LATER this year the Boxted Methodist Silver Band will help Ardleigh mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day in traditional style.

It will be one of a number of appearances the long-standing group have made within Boxted itself and to surrounding villages to delight audiences and provides a chance to look back at the history of the band, as it faces a period of uncertainty brought about by the closure last year of Boxted Methodist Church.

The history of brass bands can be traced back to the early nineteenth century and came about because of various factors including the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe.

In 1835, town councils withdrew financial support for the town musicians, leading them to form into bands in order to earn money as professional musicians.

By 1889 between forty- and fifty-thousand bands were formed in Great Britain, each comprising an average of twenty-five players.

Among them were the wind band formed at Boxted Methodist Church in about 1860 by Obadiah Willis, the son of one of its founder members John Willis, and his friends

The offered their music as part of worship and that remained the basis of the arrangement for the band who in turn would practise in the church hall.

Its current conductor Victoria Steinitz explains the group have practised in the hall next to the chapel for at least 100 years of its 121 year history and she says there have now been several generations of musicians who have played with them.

“It often happens that young people join and then leave to go to university but their parents or other relatives have come along and ended up joining and staying.

“Our oldest member, for example, his nephew plays and his family go way back in the band,” says Victoria, a member for 24 years.

Methodism in Boxted began in house group and open services until in 1831 Richard Coleman paid Jonathan Nevard £6 for a piece of land where a chapel could be built. It cost £350 to build and opened in June 1832.

Early members included Thomas Beardwell, Thomas Beardwell the Younger, William Appleby, William Rushbrook, John Green, Richard Harris, George Dennis, John James, Buckley Gant and John Willis, whose son Obadiah formed the wind band with his friends.

In the early days, it cost one shilling to join and players paid a weekly fee of a penny - but there were also fines for failing to turn up for practice which increased depending on how many weeks had been missed.

In the intervening years the band has been present at a whole host of significant events.

These include events at Colchester Castle Park, numerous Remembrance Day services and even, adds Victoria, along the route of the town’s 10K run, encouraging those taking part with their music.

It supported village events to mark big occasions, in 1977 the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations and with the Colchester Silver Band in the Mayor’s Concert at the Moot Hall held that year.

It also took part in similar events to mark the wedding in 1981 of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.

There had been a crisis in 1938 when many band members left to form another in a nearby village - but it was eventually decided they would carry on anyway, throughout the war years and the subsequent parties and celebrations to mark its conclusion.

A great parade was organised in Colchester when the armed forces and dignitaries marched through the town and the Boxted Methodist Silver Band was the only civilian band to take part.

The band had previously played evening services as well as on Sundays but these stopped by the late 1950s, because band members were not just limited to the congregation.

In 1998 the band marked its centenary and continued to go from strength to strength.

But, as Victoria explains, the future is slightly uncertain following the closure of the church, due to a dwindling congregation, last summer.

They have continued to practise in the hall having registered it as an asset of community, and so protecting it for six months and are now hoping they can either raise the £145,000 needed to buy it or find new premises.

“There are different options in mind now.

“We really are on the very first step on that journey and among other things we have been offered a room at the village hall and there might be options further afield as we do have members in Witham, Clacton and Ipswich.

* The band will next perform at St Mary’s Church Dedham Church on April 4 at 7pm.

Tickets cost £10 and are available from the parish office or by calling band secretary Liz Petter 01206 271511.