instrumentalists shipped aboard the floating bandstand from the Mill Meadows End. Eight or nine of the bandsmen congregated at the outward end of the bandstand, just as it pushed off from the shore and were soon vastly perturbed to discover that their edge was sinking in the deep. Their hurried movements threw the Band into confusion and the motion that ensued aboard the craft did not improve the situation. The edge was soon awash and feet were getting wet. Three of them then dived into the stream and swam ashore. One of these 'heroes' who had not swum for many years, said 'He wasn't going to wait to be drowned'. The craft was evacuated and the instruments and music were rescued intact, the incident being put down to indiscriminate distribution of weight."

Following this incident the raft was dismantled with the intention of adding further floats.

On 10th April 1926 a new bandstand was opened by the Mayor, Alderman G.H. Barford, in St Mary's Gardens. In an effort to avoid any possible jealousy between the three bands in the town (Town, Trades and Military) the Council invited the Luton Red Cross Band, one of the finest in the country at that time, to play at the official opening. There was no animosity between the rival bands who, indeed, had proposed a massed performance for charity. However, it was felt by some members of the respective bands that it was something of an insult to invite a rival band from a different part of the County to be the first to perform on the new bandstand.

Such was the strength of feeling on the issue that a protest march was held on 16th April 1926, (in the pouring rain), involving the Town, Trades and Military bands, beginning at the Midland Road Station, with each band playing in turn as they proceeded to the Market Hill. A public meeting then took place at which a reported crowd of 4000 passed the following resolution:

"That the public meeting unanimously resents the action of the municipal authorities in permitting the official opening of the new bandstand in St Mary's to be performed by a band outside the Borough and it is the opinion of the meeting that the authorities' decision deprived the citizens and ratepayers of their legitimate rights.

On the 16th November 1930 the Town Band played before a gathering of some 6000 to 7000 people at a memorial service held in the Number 2 Airship Shed at Cardington Camp for those who lost their lives when the R101 Airship crashed in Beauvais, France.

Over the next few years the Band continued to appear at the usual fetes, on the bandstand and on the redesigned river raft, but sadly without attracting much apparent publicity. This might well have been an indication of the beginnings of a shift in popular attitudes towards banding and a response to significant developments in radio and the cinema.