The band and the bus

We have seen this picture before on this blog but we have recently been given another copy and it seemed a good idea to try to make a better image of it. So here we have seriously increased the contr...

Edington Monastery Gardens

No. The Monastery Gardens at Edington are not in Market Lavington. But in the early years of the twentieth century they were a regular venue for church treats. Mr Burgess, the Market Lavington photogr...

Armistice Day Parade

Time was when Market Lavington Prize Silver Band was at the heart of many a village event and this is one of them. It’s an Armistice Day parade back in 1931. The location is The Market Place with...

The Rough Wallopers

One of the earliest ‘musical’ bands in Market Lavington was a rather ad-hoc collection of men who earned the nickname of the Rough Wallopers. The name was probably apt for their purpose was to ma...

Friendly Society March

We live in a wonderful time for all sorts of reasons – not least in that we have health care as and when we need it. Yes, people moan about the National Health Service. But looking back 100 or more ...

It’s that band again

In times past, all entertainment was home produced. We are going back to those days when entertainment for the masses wasn’t beamed through the air for all to receive. No Internet; no TV; no radio a...

The Ladies Jazz Band

Lavington Ladies Jazz Band was a carnival creation. In the 1930s a group of local ladies formed up, many with unlikely instruments, and entered carnivals. In 1933 they won first prize at Devizes. W...

Market Lavington Band in the 1890s

Recently, we looked at Market Lavington band in the 1880s. We’ll move on a decade here and look at the band in the 1890s What a fine and handsome sight they make in their impeccable uniforms. Weâ...

Lavington Band – 1880s

It is always good to report on successful new events and schemes in our villages – like the Lavington Community Band who have now performed for us for two successive Christmases. One might call this...

Market Lavington Prize Silver Band

Market Lavington had a band for many, many years. John Merritt was the band master for more than 60 years, including all of the first half of the twentieth century. But as with many bands (and other o...