I have chosen to research the period of the brass band movement’s
history that I consider to be its formative years. This is the period of 1860-
1930, which includes the peak in the 1890s, followed by the decline in
numbers from the First World War. Despite this later decline in numbers,
the standard of musicianship was not affected and has happily continued to
make progress up to the present day. The movement has also now spread
world-wide, and I have made reference to this fact in Chapter 1.