‘Niobe’ – theme for the first Canadian Navy ship

I came across this little march back in about 2019 on a trip to the British Library where a copy of it is held in the reference library along with another three pieces published in what appears to be a fairly rare band journal called the “Standard Band Journal”. This is a journal of which…

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Gabriani – most definitely NOT another George Allan march!

One of the things we always hear about George Allan is his excellence in the brass band contest march format. He’s the gifted amateur “march king.” you say. It’s certainly what he’s best known for nowadays – and when I say ‘best-known’ I mean ‘just about only known for.’ We know that the brass band…

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Exploring the Sounds of Victorian Shildon, with Queen Victoria’s Consort

While researching the music of George Allan and Tom Bulch mainly as a writer I have found that there are dimensions to what we would love to understand that are difficult, if not impossible, to explore without the help of others. Usually this involves commissioning someone’s help. But occasionally something helpful happens that is incidental.…

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Aronia – a George Allan march mystery

One of the pure joys of the festive season is that it occasionally yields a little time to explore and research – and there has been little opportunity for us to do that of late. So on having a little time to indulge I thought it would be good to dip into our collection of…

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Coming Home in Glorious Colour for Covid’s Unwanted Anniversary

One of the things I wrote about during 2020 was our Project Homecoming which we created in partnership with our Project Manager, Alison Lister, and Greenfield Community College with Greenfield Arts which was funded in part by Northern Heartlands, one of the Great Places schemes, the County Durham Community Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund with…

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Greenfield Academy’s Unfinished Symphony

It was almost a year ago that the Friends of the Wizard and the Typhoon started work on a project, called Project Homecoming, with the young people of Greenfield Academy school with support funding from Northern Heartlands, a Great Place Scheme. That project involved engaging experience arts facilitatators to help the young people explore the…

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Looking Out During The Lockdown – The Power of Data

There can be no doubt that these are unprecedented times for us all, wherever we happen to be. The breakout of a global pandemic has wreaked havoc on our day to day lives and brought suffering and uncertainty to so many. As with many countries around the world, the British Government has ordered a lockdown…

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Distant Echoes Return Transformed (Part 1)

For this post, we’re dipping back out of the past and into the present to give you an update on a partnership initiative the Friends of The Wizard and The Typhoon are involved in with Greenfield Community College, the school that now provides education for many of the young people here in Shildon as well…

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Perusing Old News

It’s been a good while since I posted an update so I thought it might be nice to do so just so that everyone knows this process hasn’t stalled and that we’re still working hard at assembling the lives of George Allan and Thomas Bulch. When I’ve had spare moments in the last three months…

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