Our Band Hall
Another parade nearly completed; just one more tune will take us down the hill, play the National Anthem; our Drum-Major gives the last command of the day “Band Dismiss!” and we're home again, back to where we started from this morning; the Band Hall our Band Hall. There is no doubt that if walls could talk the walls of this old building could tell some stories, quite a few of which would I'm sure embarrass a few former and present band members.
On researching the history of the hall some interesting facts came to light, one being that My Lady's Road was originally called Rockery Lane (Circa 1820's). In those days of course there was no hall on that site; in fact there were very few houses in the whole area. Another curiosity was the fact that around 1889-1890, the site the hall now occupies was then a cul-de-sac called Toronto Street. This street name was later to be used on a new housing development being built a few hundred yards further up the Ravenhill Road.
Also at this time, No. 11 My Lady's Road was listed as the "School House" and this becomes relevant when we find the hall being built in 1891 and beginning life as "Nettlefield National School" (There are still a few 'auld-hands' in the area who can remember the old school building. The hall continued to be used as a school until the 1920's and it was at this point the I.O.G.T. (Independent Order of Good Templars) entered the picture when they purchased the property in 1927 for the princely sum of £12-10s-00 solicitors fees.
The Good Templars charitable organization, then proceeded over the years to encourage different tenants to make use of the hall, one of which was The Grace TabernaclePentecostal Mission who took on the downstairs hall and we in the band are proud to say The Mission still worship there today and we hope to continue to do so for many more years to come. Other groupings to use the hall over the years included, Trade Unions (A.E.U.W.); various Political Groups; Birds Clubs; Angling Clubs, and more recently a Drama Group.
The Band first rented the upstairs hall in 1968 and eight years later we took the option to buy the premises. The initial purchase price was £2500, quite a sum for a Band in those days, so December 1976 saw us pay a deposit of £1000 (the original cheque can be seen in the hall in one of the display cabinets) and the balance of £1500 was paid in April 1977. After all the formalities were completed etc. on 19th July; the “Bridge” became one of the very few Bands to own their own Band hall. The actual buying of the hall was however only the first rung on the ladder as there then began a period of repair and renovation.
Our first job in 1977 was to rewire the place and over the next few years we continued to improve the hall bit by bit as finances permitted but in 1982 we really went for it with a major re-building program. We tore down the old wooden structure at the back of the hall and embarked on the construction of a new extension. The extension (designed by one of our own members) was to include some basic amenities we had never enjoyed before, namely ladies and gents toilets, a kitchen, committee room, store room and a recreational lounge. The band was quoted £26, 765 to carry out the work, a figure way beyond our means, so a momentous decision was taken. A decision which we believe has helped.