Mike started his bass playing career relatively late in life, his first forays into playing the bass were while he was teaching at Angley School in the late 1980s. He played with the school wind band and later with the 10 piece Saturday morning group run by music teacher and then town band conductor Nick Carter.

Entirely self taught Mike picked up the bass very quickly and it wasn’t long before he was persuaded into coming along to the town band with the rest of the Saturday brass players. From there he never looked back and quickly became a key (and sometimes only) player in the bass section.

Tony Smith (age 62) Funeral at Tunbridge Wells, 2 May 2002 Edited version of Address given by Rev. Dick Dengate. Tony came from a close family, one of four children who always got on well. He was born in Kensington in 1939, and brought up in Hounslow, where he went to school. He became a

Des Franks It is with great sadness that the band have to say goodbye to another friend this year. Des Franks the band’s president passed away in September this year during a stay in hospital. Apart from being a playing member of the band for a great many years Des was also one of our

Obituary – James Henry Finch (1920-2000) It is with great sadness that the band recently learned of the death of its oldest member, “Harry” Finch, who died at home on January 25th at the age of 79. Harry was one of the founding members of the current band when it reformed in 1964. Over the