The idea was to form an independent band to cater for young people who did not necessarily wish to join a National Youth Organisation to pursue their banding hobby.
The first rehearsal of "The Southend Drum & Trumpet Corps - The Bluejackets" was held on Wednesday 7th March 1984 at Westborough High School for Girls, Boston Avenue, Southend-on-Sea. ( Now Prittlewell High School ).
There were just ten young people present at this first rehearsal, but by the second week we were down to NINE ! However, by the end of the year, we managed to boost our numbers to twenty one.
Fund raising was very difficult in the beginning with such small numbers and although the Education department helped by granting the Corps a 90% discount on the cost of hiring School premises, the Directors had to fund the purchase of the second hand instruments and uniforms out of their own pockets.
In the first year the Corps limited it's performances to School Fetes, but in 1985 they took the first step in the direction that had been planned from the start. In May of that year they marched into their first Competition. This was at Crawley in Sussex and, competing in the Novice class ( Div 3 ) they gained 'The Wren Cup' for their fine efforts.
That early success was quickly followed when at Hornchurch Competition (Havering) they came second, missing the first place by only one point. At the end of June, the County Council staged a three day event at Danbury in Essex to celebrate 'The Year of Youth'. The event included a band contest at which the Corps gained their very first FIRST PLACE !!
1986 proved to be even more successful! The Corps scored two first places and gained promotion to Division 2 (Contest class) and it's first invitation to compete in the 'Finals' at Wembley Arena ! Here they achieved a memorable second place, only being beaten by a much larger, more experienced Corps. The Drum Major ( Charlene Hawkins ) came first in her class !
At the end of the year we added a new section to the Corps. The 'Rifle Guard'. This started with four girls twirling imitation rifles in time to the Band's music.
1987 saw the Corps hard at work in competition once again, this time in their newly promoted position in the Contest Class. They traveled as far as Nuneaton and Gosport and once again the results were good enough to lead to an invitation to Wembley Arena.
In 1988 the Corps appeared in their new uniforms. These replaced the original second hand ones and gave the Corps their very first BLUE Jackets.
1989 heralded three new ventures. The Corps formed a junior Band for recruits aged between 9 and 11. This was named 'The Southend Cadets' and Ron Taylor assumed the role of their Bandmaster.
At the same time we decided that the Colour Guard ( as the Rifle Guard was now called, using Flags as well as Rifles ) should compete in it's own right, during the 'off'/winter season. They joined the appropriate association to compete in 'Winterguard' and registered themselves as 'The Southend Royals'. Here they proved themselves to be a credit to the Corps, holding their own against Guards of far greater experience.
The third venture was perhaps the most adventurous of the three. We converted the Band from the bugle like Cavalry Trumpets that they had played since day one, to fully chromatic Brass and Woodwind instruments. This took a great deal of planning and hard work on the part of the members. They were faced not only with the prospect of having to read music, which had not been so important before , but also to play in quite a different style.
With all this apparent upheaval, we looked forward to the competition season with some trepidation !
Incredibly, the 1989 season turned out to be the most successful so far ! After winning every trophy in their class at the first competition, the Corps went on to win another three contests and gain two second places as well. The Guard followed suit, winning four and the Field Commander ( conductor replacing the original Drum Major ) won four, placing him at the top of the league.
All this success led to the Corps being invited to Wembley Arena yet again. here they gained a creditable fourth place with the Field Commander winning his section.
At the end of this memorable year we were pleased to hear that we had been promoted to the Championship Class - League Division One.
1990 saw the start of the Cadets in open competition. They made a spectacular start at Hornchurch, where they gained first place. and repeated this success at Lancing. As a result gained a coveted invitation to the finals at Wembley Arena.
Early in the year the senior band took a weekend off to appear in the St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, their first trip abroad. The Corps had a very tiring but memorable time. Not to be outdone by the success of the cadets, the senior band worked hard to compete in the tougher more competitive Division 1 (Championship class). The season went well with the Bluejackets remaining about mid field at most contests but they did have one win at Clacton. This meant that the band led the evening carnival parade.
At the end of the season they finished in twelfth place in the league but, because of the withdrawal of another band, they were honoured to be invited to compete in the first ever British Youth Band Association finals at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham.
The Bluejackets were also invited to play the opening fanfare at the Wembley Championships and the Cadets put on a memorable performance and came 5th out of 6.
In February 1991 four of our senior members attended the first of two BYBA leadership training weekends. The training was hard going and included completing an army assault course. Nevertheless, the participants all enjoyed themselves and benefited from the lessons learnt. The Corps has encouraged it's senior members to attend these courses ever since.
The competition season of 1991 got off to a flying start with a win at our first competition of the season at Brighton and a second one in early June. This guarantied our promotion to the Premier Division for 1992. The Bluejackets went on to have a further two wins, four seconds and two thirds. At the finals they finished fourth. The Cadets also had a very successful year which ended with them achieving second place at Wembley.
Towards the end of the year a decision was made to appoint a Bandmaster for the senior band and in November 1991 Nigel Smee became the first Bandmaster of the Bluejackets.
In 1992, newly promoted into the Premier Class, the Bluejackets decided to relax a bit and have a less hectic year. They planned to attend only six contests but also decided to go to Holland for a working holiday.
As it turned out the Corps remained as busy as ever and among the events of the year they were proud to take part in the National Music Day Parade, 'A Salute to the Queen', which took place down the Mall on the hottest Sunday of the year!. Locally, they led the Southend Carnival Procession for the first time and took part in Southend's Charter Day Parade.
The trip to Holland marked another mile stone for the Corps. During the 5 days away, 2 of which involved traveling there and back on the luxury ferry, the Corps visited Efteling Theme Park and played at two large tattoos. It was a tiring time but every one enjoyed it and we were made to feel very welcome by the Dutch people who really appreciate marching bands.
At competition, even though the Corps had participated at fewer contests, they still earned an invitation to the finals in Birmingham.
Unfortunately though, 1992 was not good news all the time and the Corps came very close to disbanding.
Essex County Education Authority had awarded the Corps the status of 'Approved Youth Organisation' when it started back in 1984. This meant that we were entitled to receive subsidised practice facilities at local schools.
In 1992 the authority decided to withdraw subsidies from all organisations not directly involved with 'education' and the Corps being associated with the 'arts' lost this support.
In real terms, this meant that where we had been paying approximately £600 per year for school hire, the costs would increase to £6000!! Of course there was no way that the Corps could possibly stand that sort of cost, so we began our search for help.
Numerous letters, appeals and enquiries were made and almost by accident we were introduced to Mr Fairbrass, the head teacher of Thorpe Junior School who agreed to let us use the school at a very reasonable and affordable rate. We remain very grateful to him.
At the end of '92 an instructor who had been with us for some time decided that he would have to devote more time to his family and other activities. Ray Miles had helped the cadets to achieve great things in their few years of existence and we were very sorry to lose him.
At the same time, Ron Taylor announced his intention to 'take a back seat' from then on and his wish was that a new Bandmaster be appointed to the Cadets.
Shirley Brookes was the percussion instructor in the Cadets at the time and was pleased to accept the post.
1993 saw a return of our competitive commitment and for the first time the senior band decided to use a theme for the show. The late Brian Griffiths kindly agreed to arrange music from the musical 'Oliver' and '93 proved to be yet another successful year. The band finished 7th in the Band league and the colour guard and field commander both topped their respective leagues. The Cadets also had a successful year enjoying the spirit of competition and for this reason, when BYBA decided to make Cadet bands non-competitive, the Corps made the decision to disband the Cadets and introduce the Bluejackets 'B' Corps to compete in the novice class in 1994.
Unfortunately for us all, in September of 1993, our much loved Jennie Clarke suddenly died. She had been an ardent supporter and helper in the band and amongst many other things, she set up and ran the Corps very first 'Tuck shop'. Her death was a great shock to us all. She is sadly missed and will always be remembered with love and affection.
1994, marked the Corp's 10th anniversary and is also their 10th competition season. All the members of the 'A' and 'B' Corps worked hard to prepare for this. Both bands worked on the music from well known musicals, the 'A' Corps performing 'The Sound of Music' arranged by Joanne May and the 'B' Corps, 'Mary Poppins'.
For the first time however, the 'A' Corps did not qualify for the BYBA Finals or the Wembley Championships. The 'A' Corps were asked to play an opening Fanfare for Wembley though and Joanne May arranged the theme from the TV series "Deep Space Nine" for this purpose.
At the end of the year, several of the older members, including Kathleen Walsh ( the only remaining founder member ) and Joanne May, decided to quit the Band and seek other avenues for their hobbies. Brian Griffiths who had been a regular visitor to help and write for the Band, agreed to become a full time instructor to help us out.
The theme for 1995 was "Music" !! ‘Let’s Face the Music’, ‘Eine Kliene Nacht Musik’and ’Music’ by John Miles
In the spring Nigel Smee, the current Bandmaster relinquished his post due to work commitments.
In April, we learned of the sudden death of Brian Griffiths. He had been away training youngsters at the "Pontin's" Holiday Camp for BYBA members and had suffered a severe stroke. He was dearly loved by all and we will miss him terribly.
Both Bands competed in the BYBA league. The 'B' Corps doing especially well. The 'A' did not do well enough in the league to be invited to the Finals once again, but had put on some very good displays.
This year was the 21st Anniversary of the British Youth Band Association ( BYBA ) and the 'A' Corps attended the celebration day at Bramcote Barracks, Nuneaton with the Royal Corps of Signals Regiment. They performed twice and also led the closing ceremony of the day.
In August the Southend Carnival Committee had decided to run a small Band Contest on the seafront. This was the first one ever and the Band came a very creditable 2nd place.
In this same month the Band went for a return visit to Holland. They made friends with a local Band - Johann Friso, the Bandmaster, Fred and also the Manager Simon Van der Paal. They also performed the ‘95 show to large crowd in football stadium for a Taptoe ( tattoo ). At the end of September, for the third time in it's history, the Corps was restructured. The 'A' and 'B' Corps was merged to form 'The Bluejackets Youth Marching Band'. A new rehearsal schedule was planned and the Corps sought re- assessment to join the 'Championship Class' ( division 1 ) of the BYBA League Table.
1996 With a larger Band and a bigger instructor force the Band set out with renewed vigour. The music was from Rogers and Hammerstien’s "South Pacific".
Some members are of the opinion that this was one of the most enjoyable shows since our beginning.
The Band appeared in two Carnivals this year. They were also very pleased to perform in the pre match and half time of Crystal Palace’s home game with Wolverhampton Wanderers in October. This was arranged in association with London Parade Ltd. who sponsored the game and The British Youth Band Association. The Corps Director presented the award to the ‘Man of the Match’ and the Band was presented with a souvenir pennant.
The Band did very well in the BYBA division 1 league and were very proud to gain a place at the Finals at the NIA in October. Here they regained their old form and came 3rd by only one point !! The Colour Guard and Field Commander came first in their respective sections and in addition the Guard also won an award for the most entertaining Guard of the whole day, beating 20 other Guards, including those in the higher league division. A brilliant end to a great year !!
1997 This year has already seen a change. That is to the rehearsal nights. We now meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays instead of Wednesdays and Fridays. This was because of instructor’s other commitments and after consultation with members wishing to have a ‘free’ night on Fridays.
The music for this year, by popular vote, is to be a selection from Leonard Bernstien’s "West Side Story".
The Band has already completed one engagement. This was at the London Hilton Hotel for the Freewheeler’s Benevolent Society’s annual dinner and dance. Alongside solo performers, a school steel Band and a professional dance band, they marched in the massive chandelier bedecked ballroom to the delight of the staff and diners alike.
In February we entered the BYBA Individual & Ensembles Final at Bilston in the West Midlands. This was the first time the Band had put in any entries and they did very well. We gained three Gold Medals, one Silver and one Bronze.
Gold in the Drill Ensemble ( 16 in the drill team )
Gold in Brass ensemble ( two trumpets - Kevin Smith and Frances Redding )
Gold in Woodwind Individual ( Saxophone - Sarah Tong )
Silver in Percussion ensemble ( two snare drums - Matthew Fox and Andrew Young )
Bronze in Colour Guard ensemble ( four girls - Claire Drake, Shelley Drake, Laura Stern and Jackie Roome )
The Band has a fairly full engagement calendar and will be appearing at carnivals and parades and also once again competing in the BYBA league competitions throughout the year.
August will see another trip to Holland, making this the third visit by the Band.
The Bluejackets are always in demand for Fetes, Carnivals and Parades, so look for them in your area, you will be in for a treat !!