It is proudly noted that much of the band’s early funding came from the miners working at the collieries who each contributed one penny per week from their own wages.

With the contraction of the UK mining industry came the closure of the two collieries, and the band’s main source of financial support subsequently ceased. Since that time the band has been dependant wholly on its own resourcefulness to support itself through concert engagements and competition success. The continuation of the band has also been further assured through the adoption of a policy of training young people in the art of brass playing through the Parc & Dare Junior Band.

Building on its enthusiastic, outward looking policies, the Parc & Dare Band has become one of the leading combinations in the banding world. Its success in competition is legendary with literally dozens of Championship first prizes to its credit. These successes include being the National Representative for Wales on over twenty occasions, attaining the title of Champion Band of Wales on no less than fourteen occasions, and representing the country at the European Championships four times (being placed fourth twice).

In recent years the band was pronounced Champion First Section Band of Wales in both 2004 and 2005, this landmark achievement of winning the title in two consecutive years making Parc & Dare only the second band in the history of the contest to achieve the unique status of Double Champions. In 2004 the band was also proclaimed Runner-Up Champion Band in the Championship Section of the Welsh League and Runner-Up Champion First Section Band of Great Britain. The band’s success continues into 2006 with the band again attaining the right to represent Wales at the Finals of the National Championships of Great Britain at London’s Royal Albert Hall this October following their third prize placing at the 2006 Welsh Regional Championships.

In addition to its success in competition the band also has a unique record in terms of its appearances on television and radio. On radio the band has amassed over 250 broadcasts on BBC Radio Two, Radio Three, Radio Four, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, while on television the band has featured in numerous programmes for both the BBC and S4C: appearing most recently on “Songs of Praise”, in the much-acclaimed BBC drama “A Light in the Valleys” and, in June 2005, on S4C’s “Wedi 7” magazine programme.  

In competition on radio and television the band has also been pronounced BBC Television “Best of Brass” finalists on numerous occasions and twice won the title “BBC Radio Wales Band of the Year”. Parc & Dare also performed and recorded the soundtrack for ITV Wales’ “Old Scores”, sequel to the much-loved Welsh classic “Grand Slam” in 1993 and, earlier this year, recorded a number of tracks for an album by Dawson Smith, inspired by the characters and stories in the ‘Welsh’ Books Of Alexander Cordell.

In addition to all of this Parc & Dare has been the focus of countless journal and press articles and, through its busy concert schedule, has performed in literally hundreds of events all over the country ranging from local charitable events to concerts at the most prestigious venues, including St. David’s Hall, the Millennium Stadium and Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, and the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls, London.

Renowned for its unique and innovative artistic outlook and programming, Parc & Dare has in the last year created and toured the groundbreaking film music and live imagery show “Brass Tracks”, and performed alongside artists as diverse as the Band of Her Majesty’s Grenadier Guards and the Russian Cossack State Dance Company. The band hosts its own event, the Welsh Brass Arts Festival, at the Parc & Dare Theatre in June each year, which has featured numerous acclaimed guest artists including Royal Harpist Catrin Finch, trumpet soloist James Watson, “the world’s favourite Phantom” Peter Karrie, BBC Young Brass Musician of the Year David Childs, Channel 4 television’s “Operatunity” winner Denise Leigh, BBC Presenter and opera star Beverley Humphreys, plus various leading bands and choirs. More information on the Welsh Brass Arts Festival can be found at www.brassbands.co.uk/festival.htm

How Green Was My Valley.

Before the discovery of its rich seams of coal, the Rhondda was a verdant valley with just a scattering of hillside farms. The valley was thickly wooded and one of its infrequent visitors observed that a red squirrel could travel from the bottom of the valley to the top by hopping from one oak tree to another. Then in the middle of the last century the peacefulness of the rural scene was shattered for ever.

Black Gold.

Top Sawyer.

David Davies, who was born in 1818, was a sawyer, at first working for a local saw mill, and then working for himself by sawing up trees and selling the planks. By means of frugal expeditions and wise investment he soon owned several small businesses including a couple of slate quarries in Blaenau-ffestiniog. He was attracted to the Rhondda by the stories of its rapid development, and he leased some land from the large Crawshay Bailey Estate and in 1868 began to sink shafts in the Maendy in Ton Pentre and the Dare pit as it was to be called in Cwmparc. However they did not strike coal, and as the shafts went lower, so David Davies’ capital decreased. Finally he had no money even to pay the men their weekly wage, and still there was no sign of coal. The workers held a meeting and decided that they would work for a week without pay, such was their faith in their employer. Happily they struck coal in Maendy colliery before the end of the week and then in Cwmparc. When David Davies received the news about the Dare pit in the form of a telegram, he told his manager, ‘ This piece of paper is worth £40,000.’ His prophetic words were soon to be proved correct. The Parc and Dare pits were the cornerstones on which he built to amass his fortune.

Cwmparc.

Cwmparc is a narrow ‘cwm’, or valley which is an offshoot of the parent valley - the Rhondda Fawr. It is enclosed on three sides by steep hills, and along its south-west ridge runs the mountain road, the Bwlch, which links the Rhondda valley with its neighbouring Ogmore valley. The Parc River winds its tortuous course down the valley and on its right stood the Parc colliery, while a couple of hundred yards lower down was the Dare colliery. When the pits were in full swing, a constant procession of coal-laden trucks, both night and day trundled down the railway which ran along the left bank of the river. The grey, stone built houses were built close to the collieries - huddled together as if for warmth. One of the nearest of the terraced streets was Railway Terrace, or ‘Tub Row’ as it was called. It’s nickname was derived from the habit of its occupants of leaving bath tubs out on the pavement in the evenings. Thus endangering the limbs on a dark night of unwary strangers.

Birth Of The Band.

The 1890’s in the Rhondda was a decade in which the separate communities which had grown up around each pit began to achieve respectability, and with it an identity. Many of the Rhondda’s chapels were built at that time. There was also a demand for entertainment. Theatres were built, and choirs and bands were formed. One such band was the Cwmparc Drum and Fife Band, which was formed in April, 1893.

A Sober Start.

The band was originally a temperance band which drew its members from the Parc and Dare collieries. Fines were imposed for drinking, which helped to increase the funds. However the band soon severed any connections with the temperance movement, they also went ‘all brass’, the following year changing their title to the Cwmparc Silver Band.

A Penny A Week.

The bandsmen eagerly awaited their arrival from France, and when they received the glad tidings that the consignment had arrived, they ran down to Pentre to seize their instruments. The more fleet of foot arrived first and naturally took the smaller instruments like cornets, while the late arrivals had to take the larger instruments such as the horns and trombones. On this haphazard method of selection the band was formed.

A Christmas Offering.

The band soon got down to the serious business of practicing, under their first bandmaster, a Mr. Williams from Clydach. One of the first pieces they learned was an arrangement of a march by the bandmaster himself. On Christmas Eve the band sallied forth to demonstrate their ability. They stopped outside the residence of a well known local businessman. They proudly played their march, but there was no response. It was only when the band decided to practice their scales that the businessman came out with his Christmas offering

First Officials.

The first secretary was Dick Meredith, and the first president was Mr. A. S. Tallis, M. E. Practices at first were held in the Pengelli Coffee tavern, to the annoyance of some of the local residents, particularly a Doctor Barrett, who often complained about the new, not always melodic sounds which he had to put up with. The band soon moved however to the Parc and Dare Workman’s Hall, where Tonic Sol-fa lessons were given by Mr. John Thomas, A.C. for which he received an annual salary of £12

First Contest.

There was a band contest in Pontycymmer in the late 1890’s and the band decided to compete. They walked across the mountains, a distance of about six miles, with their supporters sharing carrying the instruments. Their conductor was now Mr. Treharne, a well known cornet soloist. Fate seemed to be against the band, since when they blew the first chord, the lights in the hall went out. The local P.C. helped to relight them and the visit ended on a high note with the band winning the first prize.

On The March.

In 1902 the nation was at war in South Africa with the Boers. The Seige of Mafeking was on everyone’s lips and the nation held its breath until finally relief came. The band played their part by taking part in a march which was organised to raise funds for the national cause.

In The Open.

The band’s performances weren’t always restricted to playing in concert halls and in 1904, with the opening of the new bandstand, they were given a permanent outdoor site where they could entertain the public. The Band Pavilion as it was called was a present from the Ocean Coal Company in recognition of the band’s growing stature in the musical field.

A Leap Forward

In the beginning of this century the band competed in brass band contests with undiminished enthusiasm. Their perseverance was rewarded in 1914 when they were promoted to Class A ( the equivalent of football's Premier Division). Since that time the band has always retained its place in what is nowadays called the Championship Section.

The years between the wars had some serious and depressing aspects at home for the now flourishing brass band. They were the years of the depression. Of conflict in the coal industry. Of miners striking to protect their standard of living. Of the 1926 General Strike which started full of hope with other unions pledging support for the miners. But which ended in a few days with the railwaymen deserting the miners and going back to work. And so through that hot summer the miners stayed out. 1926 - the year when the winding wheels at the top of the Rhondda’s forty six collieries stopped turning. The year when the hob-nailed boots of the Rhondda’s forty thousand miners no longer beat a tattoo as they walked to work. The year when the colliery hooters fell silent. The year when the endless chain of railway wagons loaded quality Rhondda steam coal stopped rolling down to Cardiff and Barry docks. Their families suffered untold hardships. They were hungry and suffered the indignity of the soup kitchens. The coal owners predicted the strike would not last eight weeks. That the miners would be forced to accept their terms which meant a cut in the wages of those miners working in difficult seams. Most of the Rhondda coal, although among the best steam coal in the world, was often difficult to mine, and so most of the miners came into that category. In spite of the coal owners predictions the miners did not stay out for eight weeks they stayed out for nearly eight months. History records that the miners lost their struggle. They were forced to accept the coal owners conditions. But the struggle was not in vain since in a few years time a Bill was passed in Parliament guaranteeing miners a minimum wage for working in difficult seams. During these times of social strife many of the Parc and Dare Band were to be found in various parts of the country. They were the first of the buskers. But the money they were given for playing in the street did not go towards extra pocket money for them, or to buy a few pints of beer, it was sent back to their hungry families in Cwmparc.

A Brighter Note.

Under the influence of Haydn Bebb, the band’s repertoire increased rapidly. He also stressed the importance of sight reading, and as a result the band were able to read on sight a wide range of music which included rhapsodies, symphonies and variations arranged for brass bands. In 1939 the band won three first prizes in contests and second prize in the national Eisteddfod at Denbigh. Then the war came and brought another chapter in the band’s history.

The Band Played On.