The newspaper report comes from June 1884 - just eight years after the band was formerly constituted, and was printed in the ‘Weekly Mail’, a regional newspaper in south-east Wales.

The report came from a correspondent who had been sent to record a contest held at Penydarren Park in Merthyr Tydfil.

Generous prize

Tredegar Band was conducted by Mr Tom Hardy, and took part in a competition against four other competitors – including the famous Cyfarthfa Band and Irwell Springs Band from near Manchester, who had made the trip attracted by the generous first prize of £30 plus a gold medal worth £4 that would be presented to the winning conductor.

The test-piece was a selection arranged by Mr J Heckler from Rossini’s ‘Moses in Egypt’ and the adjudicator was Charles Godfrey, bandmaster of the Royal Horse Guards Band in London.

Tredegar was drawn to play after Cyfarthfa and Irwell Springs, and unfortunately didn’t really impress in the man in the tent, as his remarks showed...

The test-piece was a selection arranged by Mr J Heckler from Rossini’s ‘Moses in Egypt’ and the adjudicator was Charles Godfrey, bandmaster of the Royal Horse Guards Band in London.

Adjudication:

Band No. 3: Tredegar Band

Style of playing quality of tone, and precision moderately good.

First movement: Not well together in piano chords cornets not well together in upper forte notes in moving passages not well together errors observed in bass part; cornets not well together in first moving passages, baritone and euphonium correct. Basses came in too soon after cornet passage

Second movement: Better together, soprano passages not very clear in forte, accompaniments well done; soprano upper notes much better in rallantando. Solo cornet good tone.

Third movement: First horn missed first two notes; solo cornet part very creditably played, trombone solo very disjointed style. Soprano upper notes very harshly played in forte chords; accompaniments not well together.

Soprano much better style in piano passages. Several wrong notes heard in bass part. Trombone cadenza too disjointed style, and moving passages not clearly played.

Fourth movement: Cornets broke several upper notes, band well together.

Fifth movement: Error observed in horn part; cornet passages not well together with baritone in forte parts. In piano part, solo cornet not enough variety of tone in crescendo, some errors noticed in inner parts, crescendo made too abruptly, soprano passages too loud in forte parts. Band not well balanced and not well together.

Not surprisingly it meant that the band had to return home across the heads of the valley empty handed.

Result:

1. lrwell Bank Band Manchester (Mr. H. L. Holding)

2. Cyfarthfa Band (Mr. George Livesey)

3. Mountain Ash Band (Mr. W. Stuart Major)

Other competitors: Tredegar Band (Mr. Tom Hardy) Merthyr Town Band (Mr. R. Jones)