Llwydcoed Band

Music on the Patio
Conductor: Mike Pearce
Big Pit: National Coal Museum
Blaenavon
Sunday 25th July

With the funding axe of Arts Council cuts hovering precariously over banding in Wales, the opportunity to see just what the proposals could well mean for small community based bands was on show at Blaenavon on the weekend.

Shining examples

The Big Pit: National Coal Museum, is one of the shining examples of heritage tourism in the Principality, regularly attracting well over 100,000 visitors a year to the former deep mine who experience at first hand just what it took to extract the wealth of coal from the bowels of the earth.

Admission is free and an addition to the guided tours and brilliant exhibitions (Paul Robeson’s grand daughter gave a talk the day before on the great singer’s deep affection for Wales and it’s mining communities), the manager at Big Pit eeks out precious funding to put on their annual ‘Music on the Patio’ events – a series of brass band concerts during the months of June and July.

Tour de France

The patio in question is a bit a misnomer however, given that it’s the concreted area just outside the pithead baths at the top of what seems like a steep hill Tour de France riders what take some getting up in one go.

Still, with the sun shining, a wonderful view across the World Heritage valley and an appreciative audience on hand to enjoy the music as they sip their sugary tea and nibble on home made welsh cakes as they recover from the eye opening trip to a pitch black coal face that is only 4 foot high, it makes for a wonderfully relaxed opportunity to showcase local brass band talent.

And local brass talent it is too – this year with five concerts that have featured four bands (Blaenavon Town and Concert Bands, Risca Salvation Army Band and Llwydcoed) as well as a local singing group.

Decent fee

For a decent fee (but one that just about covers all expenses with a bit over to put in the funds) the Harrogate bound Llwydcoed from near Merthyr Tydfil provided over an hour’s entertainment, with easy listening items and well chosen solos that were lapped up by an audience of around 120 people who came and went as they pleased.

As is customary at this time of year the band were helped by deps and friends, and were led by a young conductor in Mike Pearce who is keen, talented and eager to learn his conducting craft.

It is a musical scene that is played out just about every weekend up and down the Principality (and throughout the UK for that matter), and provides bands such as Llwydcoed with the opportunity to perform away from the usual contesting stage – something that is not that readily available bands at this level.

Enjoyed

And after everyone had enjoyed the traditional bits of musical ‘Welshness’ as well as classics of the park job repertoire such as ‘Bandology’ and ‘Radetzky March’, it was heartening to see members of the audience wanting to find out more about the band who entertained them – and thank them for it too.

It is an example of the invaluable connection that can be made through community based concerts with an audience that is both appreciative and supportive.

Example

And it is also an example of how the proposed cut backs will put such opportunities under threat – and for bands such as Llwydcoed, that could well mean the difference in being able to fund a trip to represent their country at the National Finals in Harrogate in future years.

And nobody we spoke to on a sunny afternoon thought that was an arts council financial idea worth its weight in anthracite let alone grant awards gold.  

Iwan Fox

^back to top