YEARS IN
FOCUS
LOCAL NEWS AND EVENTS OF THE 1950s
PONTEFRACT IN 1956
20th July 1956
Coldstream Guards Thrilled The Crowds
A
crowd, estimated at nearly 2,000, was enthralled at the Pontefract
Barracks yesterday week, by the band and drums of the Coldstream Guards
beating the ‘Retreat’. The visit was part of a recruitment campaign
in the north-east, which ended at Leeds on Friday, and for the greater
part of it the band of over 80 was accommodated at the Barracks.
Appreciation of the hospitality was one reason why the band was quite
happy to put on a show at Pontefract, said the director of music, Major
D.A. Pope, to ‘The Express’ afterwards. He added that the attendance
and the reception were outstanding.
In
their scarlet tunics and black bearskins, the guardsmen marched and
counter-marched with traditional precision, using the full length and
width of the square for their manoeuvres, in slow and quick time. Many
well-known pieces of music were played before an outstanding finale
consisting of ‘The Trumpet Voluntary’ in which the soloist was
Corporal G. Nicholson; the moving ‘Sunset’, various regimental
marches and the national anthem. In charge of the parade was Drum Major
K. Wynne; the organising officer was Captain J.H.B. Hartley; and the
Officer Commanding the depot of the York and Lancaster Regiment, Major
A.W. Stansfield, was the host.
[
1956 Index ]
