August 9th, 1957
As all BB Boys know the Brigade only caters for boys up to the age of 18, except for the few who gain promotion to Officer Status. The 56th Belfast coy attached to the Albert Bridge Congregational Church was no exception and when some of its senior boys were approaching that "leaving" age they were determined not to lose touch with each other.
However they wanted something more than the usual “Old Boys' Association” and after a lot of thought and discussion, a meeting was finally called for that memorable Friday evening, 9th August 1957 in the Church Hall in George's Street, that area at the bottom of the Woodstock Road and Albert Bridge Road junction is now all redeveloped beyond all recognition and sadly with the loss of many homes. Seven senior members turned up for the meeting and when the decision was reached that they would form a band, a committee was elected.
One of the founding members is still very active and in fact still holds the post of treasurer! For the record, those first seven members were W. Cummings, F. Stewart, R. Ewing, N. Gibson, B. McCartney, J. Arbrothnot, and J. Gibson, the first secretary was R. Ewing and W. Cummings was chosen as treasurer. After the committee was elected the first requirement was to choose a name for the band. Several suggestions such as Woodstock Defenders, Sons of Ulster, or 56th Old Boys were discussed, but none of these seemed appropriate so as most of the boys attended the Albert Bridge Church. It was agreed that the name of this new band would be the Albertbridge.
Similar meetings were held weekly over the next few months and with "dues" set at one shilling and two shillings to join, the young treasurer was immediately set to work keeping the books in order. Serious fund-raising then began and as news of the new band spread the numbers grew week by week. In a short time there were sufficient funds to buy some secondhand instruments and the weekly practice was instigated.
The Church Hall was offered for the practices but in characteristic independent fashion the band sought a base elsewhere. Those first practices were held in a hall in Wolff Street, kindly lent by the Wolff Star Flute Band. In less than two years the band was able to fulfill its official engagement, attired in a uniform of sorts, consisting of gray trousers, white shirts with a red tie and peaked cap in a variety of shapes.
That first outing was with the Christian Crusaders Junior L.O.L. 27 to Bangor on Easter Tuesday. As the repertoire and reputation grew so too did the invitations, and before long the band was as busy as the long established outfits in the area. Soon after that the practices were moved closer to home in a room owned by the Duke of York in Clermont Lane and on a few occasions the band had to compete with the Duke of York Pipe Band who were practicing in the room upstairs!
In 1971 the band moved to the I.O.G.T hall in My Lady's Road and was eventually able to buy it from the owners and make it their permanent practicing home. Twenty-nine years later the band is still practicing there every Wednesday night with juniors and learners starting at 7:30pm and the main practice from 8:00pm until 10:00pm.