Description

St Stythians Band was founded in 1928, in the village of Stithians, a rural Cornish village, located between Redruth and Falmouth.

At the time of the band's formation, Stithians was the only village in the area that didn't boast a brass band, and a group of villagers decided that this had to change.

At the time of its formation, not one of the 30 volunteer members could even produce a note on a brass instrument, but the band nonetheless proved popular, with a waiting list of dozens more wanting to join, and with many hours of practise the group developed into a competent outfit, featuring in many local concerts and contests right up until 1939.

The band disbanded for World War II, and most members served, with two making the supreme sacrifice. Soon after the war the band reformed, and with the appointment of Edgar Floyd as Musical Director they flourished, becoming one of Cornwall's leading bands.

They soon started appearing twice-weekly at the Gyllyngdune Gardens in Falmouth, quickly building up an audience in at the venue numbering over 1000: the band still appears at this venue on Sunday evenings throughout the Summer to this day.

At one point in this period St Stythians defeated Cornwall's banding elite to win the top section of the Bugle Contest, as well as competing in the notorious Grand Shield in Blackpool.

Between the mid 60's to the late 70's the band took a break from contesting to focus on their concert work, before re-emerging at contests once more in the 3rd section.

Several conductors have wielded the baton since, taking the band to locations such as Malta and Germany, and entering many contests, with the band hitting a contesting peak of entering the 2nd Section National Finals in the early nineties.

A lottery grant in 1999 enabled the band to purchase a complete set of new instruments, and the Training Band started to flourish in the early '00s, boasting 25 members, and winning the SWBBA and CBBA Junior Section titles.

Nina Davey, a popular regional radio broadcaster, became president of St Stythians Band in 2004, and appears at many of the band's concerts as a compere.

Renowned brass musician John Berryman agreed to conduct the band in a professional capacity during 2006, culminating in the band winning the West of England 2nd Section Bandsman's Festival title at Bugle Contest. The band's association with John Berryman continued into 2008, when he took his own GUS Band to Cornwall to appear at the Band's 80th anniversary celebratory concert.

The band now competes in the 3rd section under Musical Director James Burns. St Stythians is a friendly band, and always welcomes new members into the fold. The band is also open to invitations for concert appearances, and has appeared at weddings, fetes, grand openings, ship-launches and many other events in recent years

Description

Victoria Gardens is laid out on a steep south facing slope. It is typical of late 19th century style of trees and shrubs interrelated with paths and flower beds.

Originally created to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee it is filled with exotic trees, shrubs & flowers. Truro City Council parks dept regularly win Britain in Bloom competitions. Before this particular garden was established there used to be the small Waterfall Gardens which was created in 1893. The Waterfall Gardens are still in existence, by St Georges Church.

There is also a water feature that is powered by hydraulic water ram situated in the Leats next to the River Kenwyn which supplies the water for the fish pond and runs back down through the gardens through the old water fountain which used to be situated in Boscawen street, then feeds small cascade of waterfalls and it then returns back into the Leats.

There is also a bandstand and during the summer, concerts are held every Sunday from 2.30pm - 4pm . A different band from around the county bring their own sound to the gardens. There is plenty of seating and entry is free.

You would not think you were in the middle of a city, the calm broken only occassionally by a train passing over the majestic viaduct nearby. The original viaduct was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1859, but was replaced with the present stucture in 1904 and now carries the main line Paddington - Penzance trains.

Victoria Gardens, St. George St.,

Truro,

Cornwall,

England,

TR1 3JE.