Above: Squire Hardwicke with Rev Arkell to his right c 1906.
In the early part of the century, Tytherington had a brass band of which it could be truly proud. It won prizes in many competitions. One photograph shows seventeen smartly uniformed men, heavily moustached, with comets, trombones, tubas and a bass drum; another has nineteen uniformed players but also eleven others, apprentices no doubt, including two very young boys wearing caps and Eton collars and holding comets, while the conductor was in a dark suit and top hat; a third photograph includes the Squire, grey suit, rakish grey bowler, posing, a head taller than the others, and next to him the parson in a black straw boater. This was the era of the brass band, when the popular Tytherington Brass Band Contest took place annually in conjunction with the village or church fete.
