Band History: the 1970s

The Band's first opportunity to play in front of royalty occurred in July 1973 when the Queen of Lesotho opened a fete in aid of "The Save the Children Fund" at Bedford School. There was some difficulty in obtaining the Lesotho National Anthem which was eventually forwarded by their Embassy in London.

Shortly after this prestigious event Mr Crane died in hospital, and the Band lost a man who had given 50 years of his life to banding in and around Bedford. The Band was then taken over by Reg Dilley, another long serving member until late 1974 when Terry Hext was appointed as Musical Director and Ralph Fawthrop as Band Manager.

The Band was indeed fortunate to secure the services of Terry Hext who had a wealth of experience as a trombone player with the Coldstream Guards, the Luton Band and GUS. As well as his playing experience Terry was a peripatetic brass teacher within the County and later became Head of Brass teaching for Bedfordshire.

Such was his patience as a teacher and his ability to bring out the best in players that there was soon a marked improvement in the Band's fortunes. After only a short period under his direction the Band was performing consistently well and was promoted from the Fourth to the Championship Section in consecutive years (an achievement which few unsponsored bands have managed.) During this period the Band won the Fourth, Third and Second Sections of the London and Southern Counties Annual Contests with the average age of the members being 23 and with 14 being under 18 years of age.

At the time of Terry Hext's appointment the principal cornet was Andrew Culshaw, then 15 years of age, who later on was to become a founder member of the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble who have gone on to undertake regular tours throughout the World.

Another success story within the Band was that of Michael Hext who in 1978, at the age of 17, won the first "BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition". Both he and his younger brother, David (a percussionist), went on to pursue successful careers and professional musicians in National Orchestras.

On 29th September 1979, following the Band's continuing progress under the direction of Terry Hext, and influenced by the success of his son, Michael, the Band recorded the first of several BBC Radio broadcasts.