{"id":348,"date":"2020-01-27T22:51:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T22:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/?p=348"},"modified":"2021-11-23T22:08:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T22:08:28","slug":"1940-1964-the-melingriffith-works-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/1940-1964-the-melingriffith-works-band\/","title":{"rendered":"1940 \u2013 1964 The Melingriffith Works Band"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t

In 1941 came a change of name to 'The Melingriffith Works Band'. These were the days of military-style tunics with high collars and brass buttons, and Tom Powell, with his Royal Marines background, was a stickler for turnout and discipline. A former member recalls that anyone turning up with coloured socks or unpolished buttons would be severely reprimanded- or even sent home!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Melingriffith Works Band at the ceremony when the fifth Marquess of Bute handed over Cardiff Castle to the people of Cardiff in 1947. Tom Powell was ever immaculate in his signature frock coat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

T.J. Powell was the composer of many original works and arrangements for brass band, and his talent for writing fine marches earned him the nickname, \u201cThe Welsh Sousa\u201d. The marches named after the castles of Wales are particularly well known, and his favourite, \u201cCastell Coch\u201d, was dedicated to the Band and commemorates the fairy-tale edifice that appropriately overlooks their current home village of Tongwynlais.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tom Powell rehearsing in the bandroom (the converted piggery near Melingriffith Works) prior to a visit to the Welsh Industries Fair in London, 1947.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
With T.J. at the National Eisteddfod in Caerphilly, August 1950.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The closure of Melingriffith Works in 1957 came as a great shock to the local community, and it took a while for the band to adjust to being an independent organisation rather than a semi-sponsored Works Band. However it continued to function with help from The Steel Company of Wales, who provided rehearsal facilities at the former Melingriffith Drill Hall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tom Powell was still at the helm for the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff in August 1960.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Although not conducting on the day, T.J. came to give Band members a pep talk before their performance at the Swansea National Eisteddfod in 1964.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a0Photo - Atkins family collection<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Learn More<\/h3>\n
\n\t

To learn more about the history and the modern Melingriffith Brass Band, feel free to take a look at our history and learn more about us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tOur History\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1941 came a change of name to ‘The Melingriffith Works Band’. These were the days of military-style tunics with high collars and brass buttons, and Tom Powell, with his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,49,39],"class_list":["post-348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-history","tag-melingriffith-works-band","tag-national-eisteddfod","tag-thomas-james-powell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":540,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions\/540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melingriffith.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}